Cuenca Updates: Thursday Jan 19/12

Thursday Dec 19/12 update

Bella is off to the book exchange, pay some utility bills and probably looming again.

I went to the Ferreteria Commercial Martin to get the last light fixtures, a proper laundry faucet, and to return the broken fixture. To make a long story short, I did not have the correct receipt with me so they fixed it and gave it back to me. I am OK with that. I had finally picked up the proper 5” flexible pipe so I could make the elbow to finish venting the water heater.

I had emailed the fellow about the satellite TV and also the computer guy to come to the house this PM as well. I didn’t expect anyone at the new house until the afternoon so I tried to get ½ hour shuteye before making my way there. I had just roused myself when the phone rang. Michael said there was someone at the new house trying to deliver furniture so I said to tell them I’d be there within a ½ hour. I grabbed the laptop and a change of clothes and caught a cab.

It turns out it was the cabinet maker with the island, minus the granite top. He said he would be back tomorrow with the pantry. Oh this will make Bella simply ecstatic. I think I’ll keep this as a surprise. Once our kitchen is done and the front door and window screens are installed we could basically move in. The roof terrace is going to have to wait for funds. Alms for the poor,…. anyone??

At 3:30 we have had a little rain mixed with droplets of hail. Then Xavier, the computer guy showed up and took pictures of all the programs on my laptop. Since I have no original disks except for the printer I am wanting him to clone everything to a new computer. It doesn’t exactly work like that but he says he can provide the same programs, even upgraded. In many cases I prefer the old versions because we know how they work. Newer programs like Word 2007 are just a pain in the ass because you can’t find the shortcuts to do anything. He will research everything and email me before proceeding.

I was supposed to have the fridge delivered at 3:00 as well as the window screens. At 5:00 I called Enrique and he apologized, saying they will now be here at 10am. I called Bella to have Michael call the Muebles Espana to see what is happening with our fridge delivery. She called back to say Michael said they are a bunch of idiots there and he is at an event close by so he will try to stop in there later. Bella also said the bed delivery is pushed back to 8am now, so none of my deliveries today have happened.

At least Vicente and Italo have shown up late and are starting on the ceramic wall. I went around the corner for another guinea pig skewer and a sausage skewer and French fries for $3 then I installed the last light fixture on the second floor. Only one fixture to go, the repaired one, that I’ll now put beside the kitchen.

Jorge is so funny when practicing English. I get him a chair to sit down beside me and he says “Sitzdowzpleez” and it took me a minute to figure out he was saying “Sit Down Please”. I repeated it slowly 3 or four times and “sit” still comes out “Sitz” and “down” comes out “Dowz”. We have a good laugh over that.

I showed Jorge some family pictures on the laptop and he was very impressed. Don’t everybody get swelled heads now.

I think you have probably gathered that, since I have the laptop at the new house, I am doing a running commentary so I don’t forget anything.

Jorge left then came back with his two kids, Gabriela & Matteo. Gabriela is a medical student and works in the same hospital as her mother who is a doctor and also a professor at the university. Matteo said he helped build our house. Gabriela speaks good English so she wanted to run through the pictures again because Jorge wanted more details. What a nice family!

Jorge said they are taking 3 days to go to a beach and catch some sun around Jan 25^th. I told him that he deserves it. He surely has done yeoman service for us. He then took the kids home again, it is only a mile away, so he could drive me home later. I sure appreciate the rides home after these very long days. I am getting very tired and will be very happy when we can finally move in. We may not have drapes, but I don’t care at this point.

Jorge says our front door can’t be installed until the cement has cured, at least 8 days…. I told Bella to pick up an $8 blanket to use for now. It is mostly to keep the dust out as the metal gate is the real security.

Bella has booked us to go to Quito, on the 30^th I think, as long as we get our Censo travel visa next Tuesday here. Our old realtor, Juan, told her not to get her hopes up too high.

Well gotta get some rest. The deliveries begin at 8am.

That was today’s excitement. Enjoy the pics. Hugs to all.