I could write a novel about maintenance requests, but no one wants to read about hot water heater drama and my efforts to pantomime my problems to the non-English speaking maintenance workers and my frustration that they tell me everything is “fine.” For example, one of my AC units stopped working and 2 different people came, got up up on ladders, and because they can feel the gentlest whisper of air passing through the vents, they claim “it works.” No matter that it’s been set at 20 for two days and the room hasn’t gotten below 25, while the rest of the house is like a walk-in freezer . . . finally some people went on the roof and saw that the lines are blocked so they are going to come flush them out tomorrow. I’d love to say, “I told you so,” but they wouldn’t understand me.
Sadly, that’s my favorite room in the house right now because I can sit on the couch without a sweatshirt on. Josh did improve my life quite a bit after I had a dramatic fit and complained that the AC was “assaulting me.” His response was to get on a chair and manually adjust all of the interior vents in my bedroom so they don’t blow down directly on me. Now I’m just chilly, but I’ll take that over frozen.
After 4 days of waiting on multiple repair teams we finally took off and had some fun on Saturday evening. Five minutes from our house is the coastline and a large national preserve of mangroves perfect for kayaking and paddle boarding. We threw on swimsuits, headed to the launch site, and rented 3 double kayaks.
