Where shall I start this lovely Friday morning…we still have sporadic electricity and have a Luke warm shower…and I do mean Luke! Finally get a call that the plumber/electrician will be here at 10:30. Andy and I take turns going up to the roof to watch the solar eclipse…I don’t take the piece of cardboard with the pin prick hole…so I see nothing. Back down to wait on the man. He arrives Italian time at 11:30. Not the same man as yesterday. He looks around, calls Gabrielle the leasing lady and I hear him telling her something about being paid. Andy and I have already decided we are NOT paying a penny for whatever is wrong this time. Finally he explains what the problem is….the BILL has not been paid and the electric company has cut the watts from 3000 to 500. With 3000, every appliance works. With 500 just a ventilator for life support, I guess. Not the water heater, microwave, coffee pot, washing machine, heater in bathroom, hairdryer or lights in more than one room at a time. So we call Gabrielle to find out what is being done to fix this problem and at first she tells me the landlord didn’t pay the bill…then the story changes…he lost his credit card and forgot to tell the creditors of a new account number. Uh huh. It was someone else’s fault last month when the wifi was turned off because his wife forgot to pay the bill. So, we are told it will be fixed within 24 hours. That means no shower in the morning…and maybe not even tomorrow night. Tomorrow is Saturday…we will see if the 3000 watts are restored before Monday. These Italians don’t work fast on a work day…we will see about the weekend. I told a friend today, I didn’t come to Italy to camp out.
I left and went to the Quilt Store and got some fabric for the Block of the Month Quilt the group is making. Imagine me needing more fabric! Had a nice visit with the Quilt Store owner, Barbara and her assistant, Sofia. Found out that most of their quilt supplies are NOT is metric, but from the US. That will be helpful…to me. I couldn’t figure out the Metric System in the 4th grade – or whenever it was they sprung that foolishness on us – and I sure can’t figure it out now.
I met Andy at the Salad Place, but Vince wasn’t there. We are worried that he has quit less than a week after opening. Sure hope not. The place next door said they could do Vince’s Caesar salad, but we decided we would come back later for what we know is good. Went across the street to a place we have been wanting to try. Andy wanted a T-bone steak. Too big for one person, so we split it. As she said, It ain’t Ruth’s Chris…or Al Biernets for the Dallas folks. Won’t be needing another steak there. We had a side of cooked chicory…won’t do that again either! Now…a Small World event. During dinner, an American couple come in. We get to talking while they wait on their pizzas to go. They recommend a new place they think we will like…it is Vince’s salad place! They met him at a party awhile back.
Think the rain is coming again tomorrow for almost a week. Too bad we had to waste a half day to find out the bill hasn’t been paid. We move in 10 days. Thought I might have to sit on Andy today to keep her from packing! But as Evan said…Would that all problems could be solved in a week and a half! Or as a dear friend once said, ‘If you can solve your problem with money…you really don’t have a problem.’ He died of AIDS. Pretty powerful thought. I try to remember it.
Good night all.