Sunday, September 21, 2008
SHIPUTZIM - and other traumas - part 5
It's not enough that my whole life has been turned upside down with my shiputzim (renovations) - my computer also chose this time to gepayger (kill, die - Yiddish) itself. I called my trusty CM (computer mumche [expert]) who diagnosed its illness - terminal hard-drive failure. But - it was still under warranty - so my CM took it to the maabada (laboratory) and now all is well. Well - sort of.
Why "sort of"? When it was repaired some of the" thingies" got reconfigured (whatever that means) and everything doesn't look exactly as it did before - which for me is tantamount to disaster. As I don't understand computer theory I don't know how to fix things up. And my CM is in Paris visiting his father - so he is advising me long-distance by email. Somethings I can do - some things I can't. I'll have to live with it until he gets back. He has spent so much time here recently that I'll have to start charging him rent. But he's a good kid and as long as I have homemade cookies for him he's happy....a small price to pay.
As for the shiputzim itself - we're moving right along. The floors are almost all laid down - except for the panelim (baseboards) and some of the ruba (grout). Right now Khaled and Suher are breaking apart my old bathroom so we can put in a new one - you would not believe the dust here - everything is covered in dust. Kahled and Suher you might ask? Two new names to add to my cast of characters - they are the floor and tile men.
As you can tell from their names they are Arabs. And as this is the month of Ramadan (which comes out at a different time each year), and as they are Muslims - several times a day they are on their knees facing Mecca and praying. So - every so often all work stops and they pray to Allah. I'll bet you don't see that too often when you renovate! During Ramadan Muslims fast from sun-up to sun-down - so they don't waste any time drinking coffee or eating - they don't even drink water. It's like Yom Kippur for a whole month.
I just got a phone call from Rachel - the woman who supplied all my flooring and bathroom fittings. She's going off on holiday next week so she wants to bring all the fittings here now - two toilets, faucets, the interputzim (see earlier blog), the shower-head - all are arriving within the hour. And where will we put them? My machsan (storeroom) is filled with all my of own things, all the tiles and flooring for my new bathroom, a bathtub - and, I guess, all the new stuff will have to fit in - somehow.
So now - I have to leave you. Menash (the architect) just arrived. Mousa (the gardner) is coming shortly to advise on where he wants the front watering system replaced on the front mirpesset (blacony) and Rachel is due to show up any minute.
And so it continues.
Yalla, Bye.
Why "sort of"? When it was repaired some of the" thingies" got reconfigured (whatever that means) and everything doesn't look exactly as it did before - which for me is tantamount to disaster. As I don't understand computer theory I don't know how to fix things up. And my CM is in Paris visiting his father - so he is advising me long-distance by email. Somethings I can do - some things I can't. I'll have to live with it until he gets back. He has spent so much time here recently that I'll have to start charging him rent. But he's a good kid and as long as I have homemade cookies for him he's happy....a small price to pay.
As for the shiputzim itself - we're moving right along. The floors are almost all laid down - except for the panelim (baseboards) and some of the ruba (grout). Right now Khaled and Suher are breaking apart my old bathroom so we can put in a new one - you would not believe the dust here - everything is covered in dust. Kahled and Suher you might ask? Two new names to add to my cast of characters - they are the floor and tile men.
As you can tell from their names they are Arabs. And as this is the month of Ramadan (which comes out at a different time each year), and as they are Muslims - several times a day they are on their knees facing Mecca and praying. So - every so often all work stops and they pray to Allah. I'll bet you don't see that too often when you renovate! During Ramadan Muslims fast from sun-up to sun-down - so they don't waste any time drinking coffee or eating - they don't even drink water. It's like Yom Kippur for a whole month.
I just got a phone call from Rachel - the woman who supplied all my flooring and bathroom fittings. She's going off on holiday next week so she wants to bring all the fittings here now - two toilets, faucets, the interputzim (see earlier blog), the shower-head - all are arriving within the hour. And where will we put them? My machsan (storeroom) is filled with all my of own things, all the tiles and flooring for my new bathroom, a bathtub - and, I guess, all the new stuff will have to fit in - somehow.
So now - I have to leave you. Menash (the architect) just arrived. Mousa (the gardner) is coming shortly to advise on where he wants the front watering system replaced on the front mirpesset (blacony) and Rachel is due to show up any minute.
And so it continues.
Yalla, Bye.
