The whole apartment is warm. The toilet seat temperature is unnoticeable instead of heart-attack-inducing.
We can take a nice hot shower.
Life is good.
This morning the gas man arrived as promised and turned on the gas. Then Romano called the company that services our hot-water boiler and used his magical knack for getting things to happen sooner rather than later. (We call him the "'crat whisperer.")
A short while later Michele and Lorenzo (I'm not sure which is which) turned up. They took the boiler apart, cleaned it out (the water here is full of minerals), put it back together, and made sure all the taps and radiators were working.
There was a problem, however. A valve in the bathroom needed to be replaced, and until that was done...no hot water in the sink, no showers. And that required a plumber. On a Friday.
Could we have gotten this close to getting clean and still be denied for the whole weekend?
We asked them to recommend a plumber who might come today, and they did. This time Pam made the call, and eventually Rodolfo showed up--three hours after originally scheduled, but we were just grateful he was there at all. He quickly replaced the valve, and now everything is working.
Danny and I celebrated with a glass of pinot nero (that's what they call it here) and some deliciously lamby lamb stew made with meat from our Egyptian butcher, sitting at the table in our now pleasantly warm kitchen. And next we're both going to take a long, hot shower.
Life is so, so good.
And yes, I'm going to bring the GasPlus lady flowers on Monday.
2 comments:
This is so nice to read! I love the mention of the toilet seat. The bathroom of my room at SLC was always freezing in winter, because of the loose casement windows and being on a corner with windows in two walls. Not only was the toilet seat freezing, if your bosom hit the sink while you were washing your face...god-almighty.
Congratulations!
Hurray!!!
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