Spurred on by activity from the airconditioning technician who replaced the annoyingly noisy part of one of my aircons, and by the fridge man who replaced a section of the ice-making machine on Friday, I called my furniture maker to see whether he could replace the cane underneath one of the dining room chairs, which would have given way to the next occupant, and he turned up on Saturday after lunch to take details.
I then decided to attend to a few other minor outstandings, including cleaning the pair of white urns in alcoves on either side of the front entrance, and the glass shelves upon which they reside. Most people would cherish a Saturday for other activities, but I always like the maid-free environment to attend to things that are best left to me because of their potential for disaster.
The devil is in the detail, and idle hands make the devil's work.
And cleanliness is next to godliness.
And it's clearly time to find more gainful employment, which may be presenting itself in the form of an interior decoration project in Saigon.
12 comments:
Yes, idle hands and all the mischief they can cause! I have endured months of unforced idleness due to lethargic builders but am now delighted to learn that this afternoon, I can start fitting my new kitchen as the house is now watertight.
Your urns are impressive.
"idle workers" seems to be a universal theme in the building trade. Glad to hear that you are making progress, however painfully slow.
Dear Columnist,
Your posting reminded me of a full afternoon's work that awaits me — the sorting and reordering of my bookcases. I have reached the point at which I need to give away a book for every new one that comes into the house (but I don't!). I fear that if I don't set a sorting date, I will soon end up like the Collier brothers!
'U' and 'E' are so far apart on the keyboard I can only put the typographical error (unforced instead of enforced) down to unbridled joy at the thought of soon being able to rattle the pans in my own spacious kitchen.
Sadly, when I arrived, truck hand loaded with my German kitchen-in-very-heavy-boxes under a merciless sun, I discovered the contractors were LYING! And they wailed and moaned (it was biblical) as I smote them with lengths of unfitted bannister rail and a bit of irritatingly loose fitting and still unplaned floorboard I ripped out with my bare hands and put to gratifying use.
All in all, a pretty normal day for me. Any news on your DHL shipment?
Although I approve of high standards, you have highlighted one problem with them--you also let yourself in for a lot of maintenance, both time and expense. I hope the other project materializes, then you can subscribe to Quentin Crisp's dictum that after a while, the dust doesn't get any worse.
I absolutely love those urns! Neoclassical and white. Let me know when you have tired of them; I'm good for the postage, LOL.
Hope you get the Saigon job.
Mark - ah yes, books. Nice to have around, but in reality once read rarely re-read, unless of the reference variety, and even that has become redundant by dear Google. I think I too should probably divest myself of many for that reason.
Hippo - sounds familiar.
Parnassus - it is indeed one of the problems of having the opposite view to Quentin Crisp on dust. I know where my brother lives they say a little bit of dust never hurt anyone, but in other similiarly sized establishments they have armies of staff who clean the place year round, (like the painting of the Forth Bridge). My own modest circumstances mean that it can mostly be managed by my efficient maid, with occasional interventions such as the one described.
Diogenes - they are rather pleasingly decorative and add a sense of grandeur to the entrance hall.
I hope there are some positive developments on the Saigon project, but it's very early on in the process. I'm not especially interested in making money, but in having some fun, and returning to the city where we were hitched.
Love, love the urns! Are those KPM? Meissen? If you need a translator in Vietnam, I'm available :)
Loi - no nothing so grand. They are from China, (but are not Export as in C19th).
I realise I haven't been to Saigon for over 5 years, so I expect it will have changed considerably. I've always found there is quite a good level of English spoken, (as a result of the Americans perhaps, although that was a generation ago). But you'd be welcome to join, as we peruse the lacquer and silk!
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