Friday, October 24, 2008

Little house of horrors






I need to share with you what I found when I came home from work today.



First, there was a trail of water from the back terrace to the bathroom. It is raining a little, maybe it rained a lot before in Jimena, so it must be the roof, again, dripping water in a way that probably a lot of the rich and famous pay money for and call a water feature in thier homes,, we get the joy for free every time it rains. But this time it was different.



I went to investigate the drip.




I found Harry in the bathtub in his underwear standing on a matress. The matress from the car that the dog had vomitted on last week. He had decided to wash it, in the tub, by binding it up with two belts (so it would fit he said) and soaking it with the hose. He was now in his third rinse phase of the project and feeling like he had quite refined this, technique of jumping up and down on the matress, like he was pressing grapes, during the previous 3 hours of washing and rinsing.





He had however miscalculated two things. According to Harry, the matress is like a sponge, and when placed on end (this bit is important, it must be ON END for maximum performance), through capillary action the matress will absorb water to a point. The point at which gravity overpowers capillary action. Gravity is strong, therefore, when placed ON END, the matress should dry, mostly. For the past 2 hours we have been testing this new theory, because it is raining outside and will rain all weekend, and two the matress, when soaked with water is too heavy to lift out of the bathtub. This morning I was happy that we decided to move because as I took my shower the hot water ran out, as it tends to do and the shower curtain leaked about 50% of the water out as it tends to do, and the roof was leaking as it also tends to do and I thought great, soon no more water problems. But Harry and his daily projects will never leave me time to be complacient. Now I wish for the things I had this morning because I think tomorows shower will be a lot more difficult. The matress not being on end, being the most minor of the problems I see here.





So I decided to have a drink. This day called for something special. I know what your thinking... If only I had decided on something warm, a glass of red wine, and my evening would have turned round then and there. But I didn't I wanted German apple juice. I opened the fridge and discovered yet another reason to love our little house in Jimena.














Harry did however brighten my day. he fixed the remote fridge door and told me that the last mouse is gone.

1 comment:

Tony G said...

Awesome pic of the doggie with mousemouth! That's a Nat Geo contest winner, for sure. seriously, submit it for the "Your Shot" photo essays each month!

What I am reading

  • The Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett - this book is great for someone like me who knows nothing of history, I have only just started but have learned a lot about Franco and why the people in my village are the way they are.
  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - it was good but I cried, I have decided not to read anymore sad books. I used to love Booker Prize books, but they are all sort of sad, I need to find a new reading list.
  • Vedanta-voice of freedom by Swami Vivekananda - everytime I open this book I find something for me for the day, it is like the book knows what I need to get through the day, the chapters are short and each has a message about the universal human expereince and I suppose in my egocentric world I make believe that the messages are written for me. I know they are not, but it still amazes me everyday, that we all have the same problems even hundreds of years later.