I need to get some new icons for this blog
So we have internet at home at last. I no longer have to run off to faraway cafes with wifi to load up a bunch of pages to read at my leisure at home (and then run out and have to actually read a book or sit quietly and stare at the walls or mark papers or something). Yesterday was a big utilitarian day full of necessary things. We've got a lovely new stove (by stove, I mean 2 countertop gas burners), which was delivered in the morning, very casually- the delivery guy just left it propped up against the door frame and left when I gave him the receipt and I had to drag the huge box into the kitchen myself. The installer was meant to come in the late afternoon and the adsl guy was meant to come at lunch time, so after the stove was delivered I ran out to get groceries, thinking it was my only opening in the day.
I was busy throwing tins of fizzy water into my basket at Fei Dan when Doug called to say the landlord was trying to find me. Apparently the stove guy decided to show up six hours ahead of schedule. So I ran back (or walked as quickly as possible with two big heavy bags of groceries in my arms) and prepped the kitchen counter for the new stove. If I didn't peel off the old caulking (is it still caulk if its the gluey clear stuff?) and scrub off all the grit and grime and grease around the rim of the hole in the counter then the new stove would simply be laid over top all the crap and it'd be doubly gross. I learned the hard way that installation-men here just install. They don't prep or tidy up afterward. The latter was my job as well. When installation dude left half an hour later, I spent another half hour cleaning all the saw dust and bits of wood and random bits of plastic and wrapper and whatnot out of the cupboards and from under the cabinets and off the floor.
The new stove is really lovely. And the flame! It's actually not roaring out of control like in the old stove!
Anyway. I spent the rest of the day marking endless term papers (*yawn* *head desk* *yawn again*), fumigating the kitchen (whilst dealing with the installation detritus, I met our flatmates, Mr and Mr Cockroach), and trying to troubleshoot with the adsl guy and the landlord, as we couldn't get the internet to work for two hours after getting set up. It turned out that China Telecom had forgotten to reset or reboot our data or something. And then more marking. Partaaay.
Today I get to mark some more AND go out to the Public Security Bureau to pick up my passport and residence permit. The fun never ends!
I was busy throwing tins of fizzy water into my basket at Fei Dan when Doug called to say the landlord was trying to find me. Apparently the stove guy decided to show up six hours ahead of schedule. So I ran back (or walked as quickly as possible with two big heavy bags of groceries in my arms) and prepped the kitchen counter for the new stove. If I didn't peel off the old caulking (is it still caulk if its the gluey clear stuff?) and scrub off all the grit and grime and grease around the rim of the hole in the counter then the new stove would simply be laid over top all the crap and it'd be doubly gross. I learned the hard way that installation-men here just install. They don't prep or tidy up afterward. The latter was my job as well. When installation dude left half an hour later, I spent another half hour cleaning all the saw dust and bits of wood and random bits of plastic and wrapper and whatnot out of the cupboards and from under the cabinets and off the floor.
The new stove is really lovely. And the flame! It's actually not roaring out of control like in the old stove!
Anyway. I spent the rest of the day marking endless term papers (*yawn* *head desk* *yawn again*), fumigating the kitchen (whilst dealing with the installation detritus, I met our flatmates, Mr and Mr Cockroach), and trying to troubleshoot with the adsl guy and the landlord, as we couldn't get the internet to work for two hours after getting set up. It turned out that China Telecom had forgotten to reset or reboot our data or something. And then more marking. Partaaay.
Today I get to mark some more AND go out to the Public Security Bureau to pick up my passport and residence permit. The fun never ends!