Success

After weeks of back and forth emails with tech people, I have finally successfully uploaded my homepage with links to my photographs.
Sheesh. That entire process only took two years.

But here it is!

And from now on you can also find a link on the sidebar of the blog.
Hooray!

Melted plug

I had to call the electrician today.
Actually, I began calling him yesterday (I think there are around 26 calls to him logged on my phone); it was only today that he decided to come.
The hot water heater and water filter share a an electrical outlet in the kitchen. During the night, when the power was low, the outlet sparked and melted the plug for the hot water heater. There are a number of outlets in the house where this a potential problem. I decided to have them all fixed.
So the electrician came. Actually: after I called him about fourteen times, he said, "I can't come now. Call my father, he's also an electrician."
So I called Mr. Senior Electrician. He said he'd come in ten minutes.
Two hours later when I called him, he said he'd come in five minutes.
There were about a dozen calls and then he came. He listened to all that I needed him to fix, nodded and seemed to understand. He said he would go and get the needed materials and be back. He even left his toolbox behind as a measure of good faith.
TWO HOURS later he really did return. With a second guy. "There's a lot of work," he said. "I brought a laborer."
Great. Do the work, then.
While Mr. Senior Electrician took apart all the little outlet boxes and neatly stored their screws, the other guy did...the labor.He pounded holes in the wall, cracked the kitchen tiles, and made a mess. He got tired of it so he told Mr. Senior Electrician to go get him a drill.
Mr. Senior Electrician hurried off and I heard his motorcycle start up down below. He was back in ten minutes. What! His tools were that near by yet it took him more than two hours to get to my house?
He went back to work on the screws.
And the other guy installed five new wall outlets.
Hooray, no more meltdowns. Everything can be plugged in again, and there is once more hot water in the kitchen.
I watched the work being done on each of the outlets. I watched the electrician test them and saw the power light up.
All except for the last one; I didn't see that one tested.
After I'd paid the electricans and they left, I went around the house cleaning up after them. When I got to the last plug, I realized there was a problem. One of the power cords had been wired to the wall and it couldn't reach the outlet. What kind of quality work is that!?
It took half an hour before I could even get Mr. Senior Electrician to answer his phone again. But when I told him there was a problem, he actually made it to my house in fifteen minutes.
He groaned when he saw the error, fixed it, and went off again.
NOW I have five new working outlets.
Shew, that's enough for today.

Tipping the trash collectors

Happy New Year.

That is not the greeting I was met with this morning when I opened my door.
"It's a new year, give us money," said the two trash collector's boys.
Expecting this, I handed them 10rs. They were dressed in what must be their best clothes and even had their hair combed.
The older boy looked at the 10rs, pocketed it and repeated, "It's a new year, and a new month."
Thinking he meant to pay him for the month of trash collection, I asked if he had change.
He said he did, but when I handed him 100rs, he said, "This is good for the month. 50rs for the month, and 50rs for the new year."
What! Is there now a set amount for "extra tipping"?
Ah they train these children well for conniving me out of my money.
But seriously, I pay so little for the service of having my trash collected from the door every morning, how can I miss 50--no 60--rupees?