Queen of the World
My fellow military spouses will understand that once in a blue moon the planets all align, pigs fly and a cold front moves through hell. It is then, and only then, that the Housing Gods smile down upon a lucky individual.
The last time that happened to me was five years ago while we were living on base at Travis in housing we affectionately referred to as "the ghetto" which was actually a step up from what my friend was living in known as the "crack houses." But, I digress...
We had been having trouble with our oven. It was old and cantankerous. If the temperature was set at 350 degrees it would take over an hour to cook a frozen pizza. Except on the days when it would be burnt to a crisp in under five minutes.
So, my hero from housing maintenance showed up and while he tinkered with the oven I stood in the kitchen and chatted with him. It turned out he was a retired maintenance Chief whose wife couldn't stand having him around the house all day after 30 years of Air Force life. He said they agreed that he would get a job because it beat the alternative of her spending all day at the mall. He loved working with his hands and obviously felt right at home on base, so it was the perfect job for him.
During our conversation, I revealed that husband was a maintenance officer and was currently sitting in the sand. At that point, he tossed the wrench he was holding into his tool box and said "Maintainers take care of their own. I'll be back within the hour with a new stove."
It was a beautiful thing to behold! All shiny and new. No chips or scratches. All the knobs matched and it had no missing racks. I couldn't wait to use it!
As he left, he told me he would be sending someone over to replace my warped circa 1950s screen door with a new one.
I felt as if I had hit the jackpot!! Sure, we lived between two pilots with their bonuses and incentive pay, but for a split second I wasking queen of the world with my shiny, new stove and a maintenance man who actually gave a damn!
Fast forward to this assignment. We have been living in Italy's equivalent of base housing for a year now. When we did the initial walk-through with the housing office, they told us that they would be putting in a new dishwasher since the previous tenants had been having trouble with the one that was installed when the house was built over thirty years ago.
It worked for the first few months, but I have been washing dishes by hand - in a tiny sink, I might add - for several months now. I really haven't complained much to housing or my landlord because we have been having some issues with our water pressure and I thought that might be part of the problem.
When we moved here everyone told us that the Italians don't get in a big hurry about anything. It can (and did) take weeks/months to get phone and internet set up, repairs are done eventually. Domani. Domani.
So, imagine my surprise when my cell phone rang this afternoon and it was the housing office telling me that housing maintenance would be here Friday to install my new dishwasher. That would be the dishwasher I had actually forgotten they said they were going to install a year ago.
And THEN... not twenty minutes later my landlord called. My heart sank a little when I saw his number pop up, I was afraid he was going to tell me that he was going to have someone try to fix the old dishwasher, but no! He was calling to tell me he was bringing a technician by tomorrow to look at where to install another air conditioning unit!!
For those who have not had the pleasure of living in Italy, let me tell you it gets HOT! Central air conditioning is not a common thing in this country. We are actually lucky in that we have one a/c unit in our house as many homes do not. The one unit we have keeps the living room somewhat bearable if we keep the doors to the rest of the house shut off. Last week the mercury hovered right around the 100 degree mark for several days and we were able to keep the living room around 82 degrees.
The rest of the house... not so much. Sofa bed and pillow and blankets on the floor was the decorating scheme for our living room.
So, with a new dishwasher and air conditioner on the way I am feeling like the queen of the world again.
The last time that happened to me was five years ago while we were living on base at Travis in housing we affectionately referred to as "the ghetto" which was actually a step up from what my friend was living in known as the "crack houses." But, I digress...
We had been having trouble with our oven. It was old and cantankerous. If the temperature was set at 350 degrees it would take over an hour to cook a frozen pizza. Except on the days when it would be burnt to a crisp in under five minutes.
So, my hero from housing maintenance showed up and while he tinkered with the oven I stood in the kitchen and chatted with him. It turned out he was a retired maintenance Chief whose wife couldn't stand having him around the house all day after 30 years of Air Force life. He said they agreed that he would get a job because it beat the alternative of her spending all day at the mall. He loved working with his hands and obviously felt right at home on base, so it was the perfect job for him.
During our conversation, I revealed that husband was a maintenance officer and was currently sitting in the sand. At that point, he tossed the wrench he was holding into his tool box and said "Maintainers take care of their own. I'll be back within the hour with a new stove."
It was a beautiful thing to behold! All shiny and new. No chips or scratches. All the knobs matched and it had no missing racks. I couldn't wait to use it!
As he left, he told me he would be sending someone over to replace my warped circa 1950s screen door with a new one.
I felt as if I had hit the jackpot!! Sure, we lived between two pilots with their bonuses and incentive pay, but for a split second I was
Fast forward to this assignment. We have been living in Italy's equivalent of base housing for a year now. When we did the initial walk-through with the housing office, they told us that they would be putting in a new dishwasher since the previous tenants had been having trouble with the one that was installed when the house was built over thirty years ago.
It worked for the first few months, but I have been washing dishes by hand - in a tiny sink, I might add - for several months now. I really haven't complained much to housing or my landlord because we have been having some issues with our water pressure and I thought that might be part of the problem.
When we moved here everyone told us that the Italians don't get in a big hurry about anything. It can (and did) take weeks/months to get phone and internet set up, repairs are done eventually. Domani. Domani.
So, imagine my surprise when my cell phone rang this afternoon and it was the housing office telling me that housing maintenance would be here Friday to install my new dishwasher. That would be the dishwasher I had actually forgotten they said they were going to install a year ago.
And THEN... not twenty minutes later my landlord called. My heart sank a little when I saw his number pop up, I was afraid he was going to tell me that he was going to have someone try to fix the old dishwasher, but no! He was calling to tell me he was bringing a technician by tomorrow to look at where to install another air conditioning unit!!
For those who have not had the pleasure of living in Italy, let me tell you it gets HOT! Central air conditioning is not a common thing in this country. We are actually lucky in that we have one a/c unit in our house as many homes do not. The one unit we have keeps the living room somewhat bearable if we keep the doors to the rest of the house shut off. Last week the mercury hovered right around the 100 degree mark for several days and we were able to keep the living room around 82 degrees.
The rest of the house... not so much. Sofa bed and pillow and blankets on the floor was the decorating scheme for our living room.
So, with a new dishwasher and air conditioner on the way I am feeling like the queen of the world again.
Ooh! Sounds like you hit the jackpot.
I feel your pain when dealing with appliances in 30+ year old houses. I just [finally] got rid of my stove and matching baby poop yellow (Mom says it's gold) range hood for a newer stove and brand new range hood. It's so nice to be able to bake without burning, to use the oven without having to cordon off the kitchen so that no one will accidentally bump into the stove and receive 3rd degree burns, and then there's the fear of the house burning down...
Anyway. Congrats on the new stuff!
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