Post-internet crash post

Hey all,

I've tracked my audience statistics, and thank you for all the love from Germany, Italy and UK, although I have not yet received any comment on my blog! :P (but I know who you are, haha.)

So I have been out of the loop for two days because my central internet cable was broken (I've learned my lesson in many occasions; in short, do NOT trust T-Mobile). Yesterday out of desperation for connection with the outside world I wrote down another post, so here I will just put it down:

2/8/2012

Dear all,

The last couple days have been a bit confusing to me. Why do I say this? Well, turns out moving into a self-contained studio is technologically challenging for someone like me. 

I am the product under the notorious, infamous (whatever your opinion is towards it) only child policy in China. Together with the cheap labor in my home country, this holds certain implications:

(1) Daddy is the tool box and labor;

(2) Mommy is the chef, the cleaner, or maid in some families (sadly);

(3) If there are household issues mommy and daddy can't or won't handle, it is very, very affordable to hire some external help.

Over the years of living abroad away from my parents, I have become acquainted with the more simple homemaking tasks, provided the common area facilities are set up and maintained by professionals. So I just do my own things in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room, and know which number to dial if something goes wrong. 

But the time has changed. I am living really on my own now, and everything inside the door of my little apartment is beyond the jurisdication of the property management team in this building, unless I intend to put my wallet on a serious diet by hiring someone to do the job. So when the former tenant in my flat told me that it was tricky to set up a washer, I really panicked for a second because I was not at all handyman material, and I was not prepared to cycle through the rain to have my laundry cleaned. Seriously, why don't they just provide a laundary room on the ground floor? Like the way they do in the Big Bang Theory. :(

Anyway, the challenge is to find a right spot for the washer, either in the kitchen or in the storage room. After Niels and I semi-vetoed the kitchen idea due to limited space, we had only one option left. But there is no power, no plumbing system in the storage room. Power is the easy-I know where to buy and how to hook up power extension. But how to get water in and out of the washing machine?

Thank god Niels finds the whole thing an easy-peasy: hoses. Of course, this word will never hit me, I've never had my own garden or shared any interest in how to maintain a garden.

The rest is all fairly technical and practical for me: I accompanied Niels to a DIY store, being bored as much as he would have been if we had visited a shoe store. He went to the DIY store twice again and some hardware stores to pick up little necessary things, and now he is being a busy handy man. All together the tools and components cost less than 50 euro, less than its value since I've learned quite a bit of new knowledge about washing machines LOL. I will not bore you here, but if you are ever interested, prepare for a sleepover at my place to listen to me talkin' about transportation bolts and stablizers all night long. 

I hope I will have a working washing machine soon!

Update from today, 3rd of August: I have just done my first batch of laundry and everything works fine! The studio is all set up and ready to host guests. I just need a few low priority items, among which a drying line for my laundry to be dried on the balcony will be nice. 

The bedroom/study half of my studio-with the worn out handy man. 

I hope you've liked my new input, and enjoy your summer wherever you are!