Let there be Light!
Have you ever rented a home? Living in my current apartment is my first experience with renting completely on my own. In Israel, the ministry rented the apartments for the staff, and the secretary took care of all the communication with the landlord. Here, if something breaks or floods, I have to deal with the landlord myself.
My landlord is a large real-estate company, run by any number of people in an office building located two hours away. I pay my check by mail each month; generally things run smoothly. However, in late November, I had a problem with my shutters in the living room--the largest and most well-lit room of my apartment. All the volets (shutters) in my apartment are "rolling" shutters. I wind them up and down with a handle, and they roll like a garage door. I noticed the problem first when the handle seemed to have more tension as I would roll the shutters up in the morning. Soon, I could hardly turn the handle because it was so resistant. Then came the day where all of the sudden, the interior mechanism gave way, and the shutters went crashing down to the ground, leaving me in total darkness. I could still raise them, but it took ten minutes to find the right spot where they would freeze halfway up. Most of the time, they would just fall right back down. I called la gestion (management) of my building.
The employee there assured me that he would take care of it. A week later, I called again to find out where things stood with "taking care of it." Oh, he was just about to call me (yeah, right!) and could I give him my cell phone number again? He was having a problem tracking down someone who could fix it before the holidays. I gave him my cell phone number for the second time, and about two hours later, a company that installs and fixes shutters called to schedule a visit.
A man finally came to give un devi (an estimate) on December 11. It took about fifteen minutes for him to "hmmm" at the handle, the shutters, and box that houses the mechanism above the window. Apparently, the brake inside had broken (ironic!) which made the shutters fall down on their own. He said that he would send the estimate directly to the management office of my building and as soon as they signed off on the repair, he would schedule a date with me to fix the problem. In the meantime, he showed me a neat little trick to cheat the mechanism by blocking the handle against the wall.
However, life grew dull in an apartment where the light was blocked out by shutters. I didn't have much interest in being in a room that felt so shut-in. At least I had my Christmas tree lights to make it more homey. I could no longer go out on my front balcony (where I dry laundry on sunny days) and my plants were dying, too. It was rather depressing.
Christy came for the holidays and we spent most of our time gallivanting around France, so it wasn't too bad. But one day while we were getting ready to go out somewhere, we heard a fantastic crash and both went running into the living room. The neat little trick that cheated the mechanism had finally given in to all the built-up tension in the shutters! The handle had spun out from the wall so wildly it had cracked in places and was all wound up in my curtain sheers, ripping holes in a few places. Thankfully, having Christy there meant an extra pair of hands as we tried to untangle it all.
Of course, the darkness was now permanent in my living room. As soon as Christy left and all of France went back to work in the New Year, I called the building management again. This time he assured me he had already authorized the estimate and the hold-up was the shutter company. I should call them.
So I did. Of course, they never received this authorization. I should call the building management again. So I did. He assured me that he would call them and between them, he'd take care of it. Sound familiar? Yes, he told me that one month before! So between the two of them, they did nothing. I kept calling one and the other, collecting authorization numbers and estimate amounts and everyone's names. . . . until Tuesday, when I got so fed up, I handed it all off to my colleague Weleli. I was convinced that they were taking advantage of my being an American; how would I know how to "work the system" to get what I need? But Weleli is great cutting through red-tape situations; I've heard her yell at people on the phone and she's pretty good at that, too! So I left it in her capable hands. She spent nearly all day on the phone with both the management company and the shutter company, calling them both every hour until finally the shutter company called to tell me that they were coming to fix my problem the very next day (probably just to get Weleli off their backs).
Two men came yesterday and two hours (and three months) later, they had fixed the problem. It was very complicated, I assume, by all their frustrated sighing and grunting and complaining to each other. They ran in and out getting materials from their truck and every time they passed me (I was cleaning the kitchen so I would be close by but not too close by) they would shake their heads and say "Madame, I just don't know. We're not sure we can fix it."
Suddenly, I noticed the whole apartment got brighter, like when the sun bursts out on a cloudy day. I realized the shutters were up at last. I went in to see what they'd done and they were just putting my curtains back up. They invited me to roll the shutters up and down for myself, to see how they were fixed. There was wall plaster, dust, and crud all over the floor, but I didn't even care. All I could see was the sunlight blinding me after three months of darkness. Actually, they even vacuumed up all the mess for me, so I was twice blessed.
My landlord is a large real-estate company, run by any number of people in an office building located two hours away. I pay my check by mail each month; generally things run smoothly. However, in late November, I had a problem with my shutters in the living room--the largest and most well-lit room of my apartment. All the volets (shutters) in my apartment are "rolling" shutters. I wind them up and down with a handle, and they roll like a garage door. I noticed the problem first when the handle seemed to have more tension as I would roll the shutters up in the morning. Soon, I could hardly turn the handle because it was so resistant. Then came the day where all of the sudden, the interior mechanism gave way, and the shutters went crashing down to the ground, leaving me in total darkness. I could still raise them, but it took ten minutes to find the right spot where they would freeze halfway up. Most of the time, they would just fall right back down. I called la gestion (management) of my building.
The employee there assured me that he would take care of it. A week later, I called again to find out where things stood with "taking care of it." Oh, he was just about to call me (yeah, right!) and could I give him my cell phone number again? He was having a problem tracking down someone who could fix it before the holidays. I gave him my cell phone number for the second time, and about two hours later, a company that installs and fixes shutters called to schedule a visit.
A man finally came to give un devi (an estimate) on December 11. It took about fifteen minutes for him to "hmmm" at the handle, the shutters, and box that houses the mechanism above the window. Apparently, the brake inside had broken (ironic!) which made the shutters fall down on their own. He said that he would send the estimate directly to the management office of my building and as soon as they signed off on the repair, he would schedule a date with me to fix the problem. In the meantime, he showed me a neat little trick to cheat the mechanism by blocking the handle against the wall.
However, life grew dull in an apartment where the light was blocked out by shutters. I didn't have much interest in being in a room that felt so shut-in. At least I had my Christmas tree lights to make it more homey. I could no longer go out on my front balcony (where I dry laundry on sunny days) and my plants were dying, too. It was rather depressing.
Christy came for the holidays and we spent most of our time gallivanting around France, so it wasn't too bad. But one day while we were getting ready to go out somewhere, we heard a fantastic crash and both went running into the living room. The neat little trick that cheated the mechanism had finally given in to all the built-up tension in the shutters! The handle had spun out from the wall so wildly it had cracked in places and was all wound up in my curtain sheers, ripping holes in a few places. Thankfully, having Christy there meant an extra pair of hands as we tried to untangle it all.
Of course, the darkness was now permanent in my living room. As soon as Christy left and all of France went back to work in the New Year, I called the building management again. This time he assured me he had already authorized the estimate and the hold-up was the shutter company. I should call them.
So I did. Of course, they never received this authorization. I should call the building management again. So I did. He assured me that he would call them and between them, he'd take care of it. Sound familiar? Yes, he told me that one month before! So between the two of them, they did nothing. I kept calling one and the other, collecting authorization numbers and estimate amounts and everyone's names. . . . until Tuesday, when I got so fed up, I handed it all off to my colleague Weleli. I was convinced that they were taking advantage of my being an American; how would I know how to "work the system" to get what I need? But Weleli is great cutting through red-tape situations; I've heard her yell at people on the phone and she's pretty good at that, too! So I left it in her capable hands. She spent nearly all day on the phone with both the management company and the shutter company, calling them both every hour until finally the shutter company called to tell me that they were coming to fix my problem the very next day (probably just to get Weleli off their backs).
Two men came yesterday and two hours (and three months) later, they had fixed the problem. It was very complicated, I assume, by all their frustrated sighing and grunting and complaining to each other. They ran in and out getting materials from their truck and every time they passed me (I was cleaning the kitchen so I would be close by but not too close by) they would shake their heads and say "Madame, I just don't know. We're not sure we can fix it."
Suddenly, I noticed the whole apartment got brighter, like when the sun bursts out on a cloudy day. I realized the shutters were up at last. I went in to see what they'd done and they were just putting my curtains back up. They invited me to roll the shutters up and down for myself, to see how they were fixed. There was wall plaster, dust, and crud all over the floor, but I didn't even care. All I could see was the sunlight blinding me after three months of darkness. Actually, they even vacuumed up all the mess for me, so I was twice blessed.
I feel like I am alive all over again when I walk into the day-bright living room. Just like God, in Genesis 1:2, I also think that the light is good!