It seemed that my reputation preceded me when I spent most of Monday morning on the telephone to court houses. I had several that had been experiencing some sort of crises in April. Whether it was our end or theirs, I know not, but we had not been receiving the documents that we required. My personal opinion is that it was ours, as they all have their own systems, and as we were not getting anything from anyone, it would indicate that they were not having a problem at all. It must have been sunny everywhere, as all were most polite and cheerful. Within a short period of time, we were receiving email after email, and everyone was very busy!
As the sun had been out for most of the afternoon, I risked a swim. It was a little chilly, but I knew that if I went poolside, in my swimwear, and sat on the edge with my legs dangling, I would force myself to take the plunge. I did. I let out a slight squeal, but it was not freezing, and I recognised the difference between early April and now. I could breathe as I swam, and my limbs did not hurt from the cold liquid. I completed my laps and headed back. "Perhaps I will try at the weekend" said my newest neighbour. Try? I sometimes feel like a school teacher, with my pupils letting me know that they really are doing their best, but it is hard for them. Quite frankly, I am not averse to anyone not trying. I know that if they try, they will like, and the pool will be rather crowded. I know; it is not my pool! My initial reaction to tell them to leave it until September, or perhaps next year, is never voiced, as my selfish nature is generally surpassed with the 'good' in me, and I know that it is not only polite to 'play well with others', but that the 'toys' do not all belong to me! Despite my initial reaction, I always respond, "Oh you should!" and hope the gritted teeth do not show! Suffice it to say, I did not have company on Monday!
"Oh my! That is not good. That never happens", said the lady at the other end of the phone. I had called the post office call centre to find out what had happened to one of my letters. This is a usual practice for me, and lately more and more of my letters are either not reaching their destination, or the carriers are not updating their system. I had a letter that had been sent out in mid April, and the latest activity showed that it had arrived at the sorting office. The previous week I had a letter go on a magical mystery tour, so I suppose it is the 'luck of the draw'. The lady on the phone was either new, had never experienced a caller with a complaint, or just plain naïve. Perhaps I am being a little bit unfair, as to be fair, she was probably not expecting the conversation to go the way it did. Having hung on for nearly an hour the previous week, I got bored. "What would you like?" came the question. In the past, when given options on an automated call, if I tried to buck the system, and ask for a department that I know would not have many callers, I would be placed back in the holding patter when my query did not match their expertise. For example, if I said I wanted to leave the phone company, I knew I would be put through to someone very quickly, but when I said that I had a question about my account, I was told, "That is a different department". As the computerised voice obviously could not understand my very strong English accent, and attempted to put me through to every other department, from 'ordering stamps' to 'passports', when she finally said, "I think you wanted, 'Small business'. Is that correct?", I answered, "Yes". I wad put through within a few second, and that is why, when I heard the very kind sounding lady at the other end of the line, exclaim, "Oh my! That is not good. That never happens", I did not say, in my usual adamant, but 'oh so' sweet response, "Oh yes it does!" A pantomime by any other word .....! So sweet, and kind, and as outraged as a delicate meringue could be, she promised, actually promised that someone would get back to me very, very soon. Perhaps, at this stage, I should add that not only was I complaining that my letter had been stuck in 'unclaimed baggage' for nearly a month, but someone was supposed to be looking into it, and I should have already received a call back! Her outrage was more of a devastating blow! The call ended with me feeling very sorry for her and apologising for having to call again and complain again. As she put down the phone, I grieved for her loss of innocence, but then thought this could be an elaborate ploy! She was either sitting in floods of tears, wondering why she came into work today, and how was she going to get this problem fixed, or she was laughing and telling her colleagues that she had 'scored again', with the sympathy vote! Either way, I was spending far too much time thinking about it! However, within ten minutes I received a call. "This is Mr. Scott from the post office. I just had a call to say you needed me to look into a complaint. I will do that and get back to you within four to five business days. Thank you. Hello?" I managed to squeak, "Hello", and he continued. "Did you get that?" Oh I did! Jekyll and Hyde! Perhaps it was the lady to whom I first spoke.....! Yes, way too much time spent thinking about this! So ended another day in my very varied life!
The leak that had sprung up near the pool was very bad. Water was gushing out of a hole in the road. I spoke to Raul who tried to explain to me what had happened. Apparently, a clamp had been put around the leaking pipe, and it was causing the water to come up, rather than down, and that would stop underground seepage, and whilst it was creating a beautiful water feature in the creek behind the pool, it had to be fixed! I sent an email to our chairman to clarify!
Despite the threat of rain, it did not materialise during the week. I happily skipped each morning, clad (almost) like a deep sea diver, and enjoyed the exercise. It made me feel a little bit more alive. It was not the only thing that made me feel quite happy. My husband paid me a remarkable compliment on Wednesday night, after I had dished up dinner. He said that it was like eating out at a high class restaurant each week, and my culinary skills were quite extraordinary. I accepted graciously, and told him that I had a good clientele to work with! Samantha had 'facetimed' me when she was at the Dollar Tree on Tuesday, to show me some of their more exotic solar lights, and had kept me online when she reached the 'seasoning' section. Among the interesting selection of spices and the like, was a 'coffee, sea salt, onion and garlic' grinder. It was quite the thing for bringing out the flavour of my veg! What a find!
"Do you want to go to see this week's rugby match?" I asked Grant. He said that he had his son this weekend, and they were looking for things to do. Last time, they had a blast. "I have tickets", I told him as the 'You have won", came up on my screen. He was delighted. I was so excited that I had won, again! Things only got better, as when he said that he had both boys this weekend, I found that he had won a pair of tickets too! I had entered both of us for an extra chance of winning, and we had both won! Then I received another email to say I had won a family pack from a local butcher. Unknown to me, the said butcher was a famous baseball player in his previous life, and had found a new 'game to play'. When I told the postman of my winnings, he said that he had looked a the website for the butchery and found it rather expensive. "What's in the family pack?" he asked. I told him that after looking at the value, and the price of the products, it was probably a sausage and a rib, but I was willing to share! "But you won, again!" he said. "Yes, and it doesn't matter what it is!" said I, and meant it! My week was complete!
I got up early on Saturday. I had received an email back from our chairman, and he had told me that the 'clamp' to which Raul referred was put there four years ago, and one thing did not necessarily have anything to do with the other. The company employed to find leaks, had found but one, with their new super-duper electronic device but, although they could pin point it, they did not know the cause. The water gushing out had been slow at first, but then obviously the pressure had build up and it had caused a rupture. It all sounded rather awful to me, and my mind, obviously, went to worst case scenario. We were all going to drown in our own homes! The 'crew' arrived a little after six thirty, and the water was turned off to a few houses along the way. I went swimming. Our chairman came down as I was about half way through and asked how the water was. I was more interested in whether we were going to have a property left at the end of the day! He seemed a bit confused by the question. Obviously, he had more information than me, or perhaps he was just not a pessimistic doom and gloom skeptic! I carried on swimming, and then heard the 'digger' start up. I got out of the pool and ran to the gate. "Stop, stop!" I cried, waving my arms. The driver got out of the cab and came to the gate. "What!" he said, looking rather worried. I explained that I needed to get out, and if they were digging by the gate, I would be stuck inside, as I could not scale the fence! He tried hard not to laugh, but it did not work. "We are digging over there! You will be able to get out. It will just be noisy and a bit dusty". I was relieved. I could cope with noise and dust! I completed my swim.
made my way down to the pool and saw the same man. He told me that they had found the leak, fixed it, and were just filling in the hole and going to leave everything as near as they found it, minus of course, the gushing water. I thanked him profusely. In fact, I think he was a bit taken aback at my gratitude.
The thunder rolled in around four in the morning, but by seven it was just drizzling. I swam and returned home to make breakfast. I walked with an umbrella a little later, and then watched as the heavens opened, and rain cascaded down the road. I doubted I would get to spend much time sitting and reading today, let alone swim. Perhaps weather would break a little later!
It was not a long week, per se, but it was interesting. Summer is on its way and there is an air of indifference. It is mid-May and there are those who are looking forward to the hot days, and others who are dreading them. It is a yearly phenomenon. There is another group, of whom I am one, not really bothered one way or another. This is Texas and 'it is what it is'!
My afternoon's activities are as yet unknown. The birds have started to sing so it is possible that swim will be a happening thing! I have no expectations for next week, although I will be waiting for Mr. Scott to call back with a response to my query. I wonder if he will give me a fait accomplish or let me ask "Why?" All will be told in ..... another story!
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