Cardinal Richelieu
It’s been a while since I complained about the weather. So let me just assure you that it is much too hot right now. Thankfully I have two floor ventilators running and all windows open. So it’s almost bearable. I am looking forward to winter, though.
Today I made my first hot meal in the new appartment. Nothing fancy. Just a couple of fried eggs. It went well enough. Although it takes some getting used to, everything being different. The kitchen. The cooking plates. The smaller space. New things you have to learn.
I also went and did some practical shopping. Things I need. Like dishwashing liquid and toilet cleaning stuff and other such remedies. Nobody ever done told me how complicated that was. I went to the supermarket and there was aisle after aisle of soaps and detergents and deodorants and shampoos and on and on. I almost got dizzy. And even when I managed to narrow it down to the stuff I needed, there were still a million different brands. Some for smooth textures, some for hard textures, some for textures that are fuzzy around the edges. Three-in-one, extra fast, extra tough, extra brilliant, extra shine. Some that is easy on the hands and some that is perfumed and some that contain newly invented formulas and some that are classic and tried and tested and you just know that 9 out of 10 dentists recommend the hacksaw. Oh boy. I started thinking that maybe it would be easier to just get a wife and let her handle it. You know, then I could sit in the couch and smoke a pipe and watch the game. And other such sexist stereotypes.
I did eventually manage to pick out some stuff that seemed good. I’ll cross my fingers and hope it works. I might go back to the old house and look at what they have there just to get a better idea of what is needed. It’s strange living on your own and suddenly having to deal with every little thing. All the things that just used to magically appear, now I have to go buy them myself. All the lamps I just used to let stay on all night, now I stop to think “hmm, how is that going to affect my electrical bill”. I never used to have an electrical bill. I thought electricity was magic, generated by powerful wizards with long beards and flowing robes. And the water came straight from the sacred spring in the jungle. Free and everflowing.
All those things that I never used to give a thought in the world. Now I am the one who has to think of them. But it’s a valuable lesson of course, and it will be good for me to learn how to handle everything on my own. I just hope that when winter finally does come that I will have plenty of dragons to breathe fire and heat up the place for free.
I haven’t heard from the drape store yet. He said that he’d call me at the end of the week so we could arrange when he could come and put them up. My dad decided to pay for the drape guy to come and fix it all instead of us doing it ourselves. Mostly because there is a glider (is that what they’re called? the metal bars that the drapes hang from) that is too long and needs to be sawed and then screwed in and so forth. Too complicated for us, I guess. Anyway. Tomorrow is Friday, that’s about as end of the week as you can get. I hope I will get that call. I’m coping okay with boxes in the windows, though. It’s not too horrible. But it would be nice to get the drapes up. Also just to have everything finalized. To know that the appartment is done. There are still some things missing. For example the unpacking. Although I got one of the last big boxes done. Also the nametag on the door is still wrong. I have put up a little piece of paper with my name on it but it would be nice to have a proper sign. And I need my real keys. I think I forgot to mention that, but the key they gave me is a temporary one. The last tenant was unable to return all his keys, so they need to put in a new lock in the door. I have actually been up there, at the housinge office, to ask about it and they said that the new lock and keys were all ready, the super just has to put a note in my mailbox so we can set a time when they can come and change the lock. But I have gotten no note, so I’m still using my temp key. Which also means that I can’t access my storage room in the basement. It would be nice to have that sorted out as well.
But mainly I’m just enjoying myself, chilling out, relaxing, taking it easy. Enjoying being on my own. I love that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. It is a freedom so sweet.
M’lud, freedom is a state much prized within the realm of civilized society. It is a bond wherewith the savage man may charm the outward hatchments of his soul, and soothe the troubled breast into a magnitude of quiet. It is most precious as a blessed balm, the saviour of princes, the harbinger of happiness, yea, the very stuff and pith of all we hold most dear. What frees the prisoner in his lonely cell, chained within the bondage of rude walls, far from the owl of Thebes? What fires and stirs the woodcock in his springe or wakes the drowsy apricot betides? What goddess doth the storm toss’d mariner offer her most tempestuous prayers to?
Freedom!
Freedom!
Freedom!
August 10th, 2007 at 1:00
My dear danish goat boy, the best way to get a girlfriend . . . then a wife, is to impress her with your knowledge of how to shop, clean, follow a budget, pay bills, etc. Sounds like you want a MAID or a SERVANT!
Tsk, tsk. Now you’re living on your own, we need to work on your social skills or “How to Impress that Lovely Young Thing” you’ve invited to your apartment to cook supper for.
I take it your Mom must have done most of the shopping at your house. It’s not too late to thank her for all the times the soap, shampoo, etc., magically appeared at your house and ask for some suggestions on what brands/kinds of things she bought. It will give you two something to talk about and you will feel like two grown-ups discussing things.
I guess my sister and I were really lucky growing up. Our Mom taught us how to cook, clean, fish, read, pay bills, shop, budget, save money, do laundry, etc. My Mom even went with me to get my first car. She was really good about letting us bake cakes/pies when we were little, even though I’m sure we were messy and made the whole process lots slower.
My Dad taught us to be honest, trustworthy, to do a job right the first time even if no one was watching us. He taught us when we said we’d do something at work for someone, to actually do it and follow thru till it was completed. We knew people respected our Dad at his work. They both expected my sister and I to do our best in whatever we did.
What kind of messages did you get from your parents? If you don’t want to say, that’s okay, too. I get snoopy from time to time. I can’t help it, I’m curious as a goat!
August 10th, 2007 at 22:10
Debster – I did consider a maid.. but then i would have to pay! With a wife all I’d have to is.. socialize. Hmm. Maybe a maid is easier. Hehe. Well maybe I exagerrated my non-understanding of how things work a little. And I do have appreciated my mother’s work. And she has actually offered to help me with all that toilet/kitchen/houseware stuff. So I won’t be completely lost, I’m sure.
It sounds like you had a very wholesome childhood. I’m afraid I didn’t quite get the same upbringing. Not that my parents left me in the mall and fed me rotten apples and taught me to skip school. It was just a little less wholesome, I think. i’ll have to think about what messages exactly I got. I’ll make a list, if I can!