For 2024 I decided to bring back regular coffee dates on this blog. There was a time when Lecy hosted those and when I started writing them. Then I just picked it up every once in a while when I felt like a lot of smaller life snippets needed to be talked about. I love the feeling of a virtual coffee date and it makes me really enjoy pretending to sit with you in some cute little coffee shop with maybe a cake between us and chat a way. So they are back.
If you and I had coffee…
…we would meet through zoom or FaceTime though. After almost managing to steer clear of Covid for four years I did test positive on Thursday for the first time ever. Sigh. I really could have done without. But it was bound to happen. And after being on a trade fair the weekend prior it really doesn’t come as surprise.
What is a bit annoying is that the husband has a minor surgery tomorrow and really can’t catch Covid. So we have been separating for the past five days. I am confined to my room, the bedroom and the guest bathroom. He sleeps on the couch and has the tv. It has been a while since I was bored out of my mind. And I really am getting cabin fever. I hardly manage to get a 1000 steps. Let’s hope it will be over soon. Luckily I have very light symptoms and besides being a bit more tired and having trouble concentrating I am doing fine.
If you and I had coffee…
…I should probably tell you about the outcome of my electrician odyssey. All sounded great end of November when I’ve gotten a rather quick appointment. And the guy showed up. He did his job – maybe not as professional as the electrician we hired in the previous apartment but at the end of the day almost all lamps were hanging in their spot and were working.
Almost all. My lamp I had order didn’t get here in time. Also the bathroom mirror was of course broken. I wrote all about it here before.
The electrician had said he would stop by when the lamp and mirror had arrived on short notice. Also two lamps had some issue he said he could fix by either taken them back to his shop or do so when he would come back. I opted for keeping them (I didn’t totally trust him I guess – good call!!!).
Anyway when everything was delivered over a week later I tried calling him. The phone was off. Not reachable. Strange. I assumed the worst as is unfortunately my nature. I wrote an email. Next day I get a call from a different number from the electrician. His phone was in repair. Fine. We made an appointment. I will shorten the following story because my mental health can’t relive it.
He didn’t show or rather I didn’t hear anything. I kept calling and texting and he kept saying he’ll show up. Didn’t happen. Next day he answered my text from another number saying he dropped the phone and couldn’t get to my contact info that is why he didn’t get in touch. I was a bit tense and cautious by now. So next appointment I put on a day may husband was home. A Friday. Long story short he kept telling me he will be around at 11am. He wasn’t. Calling and texting he told me it will be more like 1pm. He wasn’t. By 3.30 pm I asked again what the deal was. He said he could be there by 7pm or tomorrow. No thank you. I told him it was ok to run late but I would appreciate an update and we decided to schedule Monday 11 am. Take a guess. Monday he didn’t show. We did the same dance again. I had told him I needed to leave the house by 4pm. I was sitting on hot coals (Is that a saying in English? San?). He told me he will show up. Never called or excused himself for being late. Wasn’t able to reach him. Only texts. I was pissed.
I already saw myself hanging everything up by myself. (In hind side I probably should have just done it and save myself some mental energy). Next time he called he told me prices were going up and he needed to get another 100€ or so. I was beyond understanding and wouldn’t want to budge. The husband told me to just give him the money so it is finally done. I am not that kind of person. However I told him we had a deal and he wasn’t yet done with his services even though money was received. It wasn’t that I wouldn’t have paid more but we had an agreement he wanted to steer off.
Long story short he finally showed up (with 4 hours delay of course). He managed to do the remaining jobs. He had a colleague with him who had nothing better to do than complain and lounge in my reading chair and talk on the phone. I just wanted to get them out of the house so I didn’t even say anything. I did tell him though that I didn’t appreciate the communication and that this is not professional business. I understand if emergencies happen or other clients have more pressing issues but I expect and update and not sitting for four days waiting and not being able to work /schedule calls etc.
When the last thing – the mirror was up – I was so happy. Until they called me telling me the mirror was broken again. The on-off button was not centered which was a production issue. They explained. I had seen the back side previously and understood it wasn’t their fault. I let them go. Gave them some additional money. They wanted to have the tax too and I told them I would transfer that when I received the bill.
The offer to have them come again to hang the mirror once a new one came I declined and said I would manage myself.
Surprise: I have not received a bill until now. My asking was answered with I’ll do it today multiple times. I think I give up. Let’s hope our accountant can us the receipt they handed me. As for the mirror… when I received the new one and wanted to hang I took the old one from the wall to see if I could unplug all the cables by myself and hang it up. After taking it off to check I had to hang it again to prepare. Take a guess. I hang it up and all was fine. I really don’t know what they were doing. Apparently they were not able to hang it up correctly. Sigh. Well, saved me some time and I have a second mirror I can now gift or sell or something.
The whole ordeal reminded me of San’s kitchen tile story. Fortunately for me the start and end was packed into four weeks. These four weeks however had me spiraling. My mental health took a toll, my Christmas spirit left me, I was beyond exhausted, annoyed and aggressive. If I hate one thing it is when people do not do what they promise or paid for and are not repeating my time.
To end this story on a positive note: look at my new awesome lamp!
If you and I had coffee…
…I would switch to lighter topics. Snow. We have had some recently again. Just today I woke up to a winter wonderland. The snow flakes slowly dancing down. It looks so beautiful. I could just sit here and watch them all day long. It’s my happy place watching snow fall down.
I managed to take a walk last week when we had really cold temperatures (several days -10°) and the river was almost frozen over. Winter, cold, snow, ice and peak of the sun and spending time outdoors I really don’t need more to be happy.
I know many of you are not into this kind of weather but I am sure you know the feeling of weather happiness.
If you and I had coffee…
…I tell you that I finally started my embroidery project I had planned to do in January 2023. My magic sweater. I wanted to stich some sparkling moon phases on a black hoodie. I had all materials gathered and planned and prepared the hoodie and than it sat there silently judging. Well thanks to Covid and my boredom I picked it up. I am not done yet as it takes a bit more time then I thought but I hope to finish it the next few days.
I love these kind of projects. Gives me a chance to try something new. Having a concrete project in mind and it being evolving around my word of the year often helps to get it done.
I am not sure I will do a sweater/shirt for the 2024 word as I am just catching up for 2023. But I do have some ideas already. So not sure. Check out my Pinterest board if you are curious.
If you and I had coffee…
…I let you know that the start of next 100 Day Project is coming up. Rumors have it, it will start mid/end February. My last project – black-out poetry – is getting shared on this blog in random intervals this year. The real time project will happen on Instagram.
I have two and half ideas about my project this year.
Initially I planned on doing more sketching. I received a box of nice pencils and coals for my birthday last year and it feels a good way to use and exercise with them. I also wanted to take a class in sketching to learn more about the technique. So I could just sketch any random object or scene for a hundred days. You could argue putting in shade is shaping the object…
But then I came up with the word shape for 2024 and now I am thinking about doing shapes. Similar to my photography project a few years back I was thinking about writing down shapes (square, circle, triangle) on a piece of paper and then other items (eye, house, candle, etc) on different colored paper. Each day I draw two pieces and will sketch those. But I am not sure if I will have fun drawing circle candles. or triangle houses. You know?
The half idea I have was drawing 100 eyes. Again using pencil and coal but sticking to one object/item. I have always been fascinated by eyes and used to draw them all over and everywhere in my calendars and journals.
Well, I am not totally sure which direction I am leaning. Feel free to give your input. And if you happen to join in let me know so we can cheer each other on.
If you and I had coffee…
…I would close our chat and hoping you had a good time joining me. I would be a bit exhausted and tired and all socialized out. Looking forward to some quiet me time now. Reading or working on that embroidery project. Maybe watching a movie. Until next time friend.
If you and I had coffee, what would you like to tell me? What advice or feedback would you have for me after listening to my stories? What drink would you have ordered?
16 comments
That electrician story is my worst nightmare. Literally. We’ve had some really awful experiences with contractors and just reading about your experience made me want to both scream AND cry. But the light looks AMAZING. What a great choice you made in the end.
I’m so sorry about COVID. Ugh. And such tough timing as you need to be extra cautious around your husband before his surgery. Hoping you’re feeling better soon and all goes well for your hubby.
Thank you Elisabeth. I know you have your share of horror stories to tell and I am sorry my tale took you back there. It’s just so so annoying and I really can’t grasp how some people conduct business.
Yeah Covid is really annoying but I’ve been lucky to have been avoiding it so far. Husband’s medical procedures went well and he is back chilling on the couch.
Oh, man! What was even happening with that electrician? So weird. I can’t even imagine the discomfort of having people IN YOUR OWN HOME who are just making you so uncomfortable!
We have lots of snow and very cold weather. It is beautiful, but stressful because the roads are so terrible. If I could just stay at home and never have to drive, the weather would make me happy.
Don’t ask me. He came up with every possible excuse… broken phone, dropped phone, plumbing issues, list contact info. I told my friend she he now pulls the card my mom is dying I am gonna scream. Just that minute a text came in with exactly those words. I was done and wasn’t sure I can take anything serious anymore.
Off to new adventures. currently struggling with a peeping smoke detector for the past two weeks. Let’s hope that guy shows up tomorrow.
I have to admit I am usually at home and don’t need to drive. We had black ice in parts of germany here the past few days and I am glad I didn’t need to go anywhere. I guess if you need to get stuff done it can be annoying.
If you and I had coffee, I’d commiserate with you about the electrician and things being broken, and then I’d admire your beautiful lamp! It’s gorgeous!
Thank you Michelle. It’s a pain and waste of time. Sigh. But the lamp is a good fit and I am happy
Oh goodness, Tobia, that electrician story sounds AWFUL. No wonder you weren’t feeling the Christmas spirit when you had to deal with all of that back and forth. I’m glad it is finally behind you and you don’t have to deal with him anymore.
And oof about getting Covid. It’s hitting so many people in my life recently so it’s definitely on an uptick. I hope you can come out from quarantining soon! That must be so hard!
Thank you Stephany. Getting Covid now ( for the first time) seems a bit ridiculous but what can you do. I am trying to make the best of it.
And yes the electrician really took a toll on me. So annoying, unnecessary and unpleasant.
So sorry to hear you got Covid, I hope you recover well and hope your husband steers clear of it. And that whole electrician saga sounds so frustrating! It’s very annoying when they mess things around like that. The snow sounds absolutely wonderful, it makes me wish I lived in a colder climate! So lovely to have coffee with you today, Tobia!
Hey Beth so nice of you to join me on my coffee date. The snow really is so beautiful. I went for a long walk yesterday because I needed air and some movement after sitting inside for a week. But I might have overdone it a bit so I need to rest today. This Covid thing is weird. I am not feeling really sick but my body is so tired and slow.
Your new lamp is gorgeous, but OMG, I had dejà vu reading your story with your electrician. That is SO UNPROFESSIONAL. If you hadn’t already paid him, I would have told him not to come at all. I cannot believe he can get away with this.
(BTW, I think we say “to be on pins and needles”… but of course, I knew what “sit on hot coals” meant ;)).
I am so sorry that Covid finally got you. I am glad to hear that your symptoms are mild, but it’s still annoying, esp. if you have to quarantine away from E. I hope his surgery goes well. And I hope that you’ll be testing negative again soon.
It was so unprofessional. The longer I think about it the more red flags I see. Oh well, they are up and they are working. I just try to forget the struggle beforehand.
Thanks for clarifying the saying. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that.
Covid really sucks. Not gonna lie. But I am grateful I steered clear of it for so long a symptoms are mild – but after almost two weeks rather annoying.
Oh goodness, the ordeal with the electrician sounds horrible. Why are contractors such flakes? I feel like they all need a really organized office manager to keep them accountable. Your lamp is perfection, however.
I’m sorry you got COVID, but glad that it sounds like a mild case, and that your husband was able to have his procedure and is home again.
Yes, why are they so flaky and irresponsible. If I conducted business like that I’d be long homeless.
Covid is a mild but loooong case. Tired of it.
I’m a little late commenting, so I hope by now you’re feeling back to normal, and I hope your husband was able to have his surgery as scheduled.
That electrician story is awful. I agree, it’s very hard to get a good electrician (but most aren’t as bad as yours!) i don’t know why they’re so flaky- maybe they’re in such high demand, they don’t feel like they have to please the customers too much? Anyway… i’m glad it’s finished and your lamp looks beautiful!
i’ll be interested to see what you pick for your 100 day project!
I am feeling much better, thank you. And the husband’s procedure was fine too.
Yeah, the electrician really did a number. I think they really are in such high demand that they can just do crap like that. If you and I would work like that I am sure we’d be out of business.
I am excited for the 100 day project. It will be sketchy. HA.