really, some days are just shitty right from the beginning.

this morning started out with the building management and a consultant for the insurance company looking at the most recent water leak from early february. the result? the beams surrounding that water leak need to be dried.

the attentive reader will remember that there is another spot that needs to be dried also (not in the hallway but in the all-purpose-room).

so if you were the building management and had one apartment with two areas to dry what would you do? CORRECT, suggest that two companies do the job, one for one spot and one for the other one. WTF???? TWO???? the work involved covers cutting open the ceiling, installing the drying machine, drying for 2 weeks 24/7, check if everything is dry and if that is the case disassembling the machine, fix the whole in the ceiling and paint. obviously that kind of job is best split up between two companies because we need to support this economy and if two can profit from this why not?!?! again, WTF??? i have to be home to supervise the installation and all the subsequent work like fixing and painting the ceiling. two companies means twice the hassle.

and the best thing? this is being mentioned nonchalantly by the building manager like it’s the most normal thing in the world. i was the only one who thought it was odd that for essentially the same job in 2 areas of one apartment, covered by the same insurance, two companies should be hired.

ugh. so with that frustration i went to work and didn’t quite get rid of it.

work wasn’t helping to make me feel better but i managed to keep a smile on my face. i’m on vacation in a week and that is definitely pulling me through right now.

this evening i was talking to my so to speak american grandparents. we’re not related but we are like extended family. we talk about once every three months, not for long though because as old folks are, they see the money trickle down the phone line (even though i was the one to call so they don’t pay a cent) and more or less hang up on you after five minutes.

this phone call was different because both of them seemed confused and mixed up information that i know they used to know. we’re talking about events from a few months to a few years ago. and they had trouble following up on what i said. like when i said “in december bla bla” they said “yes, in may this and that”. sorry, i realize this description may not make much sense. but the bottom line is that they seemed confused and it was difficult to hold a conversation.

i will try to see them during my vacation but i am also afraid of what they might have turned into since i last met them. i know almost-grandma turned into even more of a freakish cat lady and almost-grandpa has trouble keeping his balance and with general motor skills. sad thing is, we’re not talking about truly old people here. they are in their early and mid 70s.

seeing them will not be easy but i have to force myself to go see them.

and the other thing, which i realize sounds vain and in light of the other troubles of the day, i need a new earlobe. when i was a kid i had my ears pierced. the holes grew shut so it was pierced again. and it grew shut and was pierced again. one day i was wearing golden hoops and i guess they were too heavy. a few hours later my mom told me that my earlobe looked weird and when i looked in the mirror i realized that the earring stretched the hole so that the skin tore into a previously made hole. the result was a gigantic stretched hole in my earlobe that just looked plain nasty.

so i gave up on the earrings and had it all heal up and grow shut. or so i thought. about 8 years ago i got earrings for my birthday and i wanted to wear them so badly that i tried to see if the holes really grew shut. the “good earlobe” was in perfect condition but the already troubled one grew shut in a weird position resulting in the actual hole being way down.

it’s very noticeable when i wear longer earrings so i avoid them and stick to studs earrings instead. studs i can sort of push up in the hole so they stay up a little higher. i’m probably the only one noticing that.

bottom line: it’s a messed up earlobe and it is annoying. plus the squeezing to stick the studs higher is causing a whole other set of problems.

so my solution to this problem (and i’m writing this because i want to end the day on a happy note): for my birthday i will get myself a new earlobe piercing! i will not get it on the actual day because my earlobe needs to heal first. but i want to make it right this time around so instead of going to some shady place in the mall i will go to a certified piercing artist. i sincerely hope that that person will place it just right without risking a new tear and even with the existing hole on the other side.

sometimes you have to treat yourself to a simple thing such an earlobe piercing. my vain self will thank me!

(edit: i just remembered yet another bummer -> my hairdresser quit and the place won’t tell me where she works now. so i have to find a new super awesome hairdresser… *super sad face*)

franzi