I don’t really know what type of glue they use for wallpaper around here, but I wish that that was what had been on every sheet of wallpaper I’ve ever tried to remove.
……
The wallpaper in my office is coming off of the wall. The good news (if you can call it that) is that it is coming un-glued from the floor and working its way up. The bad news is that there appears to be mold under the progressively de-sticking paper and it just so happens to be occurring on that one wall, the one wall that borders the bathroom of last years flooding issues, the one wall that is in line with the bizarre leak in the garage, and that same one wall that in the hallway has begun to show a lovely dark stain on that wallpaper. All together this evidence would appear to point to a leak in that wall or the roof above it; all together this evidence would seem to be cause for concern. Jumping right into the middle that conclusion we will find that if that indeed is the case, the problem is really bad because if something is leaking into that wall, it would require MAJOR construction to repair it, as that wall is solid brick and there is no easy way to get to the leak.
It is this issue in the main that has led me to the conclusion that the landlord must be called, this and a few other smaller issues. Like, first of all, the wallpaper in the dining room is also coming down but top to bottom and the whole top edge of this paper seems to have water stains on it. (roof leak?) Then also, there is the electrical issue with the outside light, when you turn on the light over the front door, after three or four minutes it trips all the breakers and pitch black darkness ensues not to mention that the computers also shut off I’m disconnected from the world (that can’t any of it be good.). And thirdly, but most important, I think, our lease is up in July of 2005 and we need to extend it until December 2006.
So there are some issues that need to be discussed with our landlord, our landlord to whom I have not spoken since the toilet debacle last December.
So with this aim, I spent an afternoon with Elian at ImpaQt practicing lines and words and role playing the conversation and also practicing my responses to any and all possible, eventual questions that might be posed. Even with all of this preparation, however, I dragged my feet about calling M. Babec. The man is probably in his mid 60’s, speaks absolutely NO English and communicating with him is always difficult. Add the fact that speaking by phone in French is difficult. It’s so much easier to speak face to face because you can ‘see’ what the person is saying. You can’t imagine the huge role that visual clues play in everyday communication.
So eventually I made the call. The first time I called there was no answer and I was forced to leave a message, I did a little happy dance in anticipation of just having the man show up at some point eliminating the need for any further phone discussion. Of course he didn’t come by or call back so I had to call again, this time reaching someone who said that he and the Mrs. were on vacation. I dance a smaller happy dance in hopes that he would receive the message and decide to just stop by. But no, he didn’t stop by or call back, so I was forced to call a third time, this time M. Babec, himself, answered the phone.
I explained who I was and began to launch into my spiel when I noticed that there was absolute silence on the phone, «Your tenant at 9 rue Delherm? In Castanet? M. Babec ? »
« Umm, yes ? »
« We have some small problems here that I wanted to discuss with you. »
After another long silence «Yes, tell me. »
I launch once again into a description of the problems and ask him if he could possibly come by the house so I could show him what I’m talking about. After another brief silence he hesitantly says that he can come tomorrow evening. I say that’s fine and we hang up.
At this point I’m just dreading the next evening, obviously he was having trouble making out what I was saying and now all sorts of scenarios are flashing through my head about the ordeal ahead.
The next evening at right around 7pm, the doorbell rings. Of course he would arrive before S gets home from work, drat the stinkin’ luck.
I open the front door to find M. Babec dressed in a very nice suite, per usual, and smiling pleasantly at me. We exchange greetings and as we do I notice that the man is sort of staring at me. Really sort of gaping at me, but I choose to ignore this. I’m self conscious enough as it is without wondering what on earth he’s staring at.
Since we are standing in the dark of the front door I figure this is as good a place as any to start the ‘tour’ and so I explain to him that we are unable to use the front door light and why. As I’m explaining this the man is still staring at me but in a puzzled sort of fashion. My speech tapers off into silence and I start to stare back. The cessation of speech seems to snap him back to what we’re talking about and he smiles winningly at me and acknowledges that he has understood what I said and puts forth his theory on the matter. He finishes by saying that he’ll get an electrician out to look at the light and in the same breath says “goodness isn’t your French much improved!”
I thank him and give my best self deprecating oh-shucks smile and move on to the dinning room where the paper is stained near the ceiling and starting to come down. I explain that it’s not much of a problem really except for the paper coming down and I thought he should know about it in case the stains indicate dampness and therefore leakage. I look over and the man is staring at me again. When he sees me looking at him he gives a small start and proceeds to explain why he doesn’t think this is an issue.
While he’s talking and giving excuses I proceed to take mental inventory, is my fly unzipped? Hmm, wearing sweat pants so that’s a non issue. Did I comb my hair? Casually reach up and pat hair and while my hand is up there near my head I go ahead and smoothly check my nose, with a swift wipe, for something dangling out of it. Check, check. Something big and green stuck between teeth? Slip tongue quickly over tooth surface and feel no anomalies. Hmm, all appears to be in order…
We move on to the hall and the office where I point out more wet spots and pealing wall paper. He’s staring again but seems to know that I know he’s staring and he quickly averts his eyes and launches into more excuses and possible reasons for the stains and dismisses them as nothing. He continues by saying that he’ll definitely have someone out to fix the pealing wallpaper but he’s sure there’s nothing to really worry about. (Yeah, right.)
We move into the garage where I’m prepared to show him the lake that forms next to the washing machine after almost every rain, but the lake is gone. I explain the problem anyway and he says that he’s been up on the roof to re-arrange some of the tiles and that there’s nothing more to be done. The roof will leak if it’s windy while it rains end of story. Ok, whatever.
I launch next into the need to extend the lease for an additional year and a half and this seems to really cause some open mouthed staring. When I stop talking he once again pulls himself together and begins a careful explanation of what the procedure for that should be. I repeat back to him what he’s said to be sure I understand, and he’s staring at me again.
He notices me noticing him staring and finally he just bursts out with it.
« Votre français est remarquable ! Votre amélioration est étonnante. »
“You’re French is remarkable! Your improvement is amazing”
Geez, now you’re embarrassing me! I say thank you, but he just can’t let it go, he goes on and on about the difference. He then launches into full-on conversation mode. His French picks up speed as he talks and pretty soon I’m barely getting the gist of what he’s saying. I ask him to please slow down and he starts to laugh. “Well” he says “I’m just so pleased to be able to speak with you.” He prepares to leave then, says he’ll call with info about workmen later in the week and encourages me to keep up the good work.
It’s after he leaves that I realize that it has been almost a year since I last saw him and that I hadn’t started my language lessons yet last December. I suppose in that sort of ‘before’ and ‘after’ type of view the change is pretty remarkable.
Busting my buttons with pride!
That is all.
No comments:
Post a Comment