The way things began this morning – with banging upon the roof – I hadn’t then anticipated that the day would unfold as favourably as it has. That is, until the last hour when the air conditioner stopped working. We suspect the malfunction is a consequence of the roofers having precipitated mischief with the A/C unit while repairing the roof. We’ve contacted the estate agent and informed one of the workers of our peril. We have just received a Message advising that someone will be around this evening to attend to the matter which I consider a challenge if tackled on the roof in the dark but who am I to say?
Early this morning, following my rude awakening, I sat in the Aviator parked in the driveway in front of the townhouse. I turned on the engine to see if it caused a putrid cloud of exhaust as on occasion it has recently done. It did. Since our arrival here I have discovered that when the car is not driven every day as I customarily did back home it momentarily foments a noxious production of smoke from the exhaust when the car is first started. It does not repeat hours later, for example when returning from the grocery store. Late this afternoon I sat in the car once again and started it for the same investigation. With the same offensive result. The car has never done this before. It is a fairly new car (I bought it April, 2022) so it is not something I expect. We had no such difficulty when driving here November 6th last. I’m guessing it has something to do with the extreme heat during the day, frequently approaching 85 – 88°F. It may even relate to the car being on a slight incline towards the townhouse; or, perhaps it is associated with my keeping the fuel tank always full. I’m even thinking that the gas I have been buying here is incompatible. In any event I’ve decided to follow what happens in the next week as the daytime temperatures are predicted to plummet as low as 78°F. There is no question that when I have previously opened the car door in the higher daytime temps, the interior is like an oven.
One other small casualty of the roofing enterprise to mention. The concrete bumper at the head of the driveway where I park my car was slightly damaged by the large loading machine used to raise and lower items to and from the roof. After we returned from a grocery shopping outing this morning, I saw that the loader had parked in our driveway, abutted immediately against the bumper impressing its black tire marks upon the bumper. We have advised our estate agency and the condominium Project Manager Mr. Stocker of this and he has noted it accordingly.
Meanwhile I have now to report that the A/C problem is more significant than we had hoped. The gentleman contracted by our estate agency to handle these matters advises that from his inspection of the roof it appears that the roofers may have damaged the electrical system in as many as eight different places. There is no power to our thermostat. Accordingly we have opened as many windows as possible (that is, those with screens) and boosted the ceiling fans to top performance level. The contractor assures us that the estate agent is very responsive to such issues. It may however entail the attention of a qualified electrician to address these potentially sequential problems.
And all this is but a preamble to what I had intended hours ago to be a balmy account of my leisurely afternoon in the sea. Once again today I was alone in the sea for upwards of an hour, alternately floating face up and face down, staring up at the azure sky or downward at the shimmering light on the sea floor. After submerging myself initially I never touched bottom again until the moment I waded out of the sea. I am now feeling a very agreeable glow from having lingered beneath the burnishing sun. Apparently I have surpassed the initial acclimatization to the sun’s critical rays. Feeling chuffed I am thus fully prepared to acquaint myself with the other less palatable details of life. We shall see what a night does to alter the horizon.