Last week I officially started work at the university here. One of the aspects of working there that I most appreciate is that I get my own office. OK, I actually share it with someone who is (a) very nice, and (b) rarely there, the perfect combination. So I have it to myself most of the time.
Today is an excellent day to go to the office. First of all, as on the last couple of mornings, I was awakened by a jackhammer outside (better than a jackhammer inside, I guess). They are installing a new heating system in our house, which apparently takes many many weeks to accomplish. Right now they’re digging up the back yard (more later on why that’s necessary). Let me just say that the sound of a jackhammer is not the most relaxing thing while you’re sipping your morning coffee.
Then we have the fact that it has gotten so cold that it is predicted to snow here in middle Sweden. We may not get any snow here on the coast, but the forecasted high today is +3 degrees Celsius. And currently we have no heat in our house, except a little space heater that I’m tempted to strap to my back and attach to a really long cord.
Finally, there came a knock on the door at 8 am, something that happens disturbingly often here. I went and answered it, in slippers and bathrobe, to find a man I’d never seen before, asking me if we had a plumber.
Excuse me? A plumber? I asked him to repeat what he had said. I thought there was something wrong with my Swedish, but apparently there was just something wrong with my expectations about the world. He was indeed looking for a plumber. It seems there was one working on the heating project, who had gone off somewhere. Considering that it’s 1 degree above freezing outside, my bet is that he’s in the cafe across the street having coffee and a bun.
And you can bet that in about half an hour I’ll be sitting in my new office, which is not fancy, but is quiet and has adequate heating, and no plumbers at all.