Creative Problem-Solving Opportunities in Housekeeping

Creative Problem-Solving Opportunities in Housekeeping

Samuel, our wonderful landlord, really did take care of the outside drip problem with the air conditioner. Since I did not see him climbing on a ladder to tighten valves or anything, I was suspect. But upon looking out the window at the metal roof the drips were hitting, I noticed his solution. He had placed two big yellow sponges on the metal roof just where the drips fall. Noise problem solved.

And in the event the water heater (on the wall above the dishwasher) drips again, he showed us where he put a giganto wrench--hidden atop the kitchen cupboards. We have a ladder--probably intended to facilitate window cleaning (ha!)--so we should be able to manage that fix ourselves if the need arises.

The dishwasher is somewhat of a puzzle despite English language instructions. Namely, the picture of where to put the soap/salt/rinse (combination product) tablet does not look anything like our dishwasher. So this will take some experimentation. Meantime, we are quickly washing up the few dishes we have.

Today I put on my best Donna Reed (sans pearls) and "cleaned the house" after DJ left for the office. We have very nice refinished hardwood floors which call for a Swiffer, but may have to be addressed with one of the two vacuum cleaners we have. There is an unfamiliar wooden implement that is used somehow on the carpets. I cannot imagine what value it has except to stir up dust, which is already plentiful. So the vacuums will be used on the rugs. I cannot find where the electrical cord is hiding on one of them. The other one is new but somewhat anemic as far as suction. It's an opportunity to get even more exercise! 

In the kitchen is a little dustpan with a handle and a small handmade broom for those quick clean-ups. We see women employed using these devices in parking lots.Seems to be designed more to keep them busy than to get the parking lot clean.

Our washer is a European-style washer that takes forever to do even a short cycle half load. This morning after carefully removing the purple yoga shirt (not sure if it wouldn't run), I ran a load with nothing capable of running. Alas, it all came out grey. This was a cold water wash, so I am beyond puzzled. I went straight to the closest store and tried to communicate with two different clerks who each spoke a very small amount of English. One of them seemed to understand what I wanted and suggested a powdered product that appears to be a whitening agent. But it is not bleach since a handful of the very grey items appear to be unimpressed so far by their bath in it. Tomorrow I will go back out with the word for bleach written down and try again to perform an Irene Reinka bleach bath miracle treatment on this stuff.

We burned out the hair dryer because we forgot to switch the 120 to 250. So I found the Armenian equivalent to Best Buys today to buy a replacement. This store has everything from giant size flat screen TVs to computers to kitchen appliances large and small to hairdryers. Want an electric meat grinder? They have it. One more loose end tied up...and we have a two year warranty to boot. Safety warnings in 32--count 'em--32 languages including Dutch. 

I also managed to find small reading lamps for the bedside. The lamp store was very departmentalized although it did not appear so. One young man helped me with the lamps and gave me a chit for 9000 AMD, a completely different person is in charge of lightbulbs and he had to get two bulbs for me and give me a second chit. I then took both chits to a seriously bored young woman cashier, paid and had the chits initialed by her. Then I could return to each department and get my goods.This brings memories of Indian grocery sgtores in 1980 back to me.

We think maybe Samuel arranged for us to have a daily trash pick-up at our door but we are not sure, communication being what it is. This morning we saw the neighbor's bag outside her door and did the same. At 11:00 the doorbell rang and a woman who is obviously the designated hall cleaner and garbage remover began telling me in Armenian what the terms were. Happily an upstairs neighbor was coming by and explained to me in English that this daily service would cost us 3000AMD/month, which is about $7.50. 

What happens with the garbage is that it is tossed on a pile (really--no dumpster) behind the music school and then at some intervals (we saw it happen Sunday) a truck comes along and two men fork it (watermelon rinds to plastic bags) onto a big tarp and then into a dump truck. Either way, there is no evidence of recycling of any kind that we have seen. There are trash cans in public places and many drinking fountains, both good public health measures.

Recognizing a mailbox has not been easy. In the post office on Republic Square there is a painted blue wooden box in the center of the counter where all mail goes. There is no logo or other signage on it. I saw a painted blue box on the front of a building near our apartment but it has no writing or symbols on it either. My Reinka DNA prevents me from putting anything into that box until I know it is actually a mailbox.

Such adventures in keeping house and interacting with shopkeepers produce some frustrations, discoveries, a lot of laughs and small triumphs of problem-solving. If I get that laundry whitened up a bit I may wear my pearls later this week. Thank goodness we found that sauvignon blanc.