The gasman cometh....not

We'd love to be in a bit of hot water, but no such luck....40+ days after beginning the work, we're still without a water heater, though we do now have some heating. And just in the nick of time as it's getting cold in the pre-cordillera with temperatures just hovering around freezing at night. But at the moment the world could be spinning backwards for all I would notice as day after day is spent in waiting for plumbers who tell me "tomorrow, tomorrow" and then never show. As much as one tries to resist becoming entirely consumed by this non-event, I've only just managed to keep the translation and editing work ticking over while the rest of my life is temporarily -- one hopes -- shelved. Plumbers are the new rock stars of Argentina, and especially San Rafael which is constantly unfolding itself like one of those board games, expanding itself by the minute. So the remainder of our work, the last details of refitting the water heater -- already 80% paid for, more fools us -- has been dropped for something far more lucrative down the road and some undefined moment when the idols of the moment, the princes of pipes, once again run out of jobs, and money.

Still, yesterday for the first time I cooked on a real stove -- instead of a 2 ring burner -- without worrying whether the gas cylinder was going to run out mid-meal and felt "at home" for the first time since moving in. Someday, I know, I will be done thinking about walls, windows and flooring and will actually focus on something more interesting again. I do remember reading books, once, and weaving, once, and once, I recall, I had an idea or perhaps even two.... But for now I'm stuck in some Argentinean version of Waiting for Godot.

The one accomplishment -- though a few have reported problems regarding opening the website, so do let me know -- the one achievement is that there is now a website with a few of the things we make in the workshop. There are many things missing still, but it's a start.
Have a look at: www.elpuestero.com

Meanwhile, I've got some waiting to do...