Different day
Yesterday was a different day. For starters, we had a man coming to install the fibre. We had to be up earlier than usual and ready for him. I would normally have my walk first, but delayed that until after we’d had the discussion about where we wanted the cable connected. The walk is generally followed by 10 minutes on a machine I call the jigger. It is one that you merely stand on, while it does the rest, by far the best exercise machine I have ever had. I don’t hate this one. But instead, I decided to plant some vege seedlings that had been sitting in their pottles for a couple of weeks. My energy levels are still not that great, so I wanted to get this job done, before I ran out of steam. I planted that and returned to the couch. Normally I would be sitting at the computer by this stage, writing my blog. Soon it was lunchtime – I have it early these days, but before we’d had a chance to wash the dishes, the power went off. So that was the end of my writing and the jigger. As it turned out, the power cut lasted the entire day and most of the evening. We went to bed before it resumed, but the latest notification said that wouldn’t happen until 11.30pm. My phone was down to three percent and so I couldn’t even make phone calls.
Without being able to write, I decided to create an edge for the herb garden, from bricks that we’d uncovered when we dismantled the fish smoker, now a rusting mess. Between rests on the outdoor lounger, I managed to finish this job, though there are a few bricks left over to do a wee bit more to border another garden.
That created the next problem. Without power we had a limited supply of water; that which was in Stephen’s drink bottle and a bucket that we’d stored by the toilet in case of a previous power cut. There was also a tiny bit in the tap, and that was what I used to remove the dirt from my hands.
We had to change our plans with dinner. Stephen had pulled a chicken out of the freezer that morning, but we settled on some left-over quiche instead. We are lucky we have gas. I heated mine, while Stephen ate his cold.
But the highlight of this different day for me, was meeting the technician who came to install the fibre. I would have to say, he was one of the gentlest people I had ever met. He was polite and hard-working, staying well after 5pm to complete the outside part of the job. As Stephen and I drove down to the beach for our walk, we found him with shovel in hand, digging the fibre trench by hand. Not only that, he had other jobs to take care of during the day, coming to the door to let us know when he would be back. Our section is a long skinny one, so there was quite a bit of digging. This happy, softly-spoken chap worked all day. Stephen must have talked to him while I was planting the seedlings, finding out that he came from Zimbabwe several years ago. He had earphones in most of the time, so I was reluctant to disturb him but when he returns on Wednesday to complete the inside part of the installation, I will definitely try and find out more about him. We New Zealanders generally have a more abrupt, urgent energy about us. This young man’s was very special. I hope the company that employs him, appreciates just what a gem they have working for them.