Daft as a Brush
Today was a day for crossing things off the big list but in the stupidest way possible.
Number one - the fridge. Everyone here has been telling me I have to go to a neighbourhood called Boedo and visit all the shops there comparing prices before I buy any electrodomesticos - super Spanish word for white goods. So off I went, out into the gorgeous warm spring day, skipping round to the Subte station on a mission. Got to Boedo and looked about the place but failed to find more than one big shop; a Hiper Rodo, so thought 'stuff it, I'll just buy one here'. I spent an age looking at fridges, deciding what I like and do not like, want and do not want and of course getting a bit dizzy about the prices.
The criteria were; taller than me, freezer with shelves in the door, no stupid snappy-off handles, plenty of shelves & compartments inside; shiny and easy to clean; made in South America; not super-pricey.
I narrowed it down to three and, after a chat with the salesman, settled on an Electrolux. He said to be honest they all come from the same factory in Brazil but this brand has the best quality control. They had it in stock but could not deliver until Tuesday so he suggested that for an extra 2 pesos (40p) I could hire a chap who was waiting outside with a pick-up truck, so I agreed and he went and sorted that out for me.
There are usually at least two stages to buying anything here but electrodomesticos have especially bizarre systems - probably to put you off wanting to bring anything back. First the salesman puts your details on the computer and enters the order; then you have to go and wait in a queue for the cashier, who needs to see your ID all over again; then once all that is done, you go to another desk that exists for no good reason and have your receipt stamped. Then, you have to drive seven blocks (!) to the warehouse, have the receipt taken off you, hand in a voucher, get everything stamped again and get a few bits of paperwork back. Then you wait for somebody to find your fridge and bring it to you, watch them unwrap it so that you can inspect it before it leaves the premises, wrap it up again and hand it over to the delivery guy.
As soon as I saw the thing, I started to doubt my choice. It was huge. Diego, my delivery chap, had had some trouble getting into the driver's seat of his van and it turned out he worked alone, so how was he going to manage the wretched thing? Is there a lift, he asked. Yes, but there are a few steps too, I said. No problem, he said.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
We got back here and he took one look at the front door and saw the steps and announced it could not be done. Did I have any friends who could come and help? Was there a porter? On a Sunday evening at the drop of a hat - no!
After a lot of measuring and humming and hah-ing in the street and telling me about some operation he is going to have which I gather was for a hernia and repeatedly telling me that the fridge was very big, a mate of his just happened to call on the cel phone (starting to suspect I was set-up here!) and agreed to bring a big strong lad and carry the fridge up to the fourth floor for me for an extra 30 pesos. Not bad business for them and to be honest it is less than six quid so I am not really complaining.
So they arrived, reeking of alcohol, picked up the fridge and carried it all the way up the stairs as it was indeed to big to go in the lift. They lugged it into the kitchen, after first claiming it would not go through the door. Then on the way back down, they said the lift was like something out of Castle Dracula - cheeky buggers! Anyway, I paid them and they tore off in their rickety old van, most likely back to the pub to toast the daft cow.
Back up in the kitchen, it was clear that the fridge really is far far too big. Why did I insist on the shelves in the freezer door and not go for the nice wide, shallow model - why? So I moved it across to the other side from where I had wanted to place it and realised that the doors open the wrong way and are not the type that can be taken off and reversed. So I have a huge fridge that I will have to walk around every time I want to get anything out of it. Well, I am not about to get Laurel and Hardy back to send it back to the shop, so tough. At least I will have a clean and safe place to keep food.
Then I went out again, smug that I had found another branch of Easy on this side of town simply by looking it up on the internet. So off to the tube & across to Constitucion, a vast old railway terminus, which seemed to offer the closest public transport.
Why, when taxis are so cheap?
Of course, there was not a taxi to be seen at the station to go the rest of the way, so I set out on foot and regretted it within minutes. What was I thinking - walking around behind an old railway terminus? In any city in the world that's a dangerous thing to do. It was pretty bleak and stinky and dimly lit but I walked with purpose and happily nothing happened. It is not often that I feel spooked but there I really did.
On the plus side, if any visitors ever need to know where they can find hookers, I will be able to tell them very precisely!
Bought a great chariot-load of stuff - tools, paint stripper, shower curtain, cushions etc. etc. and left it all with the car park security guard while I went to hail a cab. Cabbie very sweet and security guard ditto, so I got home safely, no thanks to me.
I have started putting up the shower curtain rail and realised why there wasn't one there before... also started ripping up the cat-stinky carpets and found wooden floors underneath. Hurrah! This is very hard work as in fact the carpet is firmly glued to ANOTHER CARPET, which is in turn firmly glued to the floorboards. Sigh. My plan to use these carpets to protect the living room floor during painting will most probably be abandoned as I hack them out with knives and spatulas. Getting the glue off will be a nasty job too.
In short, it seems I have bad a busy and expensive day without really hitting the mark. To top it all, there was nothing open this evening to get a meal, so I dined on cheese triangles!
So, enough blogging and back to the carpets before whatever nutritious value that supper contained evapourates.
Number one - the fridge. Everyone here has been telling me I have to go to a neighbourhood called Boedo and visit all the shops there comparing prices before I buy any electrodomesticos - super Spanish word for white goods. So off I went, out into the gorgeous warm spring day, skipping round to the Subte station on a mission. Got to Boedo and looked about the place but failed to find more than one big shop; a Hiper Rodo, so thought 'stuff it, I'll just buy one here'. I spent an age looking at fridges, deciding what I like and do not like, want and do not want and of course getting a bit dizzy about the prices.
The criteria were; taller than me, freezer with shelves in the door, no stupid snappy-off handles, plenty of shelves & compartments inside; shiny and easy to clean; made in South America; not super-pricey.
I narrowed it down to three and, after a chat with the salesman, settled on an Electrolux. He said to be honest they all come from the same factory in Brazil but this brand has the best quality control. They had it in stock but could not deliver until Tuesday so he suggested that for an extra 2 pesos (40p) I could hire a chap who was waiting outside with a pick-up truck, so I agreed and he went and sorted that out for me.
There are usually at least two stages to buying anything here but electrodomesticos have especially bizarre systems - probably to put you off wanting to bring anything back. First the salesman puts your details on the computer and enters the order; then you have to go and wait in a queue for the cashier, who needs to see your ID all over again; then once all that is done, you go to another desk that exists for no good reason and have your receipt stamped. Then, you have to drive seven blocks (!) to the warehouse, have the receipt taken off you, hand in a voucher, get everything stamped again and get a few bits of paperwork back. Then you wait for somebody to find your fridge and bring it to you, watch them unwrap it so that you can inspect it before it leaves the premises, wrap it up again and hand it over to the delivery guy.
As soon as I saw the thing, I started to doubt my choice. It was huge. Diego, my delivery chap, had had some trouble getting into the driver's seat of his van and it turned out he worked alone, so how was he going to manage the wretched thing? Is there a lift, he asked. Yes, but there are a few steps too, I said. No problem, he said.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
We got back here and he took one look at the front door and saw the steps and announced it could not be done. Did I have any friends who could come and help? Was there a porter? On a Sunday evening at the drop of a hat - no!
After a lot of measuring and humming and hah-ing in the street and telling me about some operation he is going to have which I gather was for a hernia and repeatedly telling me that the fridge was very big, a mate of his just happened to call on the cel phone (starting to suspect I was set-up here!) and agreed to bring a big strong lad and carry the fridge up to the fourth floor for me for an extra 30 pesos. Not bad business for them and to be honest it is less than six quid so I am not really complaining.
So they arrived, reeking of alcohol, picked up the fridge and carried it all the way up the stairs as it was indeed to big to go in the lift. They lugged it into the kitchen, after first claiming it would not go through the door. Then on the way back down, they said the lift was like something out of Castle Dracula - cheeky buggers! Anyway, I paid them and they tore off in their rickety old van, most likely back to the pub to toast the daft cow.
Back up in the kitchen, it was clear that the fridge really is far far too big. Why did I insist on the shelves in the freezer door and not go for the nice wide, shallow model - why? So I moved it across to the other side from where I had wanted to place it and realised that the doors open the wrong way and are not the type that can be taken off and reversed. So I have a huge fridge that I will have to walk around every time I want to get anything out of it. Well, I am not about to get Laurel and Hardy back to send it back to the shop, so tough. At least I will have a clean and safe place to keep food.
Then I went out again, smug that I had found another branch of Easy on this side of town simply by looking it up on the internet. So off to the tube & across to Constitucion, a vast old railway terminus, which seemed to offer the closest public transport.
Why, when taxis are so cheap?
Of course, there was not a taxi to be seen at the station to go the rest of the way, so I set out on foot and regretted it within minutes. What was I thinking - walking around behind an old railway terminus? In any city in the world that's a dangerous thing to do. It was pretty bleak and stinky and dimly lit but I walked with purpose and happily nothing happened. It is not often that I feel spooked but there I really did.
On the plus side, if any visitors ever need to know where they can find hookers, I will be able to tell them very precisely!
Bought a great chariot-load of stuff - tools, paint stripper, shower curtain, cushions etc. etc. and left it all with the car park security guard while I went to hail a cab. Cabbie very sweet and security guard ditto, so I got home safely, no thanks to me.
I have started putting up the shower curtain rail and realised why there wasn't one there before... also started ripping up the cat-stinky carpets and found wooden floors underneath. Hurrah! This is very hard work as in fact the carpet is firmly glued to ANOTHER CARPET, which is in turn firmly glued to the floorboards. Sigh. My plan to use these carpets to protect the living room floor during painting will most probably be abandoned as I hack them out with knives and spatulas. Getting the glue off will be a nasty job too.
In short, it seems I have bad a busy and expensive day without really hitting the mark. To top it all, there was nothing open this evening to get a meal, so I dined on cheese triangles!
So, enough blogging and back to the carpets before whatever nutritious value that supper contained evapourates.
posted by Rachel in Buenos Aires at 10:40 pm
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