Tuesday Updates

A little update on my life in addition to the Sunday recap I posted a several hours ago:

This morning I got into an argument with our Hausmeister. Not smart, because this is the man who has ultimate access to any repair items I may need for my apartment, like light bulbs and such, as well as has ultimate access to the entire building. I feel that if I were to make him angry enough I may come back one day to find that all of my toilet paper and tissues are missing.

Anyways, I got into an argument with him over the washing machines; everything started out light-hearted enough, me saying "Es klappt mit meine Sache immer nicht" about the laundry facilities (=(basically) it never works for me), because I had successfully washed one load of laundry last night, but the second time around something went wrong -- I got to the basement to find that the door to the machine had not popped open like it was supposed to after the washing cycles. Hausmeister and I laugh a bit, and he puts a token in and overrides all cycles to get to the bit where the machine gives me back my stuff. He asked if the clothes were clean and I said I thought they were; however, after I got to my stuff, I inspected the stuff, and everything is very dry, and still very dirty. I can tell because I have white socks that double up as socks and floor-sweepers, so they are always very dirty on the soles. Socks were not clean, so I found the Hausmeister again and said the machine hadn't worked after all, so I needed a new coin. He looked at me funny and said that, when the machine starts, it works 100%. I'm thinking, "Apparently NOT 100%, because my socks/floor-sweepers are still dirty." So I start repeating that "Meine Wäsche ist immer noch trocken und schmutzig, und ich habe für jedes Münzen €1,50 bezahlen -- und für was? Nichts!" (=gimme a damn coin, H-meister, coz your machines are whacked-out!/My laundry is still dry and dirty, and I've paid for a coin that was worthless.) And he maintained that the machines are 100%, and I maintained that I had been screwed. So he finally said he'd give me another coin (he didn't seemed pleased about this, but I told him, "Ich lüge nicht" [=I'm not lying], because I had already told him that I didn't have time for this, I had things to do -- so why would I lie just so I could baby-sit my laundry for another 80 minutes? Ridiculous. So he said that we HAD to try the wash again, and in the same machine no less, because if the machine WERE defective, he'd have to call someone out to fix it. So he pops in the coin and the laundry starts up and he goes, "See? It's working." I wanted to tell him "It made the same stupid noises last night and didn't do anything, chuckles."

I'm glad I kept that bit to myself, and that I asked him about internet connection stuff earlier last week, because now I'll have to wait for another two weeks or so before I can go ask him for help if I need it. This one's going to need more time to wear off. He also keeps saying the simplest phrases to me in English. I talk to him in German, so I don't know why he keeps doing it.

Fun thing #2 today: Machines at the Bahnhof wouldn't take my American credit cards, nor my German EC (bank card) card for the ticket, so I had to use my pocket money from tutoring. Oh, the horror.

Fun thing #3: Prof. Wagner, after Kathy and I had asked him a few questions about our presentation coming up in January, pointed to me and my throat and asked "What's all this?" My voice is quite shot, and gets worse as the day goes on. He recommended that I drink a nice Hot Totty -- three parts (good) Irish whiskey and one part hot water. Not only do your professors suggest you medicate yourself with alcohol, but they'll provide you with the recipe free of cost. Germany works in strange ways.