Another little job.

It's been many a year since the last time we were "cliff dwellers",   which in the modern sense of that term is an apartment dweller,  but I do recall that any apartment that one moved into was at least equipped with light fixtures.


Not so in Austria.

 

That ridiculous looking thing hanging down from the ceiling is pretty much the extent of any kind of lighting one can expect.
Since this was a brand new place,  we were probably fortunate to even have that kind of arrangement.
I know you can get those "apartment style"  dish type of light fixtures most anywhere in North America for just a few bucks,  but the most inexpensive fixtures I've ever seen in any of the home outfitting kind of places around here usually starts around €10,  so to put in an entire apartment full of even the cheapest fixtures gets to be pretty costly.

So let's just pass that cost on to the tenants then,  shall we?

Not only that,  but the "cost effective" (read..."cheap")  light fixtures that are at a decent price point are BUTT UGLY.


What that means is that,  one by one,  we're having to go out and painstakingly try and choose something that doesn't look like crap if it's reasonably priced,  or get something that we might like to later have shipped back to the homeland.

A painful process.  Let me tell you.


So fine,  every day on the Gürtel,  we've been driving by this one lighting store that sells Swarovski Crystal  light fixtures and decided to stop in on a Saturday a couple weeks ago.

As a side note,  this is one of the dangers of driving my travelling companion to work.  She has way too much free reign when it comes to looking in shop windows.  This is the secondary reason that I get huffy with the number of traffic lights on the Gürtel .
I've suggested blinders,  she wasn't at all receptive,  so I've just had to live with it.


She's been driving herself on a regular basis for a couple months now,  but it doesn't matter.

It's too late.


Besides,  they've been very cunning in the placement of this store, since it's right at a traffic light anyway.   Not fair.


Now,  as many of you already know,  I'm pretty gol durn cheap.
HOWEVER,   I don't mind something nice once in a while,  like a decent suit,  or nice fitting shoes.  There just has to be some practicality involved in there somewhere.


Really good,  durable woodworking tools or machinery would be something I would probably get a little more excited about but then again,  I already have a cabinetmaker's table saw.






So here's what we ended up with....

 

Oh wait....

that's what I had to lug up six flights.   The elevator is having some issues today, and the  Service Dude had his head in the control panel on the fourth floor when I left,  and was still mucking about when I came back with the prize.



Here it is installed..

 

They very kindly gave me a chunk of cardboard with three holes marked for a template,  so that helped.  And for just about the same price as the aforementioned table saw,  that was the least they could do.

Now that I think of it,  it was only due to the fact that the table saw came in at around 225 kg. (um, that's 495 pounds for the rest of us)  that it was delivered,  and even then,  I still had to wire it up myself.
It wasn't that big a deal,  and I never broke a sweat.


Can't say the same for installing the light.  Something about working over head,  holding the thing up with one hand and struggling to get the three screws in their plugs with the other.   Oy.

Not only that,  but it's kind of like finding yourself in the fun house at the carnival.  It's shiny,  there's mirrors,  there's light bouncing around....


I'm still seeing spots.

Here she is all lit up....

Go ahead and say it.  "oooooohhhh"

The protest revisted.

My sincerest apologies that one of the external links from a couple days ago was a dud.

When I uploaded to my Blip TV account,  I think I absent mindedly unchecked a box that I shouldn't have.
You would only see a little "spinning wheel" in the centre of the screen?  That wasn't really the extent of the "show"....

Anyway,  here's a look at the protest for anyone who felt cheated.

Cattle Rustling.

If we had say,  a small herd of cattle on the roof,  I could have sworn someone was up there this morning trying to herd them.....well,  somewhere.
Onto another building?   Don't know.


We had seen the ladder to the roof hatch just outside our apartment door this morning when my travelling companion left for work,  but I failed to realise that this was "chimney sweep" day,  or whatever you'd like to call it,  and that there would be a couple guys scampering around the building opening hatches and generally thumping and banging.


This guy....

was fairly clean compared to his younger companion,  who came to the door a little later to explain that they wouldn't need to inspect our boiler until 2014.
At least I think that's what he said.  He kind of had that whole thick Austrian accent going on there.

Whatever.

Works for me.

Any ideas where we'll be in 2014?

I also immediately determined that the younger dude was the one who ended up with the dirty end of things in this whole arrangement.

He wasn't quite  as dirty as these guys,  but you get the idea.

 .............




Meanwhile I took a little journey yesterday to get my "Führerscheinuntersuchung"

I'll let you take a second to try and negotiate that word.   Don't they like their long words?

Well,  it seems I'll be needing to get my Austrian drivers licence,  and the first part of the process is a very brief medical exam.
And no,  I'm not making this shit up.  We're not talking about flying an aircraft here,  or driving a transport truck.
 The "Führerschein"  part is the "license"  part of the word,  and  "Untersuchung"  is the "exam"
(that word is also used to mean an investigation,  but let's not get side tracked here)

That's your German lesson for the day.
No charge.


The first part of the test was finding the damned place,  and I pity the fool who doesn't speak the lingo and can't ask for help.  Seriously.  We could make it into some sort of treasure hunt,  and charge people to try and find the doctor's office!

Somehow the words,  "rabbet warren"  comes to mind?


So after I managed to find the place,  filled out my form,  it wasn't much more than a 15 minute wait before I got to see the Doc. 
Not bad in the grand waiting room scheme of things,  actually.

Turns out it was a lady Doc, which I already knew,  not that it matters,  and the "test" is pretty basic.   I now know I can do at least one deep knee bend,  my blood pressure is fine, (well,  sort of fine, but I had been traipsing up and down the stairs trying to find the damned place)
  I have the same peripheral vision I had almost forty years ago when I first got my driver's license,  and oh....I can still almost read all the numbers on the eye chart.  Turns out my right eye is a tad weak,  but I guess as long as I stick to using both eyes when I drive,  it's all good?


When it came to the reading glasses,  I just explained that my arms were too short, and she didn't hold that against me.




Let's just contemplate this for a moment, and try and put it into perspective,  shall we?


  Forget the fact that I've had my license since 1972,  and that my first summer job was delivering lumber.... (five forward with a splitter) Let's just skip on ahead,  shall we? 


Let's see, I've driven in Puerto Rico,   since we lived there for just over a year,  with nary a scratch on the car I might add,  and since we've been over here,  we've been to some crazy busy cities in Europe.   Going to Paris three times by car comes to mind.   And let's not forget Amsterdam,  Bonn,  Cologne,  shall I continue?
 
How about driving around the Arc de Triomphe?

 Yup,  been there.....



There are twelve streets that converge...

Here's a view from 35,000 feet.

 Here's an impression of just how "orderly" that whole experience can be.

Fun stuff huh?   And I noticed in that clip,  what's with the white vehicle that's completely sideways?  Where the heck is he going??

Oh,  and if you happen to miss your planned exit,  you have to go all the way around again.   My travelling companion would start to get a little rattled on the second go around,  accompanied by a certain amount of butt clenching.....


Actually,  now that I think on it,  I've driven right up through down town Montreal, Québec in a class "A" motor home!
Probably not the brightest move in hindsight buy hey,  the city buses could do it,  why not me?



And for those who have no clue what that is,  here's a pic.....

Kind of like a bus,  right?

And no,  that part that's hanging out at the side doesn't stay out for driving down the road.  Don't worry.  It's a "slide"....and it "slides"  in...
(in case you just tuned in from say,  Turkey or some other such place)


So where was I?

Right.


So now.....what?  If I can't touch my nose with my index finger with my eyes closed (forgot,  that was the other thing) or do a deep knee bend,   I can't drive in Austria?


Are you kidding me??


I guess it doesn't really matter,  since I "passed".  
Oh my,  I'm just so thrilled.


The next step in the puzzle will be to get a translation of my Ontario Driver's License.

*sigh*



Oh yes boys and girls, the fun continues!