Down Time

Sorry for the delay in posting, we've been a little under the weather, so nothing seemed exciting enough to write about. But my good friend Laura (aka the cat whisperer) informed me that she was impatiently waiting for a new post, even if said post ended up being mostly about making tea and soup.

So Mike caught a cold, and he's been sick all week. This place is so hot and humid, it's basically just one big petri dish, so germs spread pretty quickly. Of course he refuses to take any time off, so I've been trying to cure him through willpower alone. It doesn't help that our AC has been acting like a schizophrenic off his meds. At first it just stopped blowing cold air, so we had to sleep with the fan on high and aimed directly at our faces. Now, getting the AC fixed here is not as easy as it is back home. You don't just call the apartment office and ask someone to come fix it. No, WE are responsible for paying for the repairs, and WE have to call a repair company. I guess it's fair, since we pay so little in rent...wait...

Anyway, our agent recommended a company to call, but he sent Mike a rather ominous text (and I quote):

"Please be very careful. Some contractors here are very unethical. They may cook up stories about parts spoilt and needed to be replaced, to get more money out of your pocket...especially when they see caucasians. Many mechanics and contractors are like this in S'pore."

So naturally, we were pretty scared, but I guess that's just how it is. To be fair, though, mechanics in America aren't exactly known for their honesty either.  Anyway, the guys came and messed around with the unit (thatswhatshesaid), and of course, told me we needed to replace a condenser something-or-other and it would be $80. I tried to tell them we just wanted it serviced, but the guy insisted it wouldn't be cold without this piece. The way I figured, I could say "no, we just want it serviced," pay the $40 and then call another company to come out and service it, but that would be another $40. So I said screw it, I'll just pay the white tax and suck it up.

This would be all well and good, but then the damn thing went crazy again. It didn't stop working, but it started blowing FREEZING air, and we couldn't turn down the temperature. The unit started to drip water, and then giant chunks of ice started falling out of it and shattering on the floor. Mike suggested we make snow cones. I think sleeping in an ice box made him sicker. So we called the guys again, and they came to fix it again, and now I guess we'll see what cruel fate awaits us next. It'll probably catch on fire and shoot bolts of lightening. Clearly, Zeus, king of the Gods, has possessed our AC wall unit. Where's a Greek exorcist when you need one?

So that's been the focus of the past few days, but we did manage to have a nice relaxing weekend. Since Mike was feeling bad, we mostly stayed in. We've been craving Tex-Mex like crazy, so Sunday we got to work and spent all day making carnitas. It was a lengthy process, since we had to make everything from scratch, including tortillas and salsa. I don't know how the hell women used to do all this before packaged food and restaurants. Just cooking one meal from scratch was exhausting and hot, I can't imagine having to do that three times a day for a bunch of ungrateful men folk. They must have spent all damn day in the kitchen. I would probably end up putting arsenic in the mashed potatoes. Just further proof I was not cut out for the frontier life. Also, I got a pretty horrible chili oil burn on my hand. That one's on me, though, I should have known better than to cut up chilies without protection. It felt like I was wearing a glove made of FIRE. But it was totally worth it, because the food came out delicious and our Tex-Mex taste buds are satiated for now. Or at least till next weekend, when we'll probably make them again. Seriously, they came out really good.

Also Mike got new swim trunks. Hooray! The only thing I think he's missing is a cape. To be continued...