We were kept awake last night with the most amazing thunder storm, it was like watching National Geographic channel through the curtains, the skies were every colour you could imagine. At 2am the rain came down and I mean rain, like the stuff the UK had in 2007. The river burst it's banks, thankfully it doesn't flood our garden, flooding the 14th, 15th and 16th fairways. It made for an interesting journey to school and eventually it stopped raining around mid day. The river has receeded but is still very fast flowing.
At 10am (South African time - was due at 9am)the 'Discovery' man arrived, Medical Aid, to talk through with us how the system works and what we need to do. We're in our 9th week here and already had Dan rushed in by ambulance for a cricket injury and I've had a new front tooth after snapping it on a coat hanger (don't ask) The electrician and odd job man arrived during this to fix some of the faults with the house, nothing major, but we don't want billing for it as we're renting.
I made tea for Andrew, the odd job man, he speaks no English I speak no Afrikaans but we got on fine. I pointed, he fixed. The ideal man, what more could a girl ask for?...lol
At one point I asked the electrian to check the main fuse box, it's outside and the cover has broken exposing it to the elements. There are NO H&S laws here, loose wires and cables run everywhere. 'It's lekker' he said and as I pointed at the earth wire which was bare and had every other wire attached to it, Andrew swipped my hand away and flicked the main switch off, I assume that means it's not safe........
.........this triggered the house alarm, next thing I'm sat on the balcony having a fag when I hear this voice 'Ma'am are you ok?' I assumed it was the removal firm with our furniture as promised 'will be with you at 11am' I stand up, turn round and there's a man in combat gear, inside the house, gun drawn, held steady in both hands.....well...OMG....I discovered my natural fight or flight instinct, I had neither, I managed to keep control of my baldder though. Turns out he's from the security firm and as the alarm had been triggered he had been dispatched to the house within 5 mins. Once he questioned who the two men were and I convinced him I was safe and they had permission to be here, he left.
It took an hour to calm down and when I did I realised the furniture was late....I called the office....'oh dear this is serious, we'll call you back, they left Jo'burg over 3 hours ago, we're 45 mins drive from there at the most, they didn't call back for an hour, I'm panicking, I'm sweating, I'm going through every box in my mind, just what have we lost....the phone rings....'we've not got your furniture, customs refused to release it, incorrect paperwork...more money.....' I switch off listening, then the anger kicks in.....'No more storage charges, no more excuses, furniture delivered by 9am tomorrow morning or I will seek legal advice' (It's an international removal company we hired) 'we'll do our best, Ma'am' so we'll see I'll let you know in the morning what's going on....fingers crossed.
