A Day of Shopping and Plumbers.

We began the day at the condo, awaiting the plumber to repair the leak in the ceiling of the master bathroom. When he arrived it was again a new experience, he had no shoes on...I thought that strange to have a barefooted plumber, but he did have shoes, they were just left at the door (tradition here to not wear shoes in someones home). Barefooted or not, he was on time and did great work, the leak is now fixed, we have hot water, and we should be able to finally move in today. We still have cable to deal with, and hopefully that will be done this week and I have to figure out how the house phone work. I don't expect anyone to call us on anything but our hand phones, but you never know. Today is more shopping UGGG!! It has to be done though, Rox and I still need a blanket and sheets for the bed, and we need to get some groceries...so it is off to the mall and either the Giant or Cold Storage market, to get some food, for the next week. Rox is off to work on Monday and Brenna is off to school, so I will have to find a way to keep myself busy. Huge lesson learned yesterday, we had bought a new printer and a small stereo for the condo, we had to carry them through the mall to a cab...not all that heavy, just bulky. Brenna and Rox stopped to look at something, so i put the two boxes down and stepped aside. Most of the time, we are treated with a kind indifference, the people here know we are outsiders, and we have not been here very long. A mall security guard approaches me and asks "can I help you?" I took it confrontational and in my most obnoxious "rude American" voice, "Can you help me?" and he said "yes, with you packages, to the taxis..." What a jerk I am, and what a culture shock that is...most of the mall security guards in US malls are too busy playing cop or flirting with 18 year old "Fashion bug" clerks. It was refreshing, pleasant and a throwback to a better time. Thank you Queensbay Mall Security guard, you have re-established my faith in humanity.