An update to this…
The guy who turned up today came a few hours later than I expected, but got the reconstruction part of the closet-fixing done, and a trapdoor installed, all in two hours flat. The higher-up who was supervising him also showed up, and was very professional. And the killer was, he very conscientiously swept up afterward — not just in my closet, not just the floor beside it, but even out in the hallway where a bunch of sheetrock dust had ended up. I’m hoping that the guy who shows up tomorrow morning for the wallpapering job is just as efficient. I have to move some more furniture into the living room and unclutter the tops of my bookcases so he can get at the whole ceiling.
I’m impressed, and feel vindicated in my sense thatto get stuff done, you need to freak out and yell and shout, and then when the dam bursts and someone who is actually in charge notices, and says, “Right, let’s sort this,” you need to just shut up and step out of the way.
Anyway, it’s being sorted, which is still a relief. But I still kinda want my own everything. That said, it might be just that I’m getting too old to have strangers in charge of the small, petty things in my life that actually affect my life. I’d rather call someone myself and get it sorted than wait for the lower-level goofballs to puzzle their way towards a real solution, or at least puzzle their way towards inquiring with a higher up whether another solution might apply.
But at least things are sorted now. My clothes shall be hanging in my closet again by this time tomorrow night.
And we’re thinking of taking out the big, nasty couch and replacing it with bean bag chairs. Well, I’m trying to convince Lime it’s a good idea. Anyone know if they’re available in Korea? Surely they must be, somewhere.
For readers interested in less personal stuff, I am slowly working up the next post in the Gin Lane & Soju-Ro series. Really! But it’ll be a while yet. I’m busy as, er, well, you know.
A maintenance person cleaned up after themselves? That is extremely rare. You must be feeling pretty good about that.
As for the bean bag chairs, that’s something I’ve been wondering about as well. My wife and I went to the Pixar exhibition they had at the Seoul Arts Center last month, and one of the mini-theaters inside was equipped with bean bag chairs. Talk about bringing back memories of the 70s. I was waiting for someone to bring out a pot of chocolate fondue.
After leaving that theater we talked about the possibility of getting bean bags (preferably ones that don’t shed little foam pellets all over the place) for our apartment, but I haven’t looked into it yet. If I discover anything I’ll let you know (and vice versa, cool?).
[Edit: by the way, I am absolutely loving the new “edit” widget. Tres cool.]
I was indeed shocked and very pleased with the cleanup. I’ve never even heard of that in Korea. I think maintenance guys just don’t. But I think word has gotten around that the handling of things in this building in general has been poor, and maybe the higher-up guy I mentioned is pushing for an improvement.
Yeah, let’s let one another know. If you ask me, bean bags totally kill affordable couches in Korea — most couches I’ve seen that were less than $1000 were either very uncomfortable in one direction (too hard) or the other (way too soft) or looked horrible.
I’ve never owned bean bags chairs, never had them at home, but I’d love some. We’ll do some digging, and do let’s share our findings. Doubtless I’ll blog it, in fact.
By the way, come to think of it, I’ve seen bean bags somewhere in a cinema too. Can’t remember where, but I think it was in Korea. (Also pretty sure I saw that in a fancy Bangkok cinema as well.)
Glad you like the widget. The site’s overdue for some redesign, though the guy I was gonna hire now has no time. *sigh*
“If you ask me, bean bags totally kill affordable couches in Korea — most couches I’ve seen that were less than $1000 were either very uncomfortable in one direction (too hard) or the other (way too soft) or looked horrible.”
Yeah, like the “couches” that come standard in our apartments here. One of the other professors calls them “benches” and the name has stuck. I would gladly throw a couple bean bags down there and toss that bench out the window.
Glad to hear things are settling down a bit in the “soggy mess in my house” dept.
I showed that post to my fiance Mike (who also has a little office of his own) and he grimaced sympathetically.
Yay for more sojutalk. Interesting stuff.
Thanks Val,
Yeah, I think anyone who’s dealt with bureaucrats can relate. It’s not uniquely Korean bureaucracy, though sometimes one feels like it when one is looking to cast blame around.
Soju, then… soon… -ish.