Changes

The highlight of the day was a good catchup with Dd. Other than that, nothing quite went according to plan. The plumber didn't arrive, the very cheap lounge chair didn't fit in the taxi, the friend who came to help got stuck in traffic couldn't get it in his car, and a courier couldn't be found, I had to then reschedule a doctor's appt as I'd got distracted and even though I climbed the rickety ladder, only discovered the missing step halfway up and thought I could re-use the existing hooks, I had to re-hang the existing curtain as the hooks wouldn't come out for me to hang a heavier one.

But, as is so often the case, all of these are first world problems. My Egyptian harris (caretaker) was clearly unhappy as he organised the ladder. His wife isn't well. She's in Egypt with their son and he's here. I don't know how he came to be here, but if he bought the visa, it's the equivalent of two years average wages in Egypt. Thousands of young men try their luck here, for many it works but I guess for many it might not. I remember seeing hundreds of men from rural areas in Cairo applying for visas. They live here for years and send money home. Family is all in Egypt and they do this for the family but one can only imagine the pressure too. He's a good guy and I hope the situation is resolved soon.