Coloured Terraced Houses

These ‚Reihenhäuser’ (literally: row houses) aren’t in our street, but also not far away. I liked their cheerful colours against the blue sky. P and I walked past them this afternoon, as we went out after a day that was frustrating for both of us. 

P is being plagued by never-ending meetings, and I had to deal with the builders today. They had announced to repair the leaking roof (which had been damaged by their company in November) ‚between 9 and 10 A.M.‘ today.

So I hoped to be free at noon, to go into town, meet a friend, and take part in today’s climate demonstration. 

Just after 11, the roofers phoned, to let me know they‘d be here around 12. As with all tradesmen in recent years, their customers are expected to have unlimited time to wait for their ‚service‘. But I couldn’t really tell them to forget about it and come another time, as the weather forecast promises rain on Monday, and I really wanted the leaky roof fixed.

So I canceled the meeting with my friend, and waited for the roofers. They appeared at 12:15, a mere three hours late, inspected the roof, discovered two holes in the membrane around the roof windows, applied a few sheets of tar paper, finished just after 1 P.M. and asked for coffee.

After making me wait for half a day and scrap my plans, they only got a mug of instant coffee each. And no biscuits.