After the Great Oven Debacle of 2010, Max put in a work order for our oven. A few days later, I had a phone call. The owner of the house wanted to know what was wrong and how she could help. I explained that the oven was wonky, and it had gotten very difficult to cook anything with any accuracy. She asked if I would like her to make a repair appointment, or if I would like to call myself. I said it would probably be better if she did it, since there was no guarantee that the person at the repair place would speak English. She called back a few minutes later and told me that the appointment was for Jan 5, sometime between 7:30 and 12:30. OK.
A week or so later, I got another phone call. This one was from the repair place, wanting to know what was wrong with my dishwasher. I explained there wasn't anything wrong with the dishwasher, it was the oven that had problems. She set up an appointment for the following week, which made me think that the Jan 5 appointMent was null and void.
The oven guy came by at the appointed time, and fixed the oven. He spoke some English, so it wasn't too bad. He scolded me that my oven was too dirty. The only sticky point was when he said it would be 187€. I didn't have 187€. I asked him if I was responsible for that, since it isn't my house. He called his office and talked to them, and they apparently agreed that the homeowner was to be charged for that, not me. Problem solved. Well, that problem. The oven still sucks - absolutely nothing changed. But, I don't feel like dealing with a repairman again, so I'll deal with the oven.
Fast forward another week. Early one morning, Em comes running upstairs telling me there's somebody at the door. WTH? I answer it, and there stands a repairman. It's January 5, the date of the original oven appointment. He doesn't speak English, but I understand enough to know that he wants to see the hot water heater. I have no idea how to explain that the hot water heater doesn't have a problem, that the oven was the problem, but that it's already been taken care of. Crap. So, I take him to the hot water heater. It's in the laundry room. Em had just cleaned out her room, and had dumped about two months worth of dirty laundry in the laundry room. I had to excavate the hot water heater before he could get to it. When he got in the room, he said, "Mein Gott!" In case you can't figure that one out, it means, "My God!" Thanks, jerk.
Anyway, he got to work on the non-broken water heater. I called the homeowner to see if she could talk to him. She wasn't there. So, I sat. I updated facebook. I sat some more. He was down there for like an hour and a half.
Another couple of weeks go by. The homeowner finally calls me back and explains that she was out of town. She said that the water heater thing was routine maintenance. I have no idea. Very strange coincidence if he happened to just show up on the same day at the same time as the oven guy was originally scheduled to come, but I have no idea. I guess I never will, huh?
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