Thursday, April 9, 2009

New Keys, New Keys

So The Spouse calls the landlords' Man Friday for me yesterday. (Yay, Spouse!!) Man Friday tells The Spouse that he has a front door key . . . he'll get a copy made for us.

Now, when The Spouse broke his own key a few months ago, I stuck my head in every keysmith/locksmith kiosk I passed, and I saw NO blank keys like this hanging around waiting to be cut. But I said nothing and just waited. What do I know?

Sure enough, at the appointed hour, Man Friday appears at my door. He does not speak English, but, thankfully, Baboo's cello teacher happened to be here and graciously translated for me.

MF: "I'm very sorry. I have been to five keysmiths. This is an old style key and cannot be duplicated."

Me: "I know. We have to call the Dom-O-Fon people, and they will give us a new one. Here are their phone numbers."

MF: "No, they won't give us new keys. The building has not paid the Dom-O-Fon service fees. Your Mr. Neighbor is in charge of collecting everyone's fees."

Me: "Mr. Neighbor's WIFE showed me her shiny new metal key. She's the one who told me we have to call Dom-O-Fon."

MF: "Oh."

He gets out his cellphone, calls Dom-O-Fon (he seemed to have their number programmed in his phone address book as he shunned my piece of paper with the numbers copied there from the sign on the front door).

MF (on phone): "How much? How late are you open? Oh. I'll be right over."

MF (to me): "How many do you want?"

Me: "Three?"

MF: "Be right back."

Oh, and the back door key? Seems the government entity that manages the building (it is a three-letter acronym that is pronounced something like "Jack") handles that.

MF: "Jack has the keys now."

Me: "Jack? Jack who?"

Duh-oh! I get it. No one is supposed to have a key to the back door. Just as no one is supposed to have a key to the roof (except I do . . . shhhh). And, truthfully, it is better now because you no longer need a key to exit the building via the back door. Which is a lot safer. But you need a key to enter that way. Which is fine by me as I have never used that door.

That's one project sorted.

Next: the shower. We have one of those detachable shower heads. And the contraption that holds the head on the wall was compromised when we moved in over a year ago. Recently it all broke. Using my SuperGlue skills, I managed to get about another week out of it, but then it broke irreparably.

I hate holding the shower head/wand thing-y under my arm or between my knees while I try to apply shampoo to my head. You can never just set the thing down on the floor of the tub because it sprays water at some unexpected angle and results in floor mopping. And forget about turning it on and off. I can't be bothered.

So Man Friday apparently found a whole new set at the market yesterday and at some point will come along and replace ours.

My children are looking forward to going here this summer: they are counting the days and mapping their itinerary.

I am looking forward to a new and improved shower. I guess this, along with an eagerness to take naps, is the dividing line between childhood and adulthood.

5 comments:

valentina said...

Oh when we were kids we LIVED to go to the amusement park at the seashore every summer. WE got to go once at the beginning and another at the end. This was because my dad drove us from Pgh to the Jersey Shore and stayed a week and went back home to work and then came for his second week of vacation at the end and drove us all back. This meant two trips to the amusement park and that was great.

It is weird what kids like, usually the trashier and tinselier and more garish the more it appeals to them. Another cut off between childhood and adulthood along with loving showers and naps I suspect!

I am glad you got the keys sorted out AND a new shower AND have reservations for summer as we are all looking forward to having you home in the land of corn and tomatoes!

Meanwhile we love your blog. It is a fascinating little slice of Moscow life with all of its, or at least many of its, frustrations and joys.

So keep it coming! xov

hexe said...

Even though we live an hour from Disney, have somehow managed to take the kids only once. As a kid, I loved going to amusement parks, now I take one ride on the swings and need to lay down. Have become old.

Hope you all enjoy the planning!

Tina in CT said...

How frustrating for you!

Guess what? I'm off to Moscow for a long Mother's Day weekend (my birthday week) and Russia's Victory Day. Can't believe it is happening and so spur-of-the-moment. Can't wait to see my American Muscovite kids!!!!!

MoscowMom said...

I remember feeling, "Wow. I'm now an adult..." when taking an undergraduate German class while in Graduate School. The professor was talking about young adulthood and the transition from being a kid to an adult. He asked the class, "When you do think that happens?" and they gave typical freshman answers. Influenced by the fact I was about to be married and was thinking housewares, I then replied, "When you would be really thrilled to have a good food processor..." and meant it. As soon as I saw the "What planet are you from??" looks from the other students, I realized that I had "crossed over"...!

Incidentally, I'm waiting for that magical domofon key to magically appear from the resident responsible for collecting our domofon money... I paid eons ago and everyone else seems to have one... But not me...

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