French apartment renovations, Day 192: Let there be light!

18,908 steps

I haven't had an evening off yet for a long time! (meaning time where I am not working until almost midnight, except for writing my daily updates) This is pretty typical: it's 11:20 pm and I am video editing and journaling and still checking work emails. Because most of my work-related things are in the US, I have a light load in the mornings but lots in the evenings.

So today's activities:

I went for a run before school. The AC guys were already at work when I got back. And honestly I can't remember what else I did this morning...

Oh yes, our electrician friend came over and got our main power line installed and hooked up to the meter downstairs!! We now have power in the communist apartment for the first time in over 6 months. No more threading a long extension cord out our window, down the staircase, and inside another window.

I think I mostly worked on installing the final electrical cables. We only have one or two more short runs left for a few light switches. And then we start hooking things up at the electrical boxes.

It was another noisy, busy, dusty day with 4 men hard at work. One of them was rappelling up and down our staircase all day installing the plastic runs (gulottes) that will house all of the cables and insulated copper lines. These go all the way up several stories, around the archway, up to the roof, and over to the other side where the compressors are mounted. This is definitely not an easy installation!

And then there's the interior work....let me just say that they have broken apart a lot of our walls to create channels wide and deep enough for all of these lines. I was hoping they could just cut wall channels but their rainureuse doesn't cut deep enough. So jackhammering it is.

I'm trying not to worry too much about the fact that they are tearing so much down. Breathe. And they are going to be doing the same thing in our apartment and that makes me unsettled.

I asked the guys if I could record them working and they joked around that I was only doing it so I could get a picture of the one in climbing gear! They are a fun crew, always cheerful and joking with each other.



I walked Zari about halfway to a friend's birthday party at a park on Mont Boron. Yesterday we went birthday present shopping and this girl is SO hard to shop with. She was feeling stressed about choosing the right present and then was indecisive for a long time. We finally found a few things she felt good about.

What else? Dio helped me with some electricity work this afternoon. It's fun to have a helper!

Right after school we took Ivy and Inga for a quick swim. Dio came along too but would not go in the water. I only stayed for about 15 minutes, then I hurried home to make dinner.

By accident our entire dinner was white & yellow: yellow curry with chicken & cauliflower over basmati rice, then lemon cheesecake. Officially I made the cheesecake to celebrate Zari finishing the brevet. But we don't really need an excuse to eat something so delicious, right?