SOLC30- March 30, 2015 When Will I Learn?

March 30, 2015

When Will I Learn?

I keep thinking that after just over 8 months in country I will start being able to plan things better, but I am realizing that there are just too many variables that I can not predict to make my life ordinary and that is part of what I love and hate about life in Malaysia!

Today the air conditioning service man was due to come at 11. I arranged this last week and was even going to take him to the apartments of 4 colleagues’ so that we could all get our semi-annual obligation out of the way (personally I think the management company or owners of the apartments should sort this out, but that is another story!). I was hesitant to contact the service man via phone because I sometimes have trouble communicating clearly enough so I arranged it all by text and it seemed like we understood each other. I was really happy to get a text just before 11 from the man telling me he was on his way (I have heard many horror stories from others about service people who just never show up). Sure enough at about 11:20 two men showed up and after nearly an hour my air conditioners were serviced (what that means I do not really know- I did see filters being washed and a lot of banging was going on). We went on to the other apartments (3 of the 4 people are away on break, so I had keys and waited at each apartment). As we are all in the same complex the setup is fairly similar so the other apartments were quicker and just after 2:00 I was free.

I Skyped with my older son yesterday and had agreed to transfer some money to his bank account. I tried to do this online, but I had too many doubts about what to do, so I headed off to the bank. I congratulated myself on asking him 101 questions yesterday, including his passport number, Swift code, etc. I even thought to bring my own passport, having been turned away from various endeavors by not having my passport with me in the past. I asked  the front desk, was given a form to fill out, and a number to wait my turn. I waited and waited and waited and then they skipped my number! I flashed my number to the man who had taken the person after me and he told me to sit down and wait (hmph!). After finishing with that customer, I was helped and happily I had all the right information and documentation. I had to leave my passport and the form with him and return to me seat, to, you guessed it, wait. After a few minutes, he called me up again and asked for my profession, which I had neglected to fill in on the form. Once completing that I was given my passport and a receipt and apparently the money will be transferred. Fingers crossed!

After checking out the bookstore (of course) and grabbing a quick bite to eat I headed for the bus home. It looked like the rain had already come and gone, but, oh no- the traffic! I forgot about the after work traffic in KL! It took me less than 10 minutes to get downtown, but more than 90 minutes to get back. I was smooshed standing up, so I could not even read. The bus was so packed that I could not even get off at my stop, but got off shortly after and walked back.

Now I am back home and grateful that I am on break, so getting home later than planned does not really matter. I will keep the traffic in mind when I head to a concert tomorrow night. Really I could tell so many stories of surprising turns of events here, but this is just a snapshot of my day today.