Newest Light Fixture

Living here is an adventure, and expectations in the service industry are quite different.

Recently our dining room light broke. This was not surprise. All the rest of our lights have been breaking one by one. The question was more of when it was going to happen. While we were traveling a few weeks ago we purchased a fun new light at Ikea to replace it.

We got a guy with the job title of "decorator" to come install it. In the US we would do this part ourselves, but the wires are not wired very friendly in our apartment. We preferred someone else electrocute themselves than us.

I gave him the Ikea directions. He looked at them for about 2 seconds and discarded them. He did not even look at the second page. He left our apartment and then thirty minutes later brought in a HUGE drill that is capable of drilling through cement so he could put a hook in the ceiling to hang the light on. I made the mistake of going into AB's room while he used the drill. When I came out I saw, in horror, that he did not drill the hole in the same hole all the wires are hanging out of. He drilled it beside it. I then watched in horror (again) as he hung my pretty new light off center in a room in which everything else is centered. It reeeeaaaally bugged me.

He attached the wires and looked at me as if to say, "finished." Oh no no no. The light has an adjustable lengths. Since we selected the shortest length there is a ton of extra cord. It must be threaded through the light and cut. Then that new end of the cord must be wired to the power in the ceiling. He said it was not possible (if he had looked at the instructions he would see it was possible, grrr). I gave up and decided I would chance electrocution rather than convince the "expert" I knew better than him.

Then I asked him about the nice big hole in the ceiling that my light was hanging beside. He said it was no problem, meaning that it was not problem that it was there. He had no intention of doing anything about it. I told him it was ugly. He told me to tape a piece of paper over it. I said no. He told me to put some red (b/c red is the lucky color) wall paper over it because it will look "beautiful." I said no. In the end I used some sheets off of my lint roller to cover the hole while I figured out something permeant. You can still see the whole through the lint roller sheets, but it catches the bits of cement that randomly fall out of it.

What I have planned to fix the hole and center the lamp is very simple. However getting it done here is headache inducing. Who knows when it will get fixed. I gave up on getting rid of the extra cord until I can fix the hole. I want to really only chance electrocution once. I wrapped it around the lamp...I think it looks a little trashy, but really what else was I going to do with it?

Speaking of people who think they know better than I do, two days ago I went to get my hair cut. I told the guy I wanted to grow my hair out, but I needed a trim. I walked out of that salon with a haircut just like Kristen Stewart's mullet...not a trim. I also now have bangs, which are super annoying. I have regretted every single hair cut I have gotten here. Twice my hair was cut uneven - like shorter or one side. Twice I have been given bangs without asking for them. The other two times I really do not know what happened, but they stylist was very proud of what he did to me. When will I learn to just let it grow, and wait until I see my mom to cut it? On the bright side, I went to the most expensive salon in town and it still only cost $10.