Perfect start to the new year

At 11AM this morning, the proprietaria (owner) of our apartment called me to say that the tecnico (technician) for the lavatrice (washing machine) was on his way and would be at our place in half an hour. I wasn't prepared at all for him to come as he said that he'd call me on the 9th.

Dave and I took the asciugatrice (dryer) off of the lavatrice so that the tecnico could have full access to the lavatrice. The last time the tecnico came to look at the lavatrice, he told me to make sure that it could come out of the armadio (closet). He told me that he wanted to come here, fix the lavatrice, and go. He didn't want any problems with accessing it.

The tecnico rang the campanello (doorbell) and I let him in. I reminded him that we were on the terzo piano (fourth floor). When the tecnico made it to our door, I realized it was a different guy. He was a little out of breath and said, "Che scale!" (What stairs!)

I showed him the way to our bagno where the lavatrice is and left him alone. From where I was sitting in the living room, I heard him test the lavatrice and when it stopped, he came out and said he was going downstairs to get the new motore. After an hour of working on the lavatrice, he came out and said, "Va tutto bene ora." (It's all OK now.)

He pulled out a pad of forms and asked me for the ricevuta (receipt), which I didn't have. I told him that he'd have to talk to the proprietario, so I called him and handed the tecnico my telefonino (mobile phone).

They spoke briefly and when the tecnico hung up, he told me that I had to pay 20 Euros for the intervento (service call). I asked him if the proprietario would be sending him the ricevuta and he responded, "Speriamo bene." (Let's hope so.) He left me with ricevuta for his work today and we put in a load of laundry. Now Dave doesn't have to drag all of our clothes and sheets to the lavanderia (Laundromat) down the street, so he's happy.

I told our proprietaria that the other tecnico who has our televisore (television set) in his possession might not be able to deliver it until Friday because of some car issue he has. She said, "Non mi importa che cosa sia il suo problema. Lo chiamo subito." (I don't care what his problem is. I'll call him right away.)

After she talked to him, she asked me to call him back to fissare l'ora (set up a time) with him. When I called him, he said that he might not be able to come to our apartment because of a funerale di un critico letterario fiorentino (funeral for a Florentine literary critic), Alessandro Parronchi. As the tecnico was talking to me on the phone, I walked over to our terrazza (terrace) and peered out onto the piazza. I told him that it must be over because there was no one in the piazza. He said he'd try to come around 7.30PM, but if not, he'd come tomorrow or the next day.

In the end, the tecnico came a little before 8PM. He plopped the televisore down on the couch and told me that it was a problema banale (banal problem) with a cavo (cable). He said he kept it for testing to make sure that was what it was. I helped him plug the televisore back into the wall and hang it up. We turned it on and it worked perfectly.

I signed his formulario (form) and walked him to the door. After I shut the door behind him, I ran back to the couch and turned the televisore back on. It was wonderful to see the images so perfectly. Since we moved in, the colors had been all mixed up. I turned it on a few times to listen to a TV show, but it was difficult to look at the images.

Now, everything in our apartment is working. It's a wonderful way to start the new year! Especially since today really is the beginning of the year in Italy.

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