Boiling Point

Well, it's happened.  That point that I knew I'd get to eventually here, even though I've been trying my very best to stay relaxed and positive.  I am SO tired of everything going wrong in our house.  This is supposed to be the one place in Luanda that we can come to and relax - but instead it's the biggest source of stress!  I'm sure no one really wants to hear all that's going wrong with our home, but for the sake of being able to look back on this and laugh someday (long after we've moved!) I'm going to write it all down.

1.  We have no hot water.  Again.  On Wednesday a guy came to clean the air conditioners, and he apparently missed the memo that electricity and water are not a good combination.  He sprayed the garden hose up to clean the outside of an air conditioning unit in our backyard, and got water directly into the outlet where we have our chest freezer plugged in!  Immediately the power blew out upstairs, the adapter where the freezer was plugged in melted, and somehow the hot water heater stopped working.  So for the past 4 days, it's been cold showers for the Hortons.  If you've lost count, let me remind you - this is the SEVENTH hot water heater we're talking about.  SEVEN.  In 11 months.

2.  Our dishwasher isn't hooked up correctly, and floods the kitchen with water when we use it.  The guys have been out twice already, and tell me there's nothing wrong with it.  Today, without coming to look at it, they've decided to replace it.  What really gets me is that we HAD a dishwasher that worked perfectly, until they decided to replace that one because it was causing the breaker to trip (allegedly).  Now, this one floods the kitchen, and our breaker still trips!

3.  The breaker still trips.

4.  We have a security system for the house, but no code or instructions to use it.  We have been requesting these for 11 months.

5.  I still can't call the US from our house phone.  But I can call Ireland!  And Portugal!

I felt good when I woke up this morning, ready to start the week.  But when I walked into the kitchen and slid in a puddle of water from the dishwasher, it all went downhill very quickly.  I know these problems are really minor in the grand scheme of things, but when they all pile up, I feel so overwhelmed.  I've been calling people all morning, trying to get someone to come and help....but it's 2pm, and there has yet to be a single repair person at our house.  If you hear on the news tonight about an American woman arrested for going ballistic in Angola, please start a rescue fund for me.  I don't know how much longer I can keep my cool.