Well well! It seems no time at all since we had problems with our A/C, but like the daytime and the night, they are bound to come around. And, of course whenever that time is, it's when you actually need them to be working properly, it's been reaching towards the 50 degree mark on some afternoons here on our little roof terrace!
I'm sure that you will have heard the old adage that "You get what you pay for." It sure seems that it's true as far as A/C units go, here's a little FREE word of advice "DON'T BUY 'AMERICOOL' AIR CONDITIONERS". I won't bore you with the saga of our multifarious air-conditioning units and their differing configurations, suffice it to say that because it's hot, they won't work.
Obviously, in this unseasonable heat and without the benefit of the A/C, sleeping becomes difficult and tempers tend to become ragged, adding to the general sense of unrest. You, being a regular aficionado of my ramblings Dear Reader, will no doubt recall the nightmare scenarios with the various A/C 'engineers' with whom we've dealt in the past. I've thankfully blotted their names from my memory, and we now have a reliable and knowledgeable engineer. He arrived almost on time to have a look at the Americool, one and a half horsepower, unit in our bedroom.
I knew that it required a good clean out, and that this should increase it's effectiveness, but I was appalled at the amount of muck that came out of it:
After half stripping the unit down, they washed it in our bathroom, with the shower hose and a little 'Gener-Al*' floor cleaner. (* That's how it's pronounced, it's really called 'General'.) Naturally, being Egyptian, they left the floor and everything for us to clean after they'd left.
Although I had expected a marked improvement, I wasn't prepared to be nearly blown off my feet by the reinvigorated blast of cold air emitting from the unit! Thankfully, the temperature has dropped a little since it was cleaned, so everything has been hunky-dory, but I'm fully expecting the worst, once the temperature rises again to over 45/46. I've asked the man to return and do the same to the other one we have, at his earliest convenience! Even though I am delighted with the change in performance, I really think that a better quality A/C unit would be the job, and maybe a two horsepower one, just to make sure.
Talking about 'horsepower': last night we had the privilege of being the very first people to be pulled along by Farid, the latest of Mr Ahmed Badawi's horses to be trained as a carriage horse. We'd been scoffing English cake at the Nile Palace, and had rang Ahmed to come and collect us, as we had quite a bit of shopping to get and carry home. He turned up with brother Samir driving what looked like a very small horse (in comparison to Edward, our usual trusty steed) in between the shafts. Ahmed was very excited, and told us that they were giving Farid his first solo lesson, just for an hour or so. I'm sure that many of you will have seen caleches with a younger, smaller horse tied to the one actually pulling the caleche along; this is the first stage in their training and it gets them used to the traffic and noise with which they will have to contend during their working lives.
Farid performed admirably, except for not being able to keep the conveyance in a straight line, and having a little difficulty negotiating left-hand turns. He wasn't yet used to answering the guidance of the reins. We had a good old laugh as poor Ahmed had to keep leaping to the ground to steer Farid away from parked cars, or around a tight corner before he ran straight into a wall!!! (Actually, I was rather worried that Ahmed would end up under the carriage wheels!)
We even ventured into the chaotic traffic of Television Street and Manchia, places we try to keep clear of with the caleche in normal circumstances, where Farid seemed to not even notice the surrounding Bedlam! I'm sure that his father (Edward) will be proud of him as he gets bigger, stronger and more confident. It was 'cool' to see this part of his training, and I was really pleased at Ahmed's and Samir's patience and gentleness with the young horse. 10 out of 10, I think.
I'm sure that you will have heard the old adage that "You get what you pay for." It sure seems that it's true as far as A/C units go, here's a little FREE word of advice "DON'T BUY 'AMERICOOL' AIR CONDITIONERS". I won't bore you with the saga of our multifarious air-conditioning units and their differing configurations, suffice it to say that because it's hot, they won't work.
Obviously, in this unseasonable heat and without the benefit of the A/C, sleeping becomes difficult and tempers tend to become ragged, adding to the general sense of unrest. You, being a regular aficionado of my ramblings Dear Reader, will no doubt recall the nightmare scenarios with the various A/C 'engineers' with whom we've dealt in the past. I've thankfully blotted their names from my memory, and we now have a reliable and knowledgeable engineer. He arrived almost on time to have a look at the Americool, one and a half horsepower, unit in our bedroom.
I knew that it required a good clean out, and that this should increase it's effectiveness, but I was appalled at the amount of muck that came out of it:
Although I had expected a marked improvement, I wasn't prepared to be nearly blown off my feet by the reinvigorated blast of cold air emitting from the unit! Thankfully, the temperature has dropped a little since it was cleaned, so everything has been hunky-dory, but I'm fully expecting the worst, once the temperature rises again to over 45/46. I've asked the man to return and do the same to the other one we have, at his earliest convenience! Even though I am delighted with the change in performance, I really think that a better quality A/C unit would be the job, and maybe a two horsepower one, just to make sure.
Talking about 'horsepower': last night we had the privilege of being the very first people to be pulled along by Farid, the latest of Mr Ahmed Badawi's horses to be trained as a carriage horse. We'd been scoffing English cake at the Nile Palace, and had rang Ahmed to come and collect us, as we had quite a bit of shopping to get and carry home. He turned up with brother Samir driving what looked like a very small horse (in comparison to Edward, our usual trusty steed) in between the shafts. Ahmed was very excited, and told us that they were giving Farid his first solo lesson, just for an hour or so. I'm sure that many of you will have seen caleches with a younger, smaller horse tied to the one actually pulling the caleche along; this is the first stage in their training and it gets them used to the traffic and noise with which they will have to contend during their working lives.
Farid performed admirably, except for not being able to keep the conveyance in a straight line, and having a little difficulty negotiating left-hand turns. He wasn't yet used to answering the guidance of the reins. We had a good old laugh as poor Ahmed had to keep leaping to the ground to steer Farid away from parked cars, or around a tight corner before he ran straight into a wall!!! (Actually, I was rather worried that Ahmed would end up under the carriage wheels!)
We even ventured into the chaotic traffic of Television Street and Manchia, places we try to keep clear of with the caleche in normal circumstances, where Farid seemed to not even notice the surrounding Bedlam! I'm sure that his father (Edward) will be proud of him as he gets bigger, stronger and more confident. It was 'cool' to see this part of his training, and I was really pleased at Ahmed's and Samir's patience and gentleness with the young horse. 10 out of 10, I think.
Oh , Edward, knowing Ahmed and Samir as well as we do . we laughed ourselves silly at your description of Farid's initial run - next time you see them , give them our regards
ReplyDeleteKristin and Raymond Hunt
I certainly will, K & R. I know that our little mate is well thought of for looking after his horses even at the cost of his own meagre diet! I have one horse-loving lady who has sent me three small sums of money to help him along since the revolution brought about this dreadful downturn in tourist numbers. Heaven knows that these poor Egyptians need all the help they can get nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, some people can be very kind.