Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Le Pauvre Chateau

So there's a hole in the Chateau. 

The first day back after the Toussaint vacation, the Dean mentioned off-hand that his heat wasn't working in his apartment.

'Is your heat working?' he asked. Truth be told, my apartment and office are always a little chilly (the perks of living in a drafty old castle), but low and behold, this time the heater wasn't working. 

None of the heaters in the Chateau were working. 

And then there was a large puddle (lake?) in the cave

To make a long, and very technical story, short, there was a problem with the radiator, the heat was broken, pipes were leaking, and soon we were all wrapped in layers of sweaters and scarves, huddled around space heaters. I temporarily moved into the villa, a small house behind on the property, right behind the Chateau. 

This ended up being one of those 'start digging and we'll see what we find' kind of projects, so as we speak, there is a large hole in the middle of the dining hall. Yesterday I saw sparks, heard drills, and sounds that led me to believe I was working next to a stone quarry instead of at a university. Turns out, all that action might have fixed the problem and hopefully by dinner time, our fingers-turned-Popsicles will have thawed out. 

Standing next to the grounds keeper as they chipped away at the stone facade, I shook my head an said 'Poor chateau.' Without skipping a beat he responded 'She's crying!'

I love my job.

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