a matter of definition

On the way from the airport when I first arrived, Sam told me that he and his wife and the driver and the driver’s wife had spent all day cleaning the apartment and that they rolled out all new carpet.  When I got here, there was not a carpet in sight, but all new roll linoleum rolled out on the floor.  It is full of air pockets, lumps and bumps, barely cut to size, with long pieces folded up along the walls in some places.  Well, they are a theological student and a handy man at the College.  They are not professional floor installers.  It’s going to have that characteristic new linoleum smell as long as I am here.

In fact, all the floors in every room in every building are covered with this rolled linoleum and none of it is glued down.  It is all rolled up a few inches at the wall and wherever there are places that the rolls don’t exactly meet, small pieces are cut and put under the larger pieces.

However, almost everywhere else, the linoleum lies quite flat.  The bumps make sweeping in my apartment kind of interesting.  Not to mention the tools that I have to use.

My broom and dustpan.  The broom (100% natural fibers) is about 3' tall and the dustpan about 16".  It makes sweeping back breaking work.  And all the action is in one wrist.

So when the principal came around to make sure everything was okay, including if the dryer was “installed”, I just said yes, even though it is sitting in the spare bedroom with the ventilation hose sitting in the spare bathroom, just perched inside the door.  "Installed" here is a matter of definition. At first I was thinking about running the dryer at night and sleeping in that room, just for the warmth, but now it seems that spring has sprung and the nights are warmer.  I have discarded one of my three blankets.