Travaux

Set off in the rain, again, for the flat. I took with me a small electrician's screwdriver, as the light switch in the ex blue bedroom came off in my hand, leaving 220 volts' worth of tingling current at the end of exposed wires. I isolated the circuit, figured out how to take the switch apart to get at the wire clamps, rewired the damn thing, reconstructed it, and then figured out how to fix it back in the wall. Turns out there is a system of outward facing clamps, operated by another two screws, inside the switch, so back to square one: dismantle, attach to wall, then replace switch mechanism.

By this time, the rain had stopped, so I could open the windows wide to use the vile, probably toxic spray for sealing stains in the ceiling. Wore a mask, but fumes still powerful. Dried quickly though... the aerosol can has a stern warning against 'vandalic usage' in a variety of languages, including Greek. Doesn't seem to deter the local wall poets, however, whose tags grace quite a few buildings in the old town.

Out with the Polyfilla for a few more linear metres of hairline cracks between plaster board panels. Ok, except for stair zone, which will require acrobatic skills to reach. Started work on painting in the front room. French paint is expensive and crap, like watered milk. It took two coats to cover a wall which was already white. Net result will be nice, though.

Glad to say that the lube job on the window mechanisms (where would we be without a can of WD40?) had worked a treat overnight, and now the windows close properly.