In-Capacitor-ated

Thursday 8 December 2011

The weather is growing cold.  Dave was up early taking the generator to bits, grumbling that he doesn’t know anything about generator electrics.  Then he found a black box which had swollen and split, and reckoned it must be that.

On a wing and a prayer we went to the car electrician in Nidri, but he was away from the shop for a few hours, so we went away and returned at the stated time.  He was still absent.  We decided not to risk waiting, everywhere would close at 2pm, and the local man was a long shot.  So we drove into Lefkas.  We asked in the tool shop where we bought the generator – can order, but nothing here and now, try the tractor parts shop – no good, try the other tool shop in town – no good, try the repair shop by the hospital – yes, got lots, what size, try this one, 12 euros – oh no, sorry, forgot you were foreign, 15 euros.   The black box appears to be a capacitor.  Meanwhile the first tool shop had rung me and said he could get the part from the Athens suppliers by tomorrow, did I want it?  I agreed: the more the merrier – given that we are entirely dependent upon the generator during these dark days.

 

The sun has now dropped so low in the sky that the solar water heater is getting barely a couple of hours a day even when it’s sunny.   They say it is important to live a year somewhere before building or re-designing your house, and we are finding out that’s absolutely right.  The sun has dropped below the level of the bank of cypresses, and as it is only early December, we’ve got till mid-January before it will re-emerge.  So we are watching the ground, to see where to site the water heater on the house.

 

Bought some artichoke plants while passing the garden centre.  Whatever is on the shelves is always a good indicator of when to plant.  Home by 3ish, so put them in the ground.  While I was at it, I put some stones round the self-seeded rocket, which has colonised some of the compost that fell out of a sack that biodegraded.

 

Dave fixed the generator.  Hurrah and double-hurrah!  On consideration, decided the capacitor must’ve been dodgy from the first, the generator hasn’t been working to full effect for a while.  We could tell as soon as it kicked back in – pumping power into the poor, long-suffering batteries.  Dave also thought that wiring the water heater probably drove the final stake into its heart. 

As we were on maintenance duties, I got on with two vital jobs (from a housekeeping and writing point of view).  I had bought a cheap clothes dryer in Lefkas, and rigged it on the roof of the shed like my granny used to have (although they used to be wrought iron and wood, not flimsy metal and wire, and have proper pulleys and everything – I just used ring screws).  The other thing was a drop-down table, using left over plywood from the battery box that Dave had started constructing.  Now I have a nice writing surface that neatly folds away when I want to pull the twin-tub out and start washing. 

 I wonder if hardship makes a good writer?  Dostoevsky never had it so good!