Two and a half hours and a substantial chunk of change later we’ve got a new air conditioner (both the compressor and the coil were replaced). I won’t go into all of the sordid details but after thirteen years of problem-free operation it was due.
The team that did the installation consisted of one man about my age and another, considerably younger and quite good-looking young fellow who’s main job appeared to be (as the older man told me) as a convenient person to blame if anything went wrong. I sat and watched them while they did their work, mostly just to be sociable. They conversed with each other in a combination of heavily-accented Russian and equally heavily-accented English.
You could have knocked them over with a feather when I chimed in in Russian. The older man, Alex, explained that he was from Ukraine and his partner, Roman, was from Moldova. Alex had taught electrical engineering in Ukraine and is making a pretty decent living over here installing furnaces and air conditioners.
Alex: It’s lucky we didn’t say anything about you. Can you curse in Russian?
Me: No. I can read Russian pretty well but I’m out of practice speaking.
Alex: My kids can’t learn Russian. They can’t read anything but they can swear.
Me: At least you’ve taught them the important stuff.
Later, Roman and I talked a little about an article we had both read on Gazeta.ru.
So now we have a new air conditioner. I hope it lasts as long as the old one.
Crikey, how many languages do you speak?