Meaning to Life | Exotic Caribbean

Posts Tagged ‘Eduardo the repair man’

Friday, November 26, 2004
Just like any good ship trying to sail a steady course we do try to keep up a regular schedule of maintenance here at Playa Vista… and where possible introduce improvements too, when resources permit.
Lying directly in the path of salty sea breezes, as we do, the affect on our buildings, fixtures and fittings can easily be imagined although the all year round summer temperatures at least means we do not have also to contend with the even more invasive ravages of freezing and thawing.
Quite besides the regular maintenance we recently had to attend to another repair job – twice! We have a row of seven 4” by 4” white wooden posts supporting the second floor landing and the roof of the apartments to the rear of Playa Vista. Immediately adjacent all manner of visitors frequently park their cars within the security of the property. For something like five years there had never been any difficulties until one bright Sunday morning a regular customer who had previously parked there on numerous occasions claimed he couldn’t see the post nearest to the entrance gateway as he reversed directly into it splitting and seriously dislodging it. Eduardo, our regular handyman, was able to put the damage right and we breathed a sigh of relief as the overall structure was re-supported as it should be. Or so we thought… something like a week later another visitor also in broad daylight reversed so forcefully into the brand new and freshly painted post that it not only split in two but was completely displaced from its roof supporting function.
We have seen many visitors drive in and out including in reverse, in the dark of night and in all kinds of weather and states of mind without any problem whatsoever. But two regular visitors in bright sunshine without having had a single drop of the hard stuff didn’t notice the same bright white post just a few days apart…. Far-fetched! So, “regular maintenance” suddenly seems to have taken on a new meaning around here… and by the way: Who said that lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place?