Untitled For Now
I always joke about how I should have a Reality TV Show. It wouldn’t even need to be scripted for maximum entertainment. The camera could just follow me around all day and record the actual stuff that happens.
Of course, for maximum enjoyment, it would be best if they could somehow hook up to my brain to monitor my thoughts.
Like this morning, I was so excited to have spent the night in my new house in Costa Rica. Last night was lasagna night where, even though my furniture is limited, I had a dozen people over. It’s a tradition when I visit, to make lasagna and the gang comes over to Alex and Wendy’s house. This was the first official lasagna night at the new place.
After arriving in Costa Rica last week and discovering the house really wasn’t ready, most of the kinks were finally worked out. The hot water was no longer spewing out all over the place. The washer and dryer are hooked up, and for the first time ever, I was looking forward to doing laundry. The propane tank was… full enough to cook the first of two lasagnas. Alex said he would go downtown in the morning and get more propane. At the prospect of experiencing my first cup of coffee, first hot shower and first breakfast at my home, I decided to stay the night and wait to officially start my day once the propane arrived.
My reality started with opening my eyes to a beautiful view of the mountain. Usually the mornings this time of year are beautiful, with the rain normally rolling in the late afternoon.
Today the first project was to paint/stain the kitchen island. When Alex arrived with the propane, the painting was already underway. At a good stopping point, it was time to pull out the coffee making setup purchased at the little café in San Jose earlier in the week. Realizing that a way to heat hot water was needed, I picked up a kettle downtown the following day.
Having everything… but sugar and half and half… to make my first cup of coffee, I was excited!
It’s all set up, just like the lady at the coffee shop showed me. First wet the filter to clean it. Then add two scoops of coffee grounds for one cup of coffee. As I do this I’m laughing, thinking about all the past posts on Twitter about me fighting foreign coffee makers when traveling. Thinking this time, what could possibly go wrong? There is no mechanics, no electricity required, no possible way to forget to put the coffee in the contraption or forget to put the pot back on to the base before the drip process starts. Literally idiot-proof.
Now I have to tell you a little bit about the stove. The house is solar powered, but there are a few things that are propane powered that are energy intensive; hot water for the shower, the washer and dryer, and the stove. There is (or shall I say, was) a glass cover that came up and down over the burners of the stovetop. When the purchase of the stove was made, I thought, cool, I’ve never had propane before and am a little afraid of it. This will prevent me from accidentally dropping something on the stove (being super clumsy) and catching everything on fire. The glass stovetop in the States is super easy to clean too!
Until today, I couldn’t figure out why on every visit to the house this glass stovetop was lifted up. The thing about being in another country is they do things differently. There is a process of just accepting things and not questioning everything. Going with the flow has become an art for me. A dangerous art… It sounds like an innocent question, but the reality is, it was going to be asked in the same manner I might ask, “can you just put the toilet seat down?” So I let it go, and would just put it down upon entering the house.
This morning it was down, just like it was left when I went to bed last night. The kettle was filled with water, and the fire lit. And a few minutes later… as many thoughts were going through my mind, as shards of glass were flying through the air.
It was actually quite difficult deciding on the title for this one. Candidates were:
Who Said I Didn’t Need a Shop Vac?
Go Ahead… Leave the Toilet Seat Up.
How I Almost Got Taken Out Making Coffee
An Explosive First Morning… Literally.
Not Like Pyrex
My Parents Where Right For Yelling at Me All Those Times for Walking Around the House Barefoot.
Ok, that last one is a little too long for a title. I wouldn’t want to openly admit they were right about something anyway.
Reflecting on this explosive event of today, makes me think about how I’ve taken the event quite well. It was a little shocking, but no major harm, so it was ok. I can’t dwell on what could have happened. Yes, I could have been facing the stove right at that moment. I was 3 feet away, painting the island. Fortunately, with my back to the stove. I successfully navigated, barefooted, to the broom and dustpan… and my flip flops.
As I’ve said often, if that’s the worse thing that happens to me today, I’m in better shape than 99.9% of the people in the world. Truth be told, I wasn’t quite as excited to take the hot shower after that, wondering if perhaps fire, instead of water would shoot out the shower head. But I sucked it up and rolled the dice.
Pura vida comes up again.
