LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR!!
- 11/1/2015 <--Prev : Next-->
I fear our neighbours must be finding it very hard to love us these days....
We have been model neighbours for the last forty years, never have barking dogs, seldom have rowdy parties (well maybe sometimes!!) We do not hoot boisterously at the gate, we keep our verge beautifully tidy, and we take cakes to newcomers in the neighbourhood.
However....
HeeHoo decided he could not live without fibre-optic Wi-Fi and the wheels have fallen off as far as neighbourliness goes!!
The LiquidTelecom folk have been most professional - advising us every step of the way - keeping us posted with all developments to a point of distraction. Their advance preparation has been faultless, advising the neighbours of the proposed disruption, theodolite surveys, manual surveys, every minute detail has been carefully planned.
They even consulted our local ward councilor and chose ditch diggers from our suburb, which is a brilliant labour manoeuvre. The ditch diggers were cheerful, very liberal with their mud during the rains, and took up residence in my beautiful gazebo during a particularly venomous thunderstorm, much to my horror!!
We watched in apprehension as they picked and dug vigorously through the neatly paved driveways of our neighbours all along the block. We watched in horror as they toiled their way through people's lawns and flowerbeds. We thought how absolutely irritated we would be if someone did the same to us!!! But after all this is in the name of progress is it not
We flinched inwardly as the neighbours had to park their cars in the road for a short period, but true to their promise, LiquidTelecom promised faithfully to restore each transgression carefully to its former glory.
But as careful as they were they had their share of mishaps. Firstly putting a pick through our borehole pipe which caused a suitable amount of mayhem, and no sooner had they mended that very expertly, when another energetic ditch digger put his pick through the municipal water main!!
This caused an even greater fountain of water which gushed out like a geyser and the transgressor was tasked with keeping his foot on the gusher. They phoned the Municipality immediately, but sadly the emergency water team had knocked off for the day and no help was at hand.
Now the water level was rising rapidly and a giant swimming pool was emerging, all the time a river of water was gushing down the road. It was an awful few hours as we all know how precious water is in Bulawayo....The erstwhile ditch digger reminded me of the little Dutch Boy and the Dyke, except he had his whole leg now stuffed into the burgeoning leak!!
Eventually they sorted out the problem with a little bit of 'African Engineering' which comprised the use of a giant rock and then they turned off the neighbourhood water!! Our faces were well and truly red by this time, as we had not only excavated through our neighbour's front gardens, but we had now successfully cut off the weekend's water supply!!
Thank you to our long suffering neighbours, please feel free to camp on the verge and use our Wi-Fi whenever you need to!!!
