Yesterday ended up being a day at home, as the workers came to install the cupboards and shelves Louis and Wayne had bought for the apartment and it was an all-day job as it turned out. I must say though that I was impressed by these carpenters' expertise and carefulness. I mean, this is Indonesia, so these things surprise.
I myself know nothing about carpentry (or about anything else in particular), so it was fascinating to watch these guys at work. It's not just pushing furniture against the walls and figuring it's good enough. These pieces were carefully installed and fit together, then fastened together, holes made for electrical outlets and switches installed in the new furniture, everything level, everything secure, and everything thoroughly dusted and cleaned once it was set up, right down to using a paint stick for finishing on the door and cabinet edges.
The place seems much bigger now, given that many cupboards and compartments have now been supplied for stuff that was beforehand just jumbled and stacked on the one case of shelves that I had along with the ugly shirt hanging rack. In fact, two pieces of my own furniture are now unneeded in my place and have gone to the apartment next door.
Aside from the bed drawers and cupboards, they also put cupboards and shelves in the kitchen, including a tall storage nook for the unsightly gas tank for the stove. It's the nearest thing to a real house that I've lived in for the past nine years, set up with a sort of planned cohesion and practicality that has been otherwise absent.
Now, as I look at other things in the house, I will often note a sloppiness in comparison to something that has been done with competence and care. The doorway in the bathroom, for instance, has a gap along the top that has not been puttied or painted. Why? The electricity for the water heated is still rerouted to a distant electrical outlet and nails have been put in the wall to hold the cord in place. This was supposed to have been a temporary solution to a nonfunctioning water heater, but …? The lock to the sliding garden doors have frozen twice, been replaced once, and the door has been scarred in the attempt to remove the old lock. We've told the project manager to leave it at this point. There is really no way one could get into the back garden area, so I don't know why there was a lock on the door in the first place.
So very many things here in Indonesia are done so very sloppily--and as was demonstrated by yesterday's workers, it does not need to be that way. Some of this can be put down to dishonest contractors, the purchase of poor materials (in order to line the pockets with the leftover money), low wages paid to inexperienced builders, a devotion to painting a pretty picture and then cutting corners wherever possible. As the Indonesian middle class continues to rise, expectations rise, an educated consumer class emerges, and slovenly construction practices and workmanship begin to be distinctly unacceptable. Which is good.
In any case, my place is becoming more comfortable and cozy all the time, and that is good too.
I myself know nothing about carpentry (or about anything else in particular), so it was fascinating to watch these guys at work. It's not just pushing furniture against the walls and figuring it's good enough. These pieces were carefully installed and fit together, then fastened together, holes made for electrical outlets and switches installed in the new furniture, everything level, everything secure, and everything thoroughly dusted and cleaned once it was set up, right down to using a paint stick for finishing on the door and cabinet edges.
The place seems much bigger now, given that many cupboards and compartments have now been supplied for stuff that was beforehand just jumbled and stacked on the one case of shelves that I had along with the ugly shirt hanging rack. In fact, two pieces of my own furniture are now unneeded in my place and have gone to the apartment next door.
Aside from the bed drawers and cupboards, they also put cupboards and shelves in the kitchen, including a tall storage nook for the unsightly gas tank for the stove. It's the nearest thing to a real house that I've lived in for the past nine years, set up with a sort of planned cohesion and practicality that has been otherwise absent.
Now, as I look at other things in the house, I will often note a sloppiness in comparison to something that has been done with competence and care. The doorway in the bathroom, for instance, has a gap along the top that has not been puttied or painted. Why? The electricity for the water heated is still rerouted to a distant electrical outlet and nails have been put in the wall to hold the cord in place. This was supposed to have been a temporary solution to a nonfunctioning water heater, but …? The lock to the sliding garden doors have frozen twice, been replaced once, and the door has been scarred in the attempt to remove the old lock. We've told the project manager to leave it at this point. There is really no way one could get into the back garden area, so I don't know why there was a lock on the door in the first place.
So very many things here in Indonesia are done so very sloppily--and as was demonstrated by yesterday's workers, it does not need to be that way. Some of this can be put down to dishonest contractors, the purchase of poor materials (in order to line the pockets with the leftover money), low wages paid to inexperienced builders, a devotion to painting a pretty picture and then cutting corners wherever possible. As the Indonesian middle class continues to rise, expectations rise, an educated consumer class emerges, and slovenly construction practices and workmanship begin to be distinctly unacceptable. Which is good.
In any case, my place is becoming more comfortable and cozy all the time, and that is good too.
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