Wednesday 4th February, 2015               1220

Yet again there is no water and hasn’t been for over 24 hours. Sarah and I returned from the breakfast/shopping run at midday yesterday and she was horrified that after doing her business she couldn’t flush the loo. I expected it to be back on yesterday afternoon.

Unable to do the dishes, I went out with Pepsi for a couple of hours and during that time I texted Mulan, eliciting the information that at five o’clock we still had no water. Serious concerns now, so a message to Cinny to ask what was happening. She knew nothing about it, not being on campus at the time and expressed surprise for she was returning later in the evening. On my way back I encountered two women carrying flasks and asked them if they had water at home now. No, they had trekked far away to fill their flasks. This is only affecting the school because the restaurant I had been in not too distant had running water. The ladies told me the water would be fixed tomorrow (today). Here we are and still no sign of it.

Unable to cook the chicken arrabbiata I had intended, the best I could do was a frittata. To avoid it being too bland for the girls I added a liberal dose of chilli oil to the egg mix and I must say it is something I will certainly do again - we all enjoyed it. Being unable to wash my hands afterwards, I hadn’t chopped bacon (which I would normally include) so all we had was onion, pepper, mushrooms and cheese. Chalk one up for inspiration.

Last nights late walk with Pepsi was once again tense as I was on constant alert in case she met up with Stumpy. I have to take a torch now they have turned many of the street lamps off but of him there was no sign. However, on our return someone was sitting halfway up the stairs sheltering from the cold. Dirty and scruffy though he was, there was no mistaking Pooh. After all these months I had a chance to catch him. He made a half-hearted attempt to get away but I scooped him up with happy heart and brought him home.

Not everyone was happy to see him though. Tigger and Lottie, although seemingly uninterested in the addition of a tramp to the fold, merely looked on with disdain. Bully boy Zorro was a different kettle of fish. He has been able to dominate both the older cats and Pepsi without demur but Pooh, already a cat who could look after himself even before he went feral, is more than a match for him. I warned the girls the night could be a noisy one and indeed it was, I was thankful the building is sparsely populated otherwise there would have been complaints lodged. After a couple of hours all was quiet again. Pooh is the only one of the four who can leap on top of the wardrobes and he often spends quiet time up there watching sphinx-like all below him. I must say, whatever he has been doing he hasn’t starved because he is still a porker. Welcome home Pooh.

I sent Cinny a text before starting this, asking if they were working on the water pump because if it wasn’t going to be fixed today I would need to get an hotel room in order to shower and suchlike. She has contacted those in the know and works are indeed being carried out, the message being that they hope to have normal service back sometime today. Good job I had nothing special planned.

1440

Ever get the feeling the entire day is going to be one of those days? Still no water. At least the girls can take their pick of the squat toilets in the teaching blocks but I am buggered - even if I could get down to use one I’d never get back up again! And there’s the problem of feeding the pets. The cats (with the probable exception now of Pooh) won’t touch anything other than meat which has been boiled and I am not about to spend a fortune buying bottled water.

On the bright side, at least we still have electricity and internet,