More trials and tribulations at Hotel Djenné Djenno...
Last night, just as Keita and I were sitting down for dinner, an official of the Djenné Waterboard arrived. Normally what followed would provide excellent material for a farce. However, it is quite hard to enjoy the humorous side of a situation at the time of living it.
The Djenné Waterboard is not my favourite institution at the best of time, and especially at the moment, since we are provided with a pitiful trickle most of the time and have to keep the pump going to fill up our water tower. But that didn't prevent the official from asking if he could use my laptop and my printer (and my paper!) to print out the last three invoices from the Water board to Hotel Djenné Djenno, since the computers and printers no longer worked at the Waterboard! And that was supposed to happen just as Baba was bringing the first course to the table. I gritted my teeth, as it transpired that it was Keita who had asked the gentleman to come along. It was the kind, generous Keita who had said: ' Oh, no problem, we'll do the invoices at the hotel!' and then he forgot to tell me.
The official comforted me by saying it wouldn't take long, because he had everything on his 'key'( or perhaps memory stick in English?). I had to search around for half an hour to find the key to the cupboard where I had put the new printer ink brought back from England,then I realized that I had in fact put it in another cupboard, the key of which I had lost during the afternoon. So we had to break the cupboard door open, finally get hold of the ink, crank up the computer, and get the printer ready. Then we finally inserted the memory stick which promptly transferred a deadly virus onto my computer. A virus of such strength and such venom that we are are still, 16 hours later, trying to remove it. But it is worse than that: we are in fact trying to save the computer itself, because I can't find the CD with the hard disk to restart from the beginning again...
And the poor official and poor Keita!
At first I just wandered into the banana plantation in the darkness, where I stumbled about for some time not giving a damn if there were any snakes. Then I dragged myself to the bar and told Beigna to pour me a triple rum. After which I finally returned to Keita and the Official, who were still tinkering helplessly with the stricken laptop.
Nevermind! I said. It happens all the time. It is not your fault, Monsieur.We are not going to die from it!
Last night, just as Keita and I were sitting down for dinner, an official of the Djenné Waterboard arrived. Normally what followed would provide excellent material for a farce. However, it is quite hard to enjoy the humorous side of a situation at the time of living it.
The Djenné Waterboard is not my favourite institution at the best of time, and especially at the moment, since we are provided with a pitiful trickle most of the time and have to keep the pump going to fill up our water tower. But that didn't prevent the official from asking if he could use my laptop and my printer (and my paper!) to print out the last three invoices from the Water board to Hotel Djenné Djenno, since the computers and printers no longer worked at the Waterboard! And that was supposed to happen just as Baba was bringing the first course to the table. I gritted my teeth, as it transpired that it was Keita who had asked the gentleman to come along. It was the kind, generous Keita who had said: ' Oh, no problem, we'll do the invoices at the hotel!' and then he forgot to tell me.
The official comforted me by saying it wouldn't take long, because he had everything on his 'key'( or perhaps memory stick in English?). I had to search around for half an hour to find the key to the cupboard where I had put the new printer ink brought back from England,then I realized that I had in fact put it in another cupboard, the key of which I had lost during the afternoon. So we had to break the cupboard door open, finally get hold of the ink, crank up the computer, and get the printer ready. Then we finally inserted the memory stick which promptly transferred a deadly virus onto my computer. A virus of such strength and such venom that we are are still, 16 hours later, trying to remove it. But it is worse than that: we are in fact trying to save the computer itself, because I can't find the CD with the hard disk to restart from the beginning again...
And the poor official and poor Keita!
At first I just wandered into the banana plantation in the darkness, where I stumbled about for some time not giving a damn if there were any snakes. Then I dragged myself to the bar and told Beigna to pour me a triple rum. After which I finally returned to Keita and the Official, who were still tinkering helplessly with the stricken laptop.
Nevermind! I said. It happens all the time. It is not your fault, Monsieur.We are not going to die from it!
posted by toubab at 11:49 AM
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