Unexpected Upgrades

I love the words update and upgrade. Probably because they usher in a freshness, something better than before. Like most people, I like to ensure that it is planned. Why? Mostly because depending on what we’re upgrading, it involves an expense and depending on how much, one needs time to organize the funds.

Remember I have mentioned home renovations going on around our place? Not in our place, but the neighbors’. As if acting on an invisible pact, one by one they’re revamping their homes. Pulling up the flooring to install a new one, ripping out the windows to install sliding door versions, breaking down walls to expand rooms, tearing down the kitchen to give it the Italian upgrade.

And of course, the rather charming red-tiled flooring that covers our corridors is now a dull ash color, what with the foot traffic and the construction material being dragged around. The conscientious lady in charge of collecting garbage and cleaning the floors is exasperated to see that no sooner has she mopped a floor than there the guys are, tramping all over the place leaving cement foot prints. Oh no, they never clean up after themselves at the end of the day.

Sigh. We have been living under a cloud of dust—or so it seems. I wipe all visible surfaces in the morning and by the time it is evening, there’s a film of dust inviting me to write my name or draw a smiley on it.

As we were wondering when the drilling, hammering, and showers of dust would settle into peace, my computer broke down. Yet again. Fourth time over the past year.

What to do? We discussed the issue and decided to upgrade it, since we had to reformat it and reinstall the OS. That took a week as there were glitches. We were asked to check the earthing for the electrical connections as there were frequent shut downs.

So I called the electrician who checked and said I must upgrade my power strip as the plug was a bit loose.

I did.

As he was leaving, the kitchen light began to flicker. After checking it, he said it is better we upgrade to a LED tube. We did.

And thus started a saga of upgrades. We figured that with all the renovation going on around us, why not make a few changes ourselves?

We started with our lighting. Can’t deny that it is one of the best ways to brighten things up—pun intended! I added an extra blue lampshade in the kitchen for some accent, giving me the freedom to change up the bulb.

Some bathroom painting is in the works now and this I decided to DIY as it is simple enough and fun, too. I am in the process of preparing the walls. In the meantime, I’ve amped up the lighting there to make it look much brighter. I’ve added an extra soft light to the bedroom so that I don’t have to turn on the main light when I get up. Nope, no nightlights.

While playing with my friend next door, I realized my gate could do with a coat of paint too. Just to be different, I am going to paint it black, unlike the rest of the neighbors who’ve stuck to a dark brown. We have a couple of dusty birds on the grill that I was about to throw away when I realized the baby loves to look at them. So until I get a new pair, they must stay there. Hopefully this will add some curb appeal to our front door.

And out back, it is time to clean up the balcony and maybe even add some plants again. Sigh. We used to have a lovely seat there and enjoyed our morning coffee there. Sometimes we spread a mat and spent the evening there as well. Then the pigeons invaded us and out went everything. A neighbor of ours has added artificial water fountains that look really nice.

Now I am looking to see what else needs to be upgraded. I need a new phone but that’ll have to wait a couple of months.

As I was writing this, our printer suddenly stopped working. Maybe a priority upgrade is around the corner.

Isn’t it funny how we plan something and end up having to do something totally different?