Things Done and Undone

Here is the list of things I hoped to accomplish on this last trip to Asturias:

• Get the car inspected


• Get the car registered


• Get permission from all concerned to put electrical posts on their property


• Get permission from the local government to put electrical posts along the road to the molino


• Deposit the money so that Viesgo will connect us to the electrical system


• Get the hot water heater fixed


• Maybe do a little painting

Here is the list of things I actually accomplished on this last trip to Asturias:

• Left the car (still unrepaired) at the shop so that when I return, the rear window will have been replaced


• Got a map showing us who all the neighbors are along our prospective electrical route


• Got permission from one of them


• Made official request to local government for permission to put up electrical posts


• Deposit the money so that Viesgo will connect us to the electrical system


• Got hot water heater fixed, but now it shoots huge flames whenever lit; probably needs to be re-fixed

Part of the problem is that everyone has opinions that, when you hear them, seem perfectly rational, but that actually end up leading you down another horrifically torturous alley of bureaucracy and mystification. You know it's going to happen, of course, but it sucks you in nonetheless. "Why don't you connect from the factory?" asks Alfonso. "Why don't you have them lay the line underground?" says the unknown (and unasked) man at the bar. "Why don't you go to the industrial office in Oviedo and tell them to get all the permissions?" says Fernando, owner of Casa Fernando restaurant. Even I knew enough not to follow that trail, but six days later, it's a pretty short list of accomplishments with which to content myself.