As many of you know, I am not exactly handy or at least I really don't care to try. However, Vienna may have changed that for me. That is if Menards or Home Depot will follow my suggestions. We have been haunted since our arrival by the squeakiest bathroom door imaginable. Now we have been in our apartment since February 13 so one would think we would have addressed the issue before now. Please see first sentence if you need an explanation why we did not. But the sun came out yesterday and we were feeling adventurous.
We set out looking for a computer printer (cheap) and WD-40 or some other lubricant. In the past we had avoided asking for lubricant because I have had experiences in the past with something lost in the translation. My fear was being given directions to some shop in the red light district. Fortunately, we found Obi (be still Star Wars fans), Vienna's version of the home improvement box store. As we all know, there is nothing that cannot be fixed with either WD-40 or duct tape. That partially holds true here. The lubricant was pretty much in the first display we came upon. I didn't see duct tape however.
What truly set the store apart and from which our American superduper home improvement stores could learn were the extra features. Greeting us as we entered the store was a bakery/smoked meats kiosk. Sure, upon entering, Menards does have the 8-pack of Pringles, 5-lbs. bag of Combos, 3 gallon jar of mixed nuts, and gallon o' beef jerky. The Obi kiosk seemed to actually cater to someone shopping for a group smaller than the Donner party. But, wait, that is not all. As we were checking out, there was a cafe selling hot lunches and featuring (roughly translated): "Nurturing beer, amazing red and white wines by the glass, or refreshing Prosecco." The Menards in St. Paul occupied that very same spot with the cellophane encased mega-nacho and sort of cheese spread case.
I am not sure Heather was all that impressed but I began planning our return to buy the materials to construct a deck on our third story apartment.
Addendum: the door doesn't squeak any longer, we did not find a printer, and I got some schnitzel.
One Minnesostan graduate student studies in Vienna for a semester; his Wisconsinite wife tags along. Here are some stories of their adventures in Austria.
1 comment:
So much better to find wines by the glass at your home improvement store, duct tape be damned. Now I ask you, what cannot be improved with a glass or two of wine? I think the Viennese are onto something.
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