Hiccuping into the Holidays

Have you ever wonder why nothing in life is simple, not even a holiday?  There always has to be some kind of little hiccup to raise your blood pressure.  School finished early on Wednesday morning and I should have been bouncing up and down, ready to bound off for the holidays like everybody else.  No.  I had to wake up Wednesday early morning, with chronic stomach gramps, terrible runs and nausea that made me gag when I tried to brush my teeth.  It did bring back memories of early pregnancies, that gagging while brushing the teeth bit, but alas or luckily, it would have to be divine intervention for that to be the case, and it wasn't.  I tried to attend school for the last day, but every time I opened my mouth to speak to someone, I had to quickly place my hand in front of my mouth to stop what felt like projectile vomiting.  I was in a bad way, not a good start to the holiday.
I went home and collapsed on the bed, in too much pain and feeling too weak to do anything else.  Thursday passed in a blur of toilet visits and sleep, Friday my stomach still cramped, the runs still ran frequently, but the nausea had disappeared.  A miraculous improvement!  The day improved further when I found my car's missing papers which I needed if we were going to cross the border to Kenya the next week.  That had given me some serious sleepless nights.  I took my overheating car to the fundi and he found out that all it was was a holey hose, so that was another relief.  Things were looking up, then the cramps started working overtime and I had to head once more to the safety of my bed.
Saturday was still a little queasy and the fact my rugby team the Stormers lost the first time this season, brought on more cramps.  Sunday I managed to do quite a bit of work on How to say no to sex and other survival tips for the suddenly single.  I felt good, better than I had for a while.
Monday morning 2am the power went out.  The light from across the road gives a soft light in my room as I sleep with the curtains open so that a cool breeze can enter through my slat windows.  Close the curtains and you suffocate from the heat.  I woke up with a shock in deadly darkness.  The nights are very dark here without power.  That's how I knew it was 2am.
This is the second time now in the last couple of months that bastards stole some of the power cable, resulting in no power.  The new generator I bought in November has never worked and twice been in to the fundi.  Got it back yesterday, but it still doesn't work, so not only did I pay for a new generator, but I have to keep paying for the fundi to fix it and replace parts on a brand new generator.  Sucks, doesn't it?  The power came on again at 10pm after Siobhan and I played several scrabble games by candlelight.
But, what sucks the most, is we are supposed to be leaving tomorrow (Wednesday 13 April) for Kenya.  Yesterday my car started overheating again, so in the afternoon I dropped it off with the fundi yet again.  Whatever is causing the overheating must have made that hose burst.  I just wish people here can do things right the first time, work quickly and efficiently.  It's like my kitchen that's being renovated.  They had five weeks to do it while I was away having surgery, but the started on the Friday before I returned on the Sunday.  The result, three weeks later, is that I have a half-installed kitchen, no surface or bench-top to work on, all my pots, plates, groceries stacked on the floor and on the dining room table.  Today, nobody came to do any work.  Like I said, frustrating.  If I ever get my car back in timeto go on this Kenyan holiday, I doubt I'll return to a completely renovated kitchen.  My gut feelings is that this is going to drag on even longer.
Defective is out on Kindle, Sony and at Barnes and Noble and the Apple Store.  You can see an exerpt here.