A couple of months ago I spoke with my landlady about the possibility of installing a split in the living room, rather than using the central aircon/heating system all the time, which costs a fortune (and frankly, I don’t need to be always cooling and heating half the apartment that isn’t used most of the day). I offered to go 50/50 with her on the price, but she told me that if I wanted to do this then I’d have to pay for it myself and – I quote – “you can take it with you if you move”. Huh? So I decided to forget about it.

Then a few weeks later water started dripping from the kitchen ceiling (well, false ceiling – the heating/cooling unit is up there) and eventually it was discovered that the old machine was low on gas, but because it was so old the type of gas it used is no longer made. So now the landlady had two choices: replace the entire central system or get a split for the living room. She chose the latter, though not without trying to go for the 50/50 deal again. Too bad for her she didn’t take me up on my original offer at the time.

Anyhow, here is my new split, somewhat oddly placed near the balcony door instead of the centre of the room (landlady wasn’t going to spring for an extra 50€ to install it further inside) and I’m not sure if it’s actually powerful enough for the space (I’m pretty sure she went for the cheapest unit she could find) but hey, it works well enough and should save me a lot on electricity. Also, it’s good to have aircon again. While I was away in London poor Peter had to suffer through 10 days of 40º temps because they weren’t going to install the machine until I got back.

Have to say though that this latest incident with the landlady makes me want to move more than ever. She went on and on about all the “expenses”, how she couldn’t afford to pay for a new split, etc, etc. Give me a break. She and her husband are both lawyers and her family owns this entire building. And when I met with her to talk about this she brought up other “expenses” from 3-4 years ago, as if they were my fault. Meh. Luckily I don’t have to deal with her very often. But if they put the rent up in February then I’m outta here.