the landlord

So I finally met my landlord! It happened like this:

my stupid door got stuck AGAIN. This time, it happened at 4:30, when I had 12 people coming for dinner at 6. Yeah.

After about 10 minutes of me yanking, pushing, and stifling curses, my Hungarian neighbor came out to show me how it was done. She proceeded to tell me (in Hungarian) what I was doing wrong. Then she tried. and also failed! vindication....

I think she tried to ask if I had called my landlord, which would have been kind of impossible considering I didn't even know his name. The rest of the conversation went like this, although in hungarian, so the translation loses some of the comedic effect:
Hungarian Neighbor Lady: "[random Hungarian blah-blah-blah said while pantomining turning the key] every day!
Me: Not every day...
HNL: EVERY day.

Yeah, I think they're just as annoyed with the door situation as I am.

Then Hungarian Neighbor Lady #2 came out. HNL2 came to the rescue with my landlord's #; she called and explained that I was sitting out on the doorstop. He was there in 15 minutes, opened the door, and promised to fix it first thing tomorrow! Yes! They were so sweet. So now I know to get the little old ladies on my side, and things will happen in no time. Plus, I now have the landlord's name and number programmed into my cell for future reference!

and in case you're wondering, I got dinner ready in time! A good time was had by all, and there was no food left, so it must have been ok. The highlight of the evening (aside from Allison's peanut butter cookies and Emily's brownies) was conversations with everybody -- Austin the birthday boy was forced to answer a wide variety of questions that led to some interesting stories, and Lisa A, Parker, and I discussed all the ways the world would be better if we could run it. Naturally, this means I didn't get any work done.....sigh.

After tomorrow, no more door problems!