facts of life: language barriers II

Today, Boris got a makeover. The whole construction in the back never gave me any sense of safety and we all knew this day would come. So Julian called a gentleman named Ferdinand for help. The plan was to get rid of the shelves we had and build some new ones, that could safely accommodate all the crap we have to carry with us.

We got Swedish shelves to go with the Swedish bikes, measured the stuff carefully, secured everything to the structure of the van and dismantled the old shelves to use parts as slide doors. All extremely efficient and inventive. Now, there is room for all the luggage, the equipment is safe, no more boxes flying when I turn left and my life is generally easier from now on.

The interesting part of this story is, again, the language issue. I don't speak a word of German, nor does Ferdinand speak English. Julian was up on a hill, so we had to understand each other somehow. Fortunately, those three hours of non-stop work were facilitated by one of the most widespread languages of all time: we spoke carpenterish!