What’s the bright side of being forced to use the stairs?
It’s the end times. OK, not quite that extreme, but it feels like it. The Comunidad de Propietarios, the building’s group of homeowners, is redoing the access to the ascensor, which is the lift or elevator. Along with the early morning jackhammering, I can look forward to three weeks of constantly traversing the stairs.
Since I live on the seventh floor (eighth floor for my U.S. compatriots), it’s going to be a Stair Stepper workout.
I don’t know if that’s 15 days of work (excluding weekends) or 15 days in total. Either way, I’m planning for a three-week shutdown. That way I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it finishes early.
No biggie for me – until I have to portage my bike up and down those eight flights. Having done this before, the wheels and handlebars intermittently hit the walls. It’s a narrow stairwell, so trying to avoid this impact is difficult.
Years ago, when I studied in Rome, we lived in a four-story walkup. My wife would buzz me from the downstairs entrance to bring up the groceries. I’m not unfamiliar with the stair thing.
(Un)fortunately, it’s forecasted to rain for the next week. I won’t have to deal with the weather until Saturday’s group ride. When I brought a couple of my bikes from the U.S., I included the trainer for indoor riding. This means I can still get saddle time. There’s the added benefit of carrying up boxes of cat sand, milk cartons, and water bottles from shopping. I’m going to be so swole – or sore.
Did I mention that they cut the water service? Now it’s intermittent and when it works, the water just trickles out of the faucets due to low pressure. It’s like an archeological dig when doing remodeling. You never know what you’ll uncover before the start of excavation.
Our neighbors advised us about this project weeks ago with a shoulder shrug of resignation. From what I can gather, this is in response to a directive to make the entrances to the lifts easier to navigate for the mobility impaired. The lobby’s ramp is somewhat steep, but I don’t know if it’s out of compliance with the new regulations.
Furthermore, the elevator is somewhat quirky and sometimes doesn’t quite align with the floor when the doors open. With luck, that’ll be addressed during the renovation.
Overall, after the temporary inconvenience, it’ll be good for everyone. Spain has an aging population, so handling this now allows people to stay in their homes longer. I’ll have the added benefit of meeting my fellow residents more often as we trudge up and down the stairs. And I can improve my Spanish as we commiserate about how the work is going.
First day of the work on the lift access. You can see the ramp to the left of the photo. Pipe uncovered during the renovation of the ramp leading to the elevator. After the first day’s work, a tarp covers the lift’s entrance and the buzones (mailboxes) door is on the right of the photo. This is my setup during the days I can’t get outside to ride. Yes, that’s an upright piano in the room. Living in the penthouse does have it’s perks. Being without an elevator is not one of them.
Let me know in the comments if I missed something about Spain’s rules and regulations reforming/renovating lifts.
English 
Español
Leave a Reply