So, I'm sitting at work early monday morning, just past midnight, and my partner tells me "Joe from your apartment complex is on the phone". After I got over my first reaction ("how does he know I'm at work?"), and my second reaction ("oh no, something happened to Atticus"), I answered the phone.
As Joe (maintenance guy) explained to me, my upstairs neighbor didn't know how to turn off the water when the hose on her washer broke, so there was water in my apartment.
"Um...how much water?"
"Well, its in your hallway, living room, and it started to go into your bathroom and bedroom". So, essentially, my entire apartment.
After I got over the initial shock of the call, I realized something. My apartment, quite simply, was a MESS. I have had a long week at work. When I'm not at work or sleeping, I'm walking Atticus. I have not had time to even start a load of laundry (which really, takes all of a minute), let alone put away the last 3 weeks worth of laundry, pick up my sewing madness which was spread out all over my bedroom, put away my leg-waxing stuff in the bathroom, put Erma's old cage in my storage unit, etc. I sat at work with my head in my hands thinking of everything Joe has seen and becoming more embarassed by the second.
Joe made the comment about Atticus, and I asked how he was doing. Joe's like "oh, hes fine, hes licking everyone who is coming through the door".
Everyone?? So, this water thing might be more of a problem.
It was then that the most horrible thought occured to me: I had bras drying in my bathroom, and 2 hangars worth of bras hanging up in my bedroom waiting to be put away. (So sue me, I like Victorias Secret). GREAT. I'd never be able to look Joe in the eye again after he's seen my underwear.
This is the scene after I got home...
Thats in my living room, looking into the hallway & my bedroom. The bathroom is on the right. The dark spot at the bottom is Atticus, who has treated this whole ordeal like its a great adventure. There were three buckets: bedroom, bathroom, hallway. (Which I realized disappeared sometime when I was sleeping Monday morning. Ick.) The doors were off my hallway closet and everything removed. Same thing with the bathroom. I had soaking wet area rugs sitting in my tub, along with a bag of dog food. I looked around at all my crap they had to move and got re-embarassed.
I fell asleep that night with the industrial fan blowing and my dehumidifier on and the yucky smell of wet carpet in the air. I had to wear shoes to my bedside because my carpet is soaked halfway under my bed. I woke up freezing after several hours, and had to squish to the bathroom to get another blanket out of the closet.
Next day. I talk to my building manger, Jen. I left that meeting about 2 shades of green below the Incredible Hulk. And when i say green, I dont meant jealous. I was closer to furious. Jen's attitude was many things, among them this: I live in an apartment, I should expect to be inconvenienced every once in awhile. This whole situation will be fine as soon as everything dries out...they estimated about a week. They're not going to replace carpets, walls, or ceilings. There is no such thing as water damage, and even though it will take awhile to dry, mold & mildew won't be forming. Don't worry, she has 12 years of experience with this. If I have any damage, thats why I have renters insurance.
(My bedroom ceiling. That darker hole on the left is one of the many holes they had to drill into my ceiling to let the water drain. There was that much.)
While I was talking with Jen, two maintenance guys were in there that responded the night before, including Joe, checking things out, letting me know things ("carpet pad is like a sponge, thats why your bedroom carpet is so wet". DUH etc.) All I could think of while listening to them was, "these guys have seen my underwear". It was hard to concentrate.
(Light sans cover & old smoke-alarm in my hallway. Another hole to the right of the alarm. Joe finally took the alarm out, because it was making a low-grade buzzing sound all night from being water-logged. I couldn't figure out how to get it to stop).
After the meeting with Jen, I went to work and vented to my co-workers for about 20 minutes. They all had some good advice, the number one thing being: I have renters insurance, talk to them. Don't make a claim, but ask them for advice. Any claims should be through my neighbor's insurance, who started this whole freaking fiasco. So, thats one of my many goals for the day, after I wake up completely.
Today, after 4.5 hours of sleep, I get up. I have one day to finish everything before I leave in the morning. Yes, amongst all of this, I need to pack (my apartment manager told me it was convenient that I'm going on vacation because then they dont have to work around my inconvenient work schedule. Yes, she said that.).
But finally, some good news. My apartment complex actually paid for an extractor to come (he essentially vaccuums the crap out of the carpet). Jim (extractor) showed up about 5 minutes after I woke up (hence my early wake-up). I talked to him for a little while I gulped coffee. He started ripping up the carpet in my bedroom and hallway. I asked him what he was doing. His reply? "While your apartment complex wants to save as much money as possible, its just not feasible or safe to have this carpet pad soaked. I'm going to remove the old stuff, and replace it after your carpets have dried out. I'm also putting down an antibacterial spray (thats safe for pets!), so you shouldn't have any mold or mildew problems". YAY!!! Finally! I feel like SOMEONE finally has my interests at heart rather than the almighty dollar. Now, its a small victory, but victory just the same.
After he was done, we chatted for another minute, and he said, "Yeah, I was here the night this happened. You had water POURING out of your ceiling".
My only thought?
Great. Yet another stranger who has seen my underwear.
"I could tell you're the type that watches The Office." ~ 383, C.C.
