Saturday, January 31, 2009
Replacement Microwave
So on my birthday the microwave died. Got a replacement as a birthday present. It was a wonderful gift. The only problem is that it sounded like a jet engine and then would go silent and I would start wondering if it was even cooking. So while I was moving and on one of the many trips to Wal-Mart I took it back. I ended up coming back with a different one... one that was bigger and will supposedly do grilling as well. Haven't tested the grilling yet but the microwave works well... aside from a weird issue with microwave popcorn. It seems to have trouble with that. Takes about twice as long as it should for some reason. But it does work and everything else seems to be fine. Must say that when I dropped off the old microwave at Wal-Mart I couldn't help but wonder if I was delivering some cockroaches with it. Presents I guess.
What a Weekend
So the day of the flooding Steve took me down to the hotel. When he got back to the building he reportedly heard someone saying "Don't Move." Shortly after that emergency crews were on scene. Turns out there was a big party on the 8th floor. Drinking and possibly drugs were involved. One of the party goers thought it would be a great idea to sit on the balcony railing. Clearly not the brightest idea and he ended up going over the railing instead. It was a senseless tragedy as his life was cut short... at 19 years of age. Even though I wouldn't sit on the railing... Not even all that crazy about being on the balcony when I was on the 5th floor it really didn't make me want to move to the 8th floor at all.
Water, Water Everywhere
So obviously with my last post my concern was with the heat in my apartment. Let's just say that is no longer an issue. But let me back up to the battle with the super to get it resolved. My complaints over the heat seemed to fall on deaf ears. First they said they couldn't find a problem which is all well and good but doesn't explain why it's 12 degrees... Clearly there is a problem with the heat. Complained on the 9th when it was down to about 14 degrees and since the maintenance guy was off all weekend nothing was done. They didn't even override the thermostat to jack up the heat. Fortunately it got a little warmer outside over the weekend so the apartment almost got back to 20 degrees. On the 16th I was back to complaining and no one even checked on it. Complained every day that week. Came home Thursday to find my mini book case that holds the printer was pulled out away from the heater, the curtains had been pulled up and the runner that I had by the front door was in a pile by the front door. But it was now down to 10 degrees. Let's put this in perspective. On my bed I had 2 fleece blankets, 2 normal blankets, the sheets and a down duvet and was shivering while trying to sleep. So Friday morning it was back to complaining.... First they tried to tell me that it was because the curtains were hanging slightly over the heater and it was blocking the heat. Then they tried to tell me that the space heater was too close to the thermostat. The space heater was in the middle of the living room floor so that it was far away from anything that might catch fire and, more importantly, was only on for about 2 hours a day from when I came home at night until I went to bed. Their third reason was that it was caused by the draft coming in from the balcony door. So they wanted to put plastic up over the balcony door to prevent heat loss. Fine... anything that will help. But they hadn't even gone into the bedroom since they had locked the cat in there. Had they done so they would've realized that the bedroom was just as cold, if not colder. So then they were going to put plastic up over that window too. Now this is how shoddy our maintenance men are... Steve was there and they asked him if he wanted to do it. Now he doesn't live in the building... and it's not his responsibility. As we were leaving Steve was commenting that he would likely have to redo it. Now before I continue with the story (since ultimately this becomes a moot point) they got the plastic over the bedroom window and that was it. The balcony door didn't even get done. They didn't think they had enough plastic. Perhaps they should have thought about that... and they got attacked by Azrael. I am discovering that he is protective when I am not there. Or maybe it is just the way they react. Some days it is like having a 3 year old child. He will follow me around. Well they try and lock him in the bedroom and freak when he follows them around... so he attacks. But any ways... their shoddy workmanship really doesn't matter at this point.
So I left and went to work. I worked my normal 12 hour shift and then went to Wal-Mart and grocery shopping after work. After all I was off the next day and wanted to get it done and over with. About the only thing I was thinking was about whether or not they had even gotten the plastic up... whether or not Steve had to redo it... and whether or not it made a difference. So we were taking bets on that. Well I certainly didn't expect what I came home to. I got home at 11:53 p.m. and found a note on my door that said, "Major flood. If you get home before midnight come see us." Well I decided to stop in first and just see how bad it was. Now at first glance it didn't look so bad... of course that is also because I was in the living room. Then I realized that the MacBook Pro was dripping. Then I wanted to cry. And then I saw the bedroom. It was immediately clear that I couldn't sleep there. The bed was covered in water and ceiling dust.
Then it was time to visit the superintendent. The first thing they said is that they couldn't find the cat. Good thing he had greeted me when I came home so I knew he was okay. Otherwise I would've really been freaking out. I knew he was stressed out though. Between the maintenance guy being there and the flood he had been sick. So they told me to go stay in a hotel for the night and bring them the bill. Back to my apartment to survey the damage. The futon was a little damp but in the living room it was really only the computer that had been hit. The bedroom, on the other hand, was a disaster. The humidity level was registering at 90%. It was clear that is where most of the water had gone as well. But there was nothing I could do at that point.... so it was time to find a hotel. That turned out to be a challenge since it was the big hockey weekend in the P.Dot. The only hotel rooms available were at the Quality Inn. Not going to lie... I made the most of the night. I had a jacuzzi suite. I will post pictures once I have them on the computer. It was a nice room... but for the $215 that it cost it better be. Would've been even nicer if I could've just relaxed. At that point I had no idea what I was going to come home to... and just how bad the devestation really was.
I might as well back up here and reveal the cause of the flood. The tenants above me broke up. She had already moved out and he told the super on the Monday that he would be coming back, presumably to finish moving stuff. Well he left the balcony door open about 4" and it caused the pipes to freeze, then split and burst. Jeff took me into the apartment the next day and there was a block of ice in the sink and the bathtub and the water in the toilet had frozen. So they weren't there to notice. I was at work. The guy below me was either not home or was too drunk. I did hear that he was on the fifth floor looking for Ron but was on the wrong end of the hallway. So it was not reported until about 6:00 when the water reached the 3rd floor. Does that tell you how bad it was? In the end the water went all the way to the 5th floor. Supposedly the water was just shooting from the pipes in 603 and then instantly freezing in the air. Jeff also said that when he walked in he was in an inch of water. It took until 10:00 for them to get the pipes fixed and the boilers refired. Now they knew about it at 6:00 and didn't call me at all to let me know.... On one hand that is good because I needed the money but 6 hours would've given me more time to bring in fans, a dehumidifier, and to save what I can. As an interesting note the guy's father did the exact same thing a couple of years ago and it was the super that lost 2 of their bedrooms. Something about that gene pool.
While I was at the hotel Steve came back and put the air conditioner in the tub and started running that to suck some of the water out of the air. Also put in a fan and a dehumidifier and got the mattress off the floor. Then he took the MackBook Pro out of there as well. When I did come back the humidity level was down to about 70%. I don't think it ever really got below that.
I walked home from the hotel. I was going to call mom but I really wanted to be alone and wanted to prolong going home, just a little bit. Besides it wasn't a long walk any ways. I got home and the first thing I did was call the maintenance guy. His recommendation had echoed that of the superintendant... moving to a new apartment. There was no way that I could stay there. So he came by and showed me the 2 apartments that were available. There was one on the 8th floor which, due to an event that happened there the same night of the flood (I'll post about that afterwards) I was a little apprehensive about. Not to mention the fact I am not crazy about heights. Oh and the layout wasn't quite the same either. It was a little narrower. I would've had to rearrange my living room. I think that was because it was right by the stairwell. The only advantage to that one is that it was ready immediately. The other option was on the 4th floor. The drawback is that the only room that was actually ready was the bedroom. They still had a lot of work to do but said it would be ready by Tuesday. It was the better option... Well aside from having to live temporarily in a tropical environment that wasn't exactly paradise. But the bedroom had just been re-carpeted, the floors were being redone with laminate (yay for no more carpets), new kitchen cupboard doors and counter tops were going in, and there was going to be a new sink, mirror and shelving unit in the bathroom. I was quickly sold on that one.
Spent most of my day off doing laundry... 7 hours and $42 later. Still waiting to be reimbursed for that... right along with the reimbursement for the hotel room I might add. I was still pretty much in shock. Then I moved everything that I could from the bedroom. Steve came over after work and moved the big items from the bedroom. I called in sick on Sunday. I just couldn't do it. And I still had a lot of work to do. Had to go to mom's so I could have a shower. For Monday and Tuesday I worked for 10 hour shifts (9 hours if you take out the lunches). Wednesday I left 5 hours into my shift. After all the new apartment was finally ready (they finished it Wednesday and not the Tuesday as they had orginally said) and I really needed to finish getting everything out of the old apartment. Mainly I wanted to get Azrael out of there. Now each night after work we had been moving as much as possible into the bedroom. After all I wasn't sleeping there and we were still trying to make sure that the mattress was able to dry out as long as possible before using it. As soon as I got home on Wednesday I brought down Azrael's stuff and then brought him down. Hot got kind of spooked by the traffic... the new floors (he can't sneak up on me now... His claws are long so I can hear him coming... the tap tap tap on the floor)... and just the change so he was hiding in my closet. Mom came over and helped me move a lot of the kitchen stuff downstairs and then cleaned the cupboards for me. It was much appreciated. She left just as Steve was getting here. Now as soon as he brought down the futon mattress (or maybe it was the catnip I gave him around the same time) Azrael was perfectly content and no longer hiding. He curled up on the mattress and just stayed there. Guess it was what signified that it was home. Work was nice and gave me Thursday off as a vacation day so that I could get as much done as possible. I had acrued the time from last year. At least this way I was still able to get paid for 40 hours that week. A far cry from the 55 hours that I had been working but I really hadn't planned on being flooded either.
So by Wednesday night (well early Thursday morning) everything had been moved to the new apartment... except the balcony chairs since the door was frozen and we couldn't get to them. But they were just cheap plastic chairs any ways. By Thursday night pretty well everything was set up. Just the finishing touches on Friday. Friday the cable guy was also here doing the reconnection. He also replaced the modem which had stopped working. Could have something to do with the water... Even did a proper installation so the cable goes around the room and not just across the floor. All the OT that I had been working had to go to pay for the cable installation. Cost me $180 when he got there. :( But hey I had my TV and internet back. Really it's just the reconnection fees of $50 that hurt. The rest was my normal cable bill.
I will say that not everything with the new apartment has been smooth sailing. First it wasn't ready on time. It still isn't completely finished. They still have to put a spacer where the carpet meets the laminate flooring and most of the cabinet doors and drawers need knobs/handles. Those should be done on Monday. Also, they were planning to leave the fridge and stove in there. The stove had obviously been on fire at some point and the top was still charred. The freezer door didn't close properly. Complained and initially they wanted to bring down the ones I had upstairs. Roach motel anyone? So in the end I got practically brand new appliances. The only caveat is that Steve had to help them move them. Say what? Again he doesn't live there... and isn't getting paid to do any work there... But he wanted me to have it so he did it. The fridge is much bigger then what I had previously. They are both nice... although the stove is a touch smaller I think. I need a smaller cookie sheet now. Last Friday I was doing dishes in the new place. No big deal right? Except that the pipe only appeared to be connected.... So all the water drained into the cabinets. Immediately report it to the super who tells me he will call Jeff immediately to get it fixed. Surprise, surprise since it's about 4:30 p.m. on Friday Jeff never shows up. I try not to use the water too much and put the stopper in the drain on that side. However, the next day someone in another apartment was running water and it backed up and once again my cabinet was flooded. Must say that I really didn't want to see any more water. And didn't want to lose anything else to water. Went and got the super and he fixed it in 3 minutes. So now everything is good. I have heat here... the apartment is nice... Azrael has settled in... and I am cautiously optimistic about getting rid of the cockroach infestation. It's still possible that I brought some with me so we'll see.
So the flood happened on the 16th. As I already mentioned Steve brought in fans, a dehumidifier and connected the air conditioner. The maintenance guy only showed me the available apartments on the 17th and did nothing about the water in my apartment. On the 18th he came in and got about 5 gallons out of the carpet. Spent about 20 minutes and then his excuse to stop is that I am moving any ways. Then asked me if I wanted to do it. Not really... After all I am moving and have other things to do. And it's not my responsibility to fix the damage. I moved all of the stuff out of the bedroom so that he could work. When I handed in my keys to the old apartment on the 24th they still had not done any more work on it. You could see mildew on the walls. the plastic over the window in the bedroom wall had come off. Not that you need to worry about the cold. The humidity level was keeping it fairly warm. I hate to see how much additional damage has been done by leaving it for a week... Sure they were ripping out the carpets any ways but what about structural damage? What about the mold and mildew? Not my problem since I no longer live there... but it should have been dealt with immediately.
Other then the MacBook Pro I haven't really mentioned what else was damaged. Now it is really easy for me to say that I got lucky because I didn't lose everything. And that definitely is true. But my MacBook Pro was only a couple of feet away from the TV and the entertainment unit. The entertainment unit definitely has some water damage to it but the TV, the PS3, the cable box and the wireless network were all fine. Likewise the sound system is still working. Likewise the Blu-rays were pretty close and didn't get damaged. But the modem was on the floor beside the Blu-rays and was fried. The futon was a little damn but seems to be fine. As for the bedroom the mattress I am still a little leery about. It dried out and seems to be fine... but I am concerned about the potential for mold and mildew to form in the core since it was wet all the way through. The MacBook Pro has been dried out and cleaned and will not power on. But I haven't given up all hope on that one.
I didn't have insurance so it makes it that much more devestating. I kept thinking I should get it... but when you're about $200 short a month as it is I just couldn't justify the cost. With all the OT I had been working I had actually just done a quote not that long ago but it was still going to be about $30/month. I was told later to try State Farm but it's a little late. Well too late to cover what I had any ways. Fortunately, the only 2 big items are the MacBook Pro and the mattress and they are not even a guarentee that they need to be replaced. and while the area rug was destroyed with the new laminate flooring I don't feel the need to put a rug in, even if it would hide the speaker wire. But if anyone does feel generous there definitely are some items that have not been replaced: white sheet set queen size, white knit blanket, 2 16" x 20" sheets of glass (the glass from my picture frames were broken), coffee table, 2 balcony chairs (folding chairs are probably best), computer speakers, and a living room chair. Okay so some things were replaced already but all in all when I look around at my apartment it could have been so much worse. Yeah it's about $400 or so to replace it... but my mattress alone is $1200. When I did a rough appraisal of the contents of my apartment it totaled around $50,000. Not including the hotel probably about $400 has already been spent so at best it will cost around $800. It is a lot of money but to put that in perspective... that is only about $150 more then the orders I placed at Columbia House. And if Azrael had been injured I couldn't put a price on that. But I definitely think once I have some money I should contact State Farm and get an insurance quote.
Emotionally I think it is going to take a little while to recover. Dealing with the heat and then the flooding has taken a lot out of me. To have everything moved and set up in a week is pretty amazing. Obviously it took a LOT of work to accomplish that. There was a lot of adrenaline involved. Not to mention a lot of uncertainty. It has been quite a roller coaster. Right now I am in the middle of a 3 day weekend. I had contemplated going in yesterday to make up some hours but decided my health and well being was more important. Using it as down time to try and absorb the blow... After all I had so much work to do that I didn't have time to process it and work through the emotional devestation that comes with it. There are still a lot of uncertainties. There is a financial cost.. a cost as far as time goes.. and an emotional cost as well.
So I left and went to work. I worked my normal 12 hour shift and then went to Wal-Mart and grocery shopping after work. After all I was off the next day and wanted to get it done and over with. About the only thing I was thinking was about whether or not they had even gotten the plastic up... whether or not Steve had to redo it... and whether or not it made a difference. So we were taking bets on that. Well I certainly didn't expect what I came home to. I got home at 11:53 p.m. and found a note on my door that said, "Major flood. If you get home before midnight come see us." Well I decided to stop in first and just see how bad it was. Now at first glance it didn't look so bad... of course that is also because I was in the living room. Then I realized that the MacBook Pro was dripping. Then I wanted to cry. And then I saw the bedroom. It was immediately clear that I couldn't sleep there. The bed was covered in water and ceiling dust.
Then it was time to visit the superintendent. The first thing they said is that they couldn't find the cat. Good thing he had greeted me when I came home so I knew he was okay. Otherwise I would've really been freaking out. I knew he was stressed out though. Between the maintenance guy being there and the flood he had been sick. So they told me to go stay in a hotel for the night and bring them the bill. Back to my apartment to survey the damage. The futon was a little damp but in the living room it was really only the computer that had been hit. The bedroom, on the other hand, was a disaster. The humidity level was registering at 90%. It was clear that is where most of the water had gone as well. But there was nothing I could do at that point.... so it was time to find a hotel. That turned out to be a challenge since it was the big hockey weekend in the P.Dot. The only hotel rooms available were at the Quality Inn. Not going to lie... I made the most of the night. I had a jacuzzi suite. I will post pictures once I have them on the computer. It was a nice room... but for the $215 that it cost it better be. Would've been even nicer if I could've just relaxed. At that point I had no idea what I was going to come home to... and just how bad the devestation really was.
I might as well back up here and reveal the cause of the flood. The tenants above me broke up. She had already moved out and he told the super on the Monday that he would be coming back, presumably to finish moving stuff. Well he left the balcony door open about 4" and it caused the pipes to freeze, then split and burst. Jeff took me into the apartment the next day and there was a block of ice in the sink and the bathtub and the water in the toilet had frozen. So they weren't there to notice. I was at work. The guy below me was either not home or was too drunk. I did hear that he was on the fifth floor looking for Ron but was on the wrong end of the hallway. So it was not reported until about 6:00 when the water reached the 3rd floor. Does that tell you how bad it was? In the end the water went all the way to the 5th floor. Supposedly the water was just shooting from the pipes in 603 and then instantly freezing in the air. Jeff also said that when he walked in he was in an inch of water. It took until 10:00 for them to get the pipes fixed and the boilers refired. Now they knew about it at 6:00 and didn't call me at all to let me know.... On one hand that is good because I needed the money but 6 hours would've given me more time to bring in fans, a dehumidifier, and to save what I can. As an interesting note the guy's father did the exact same thing a couple of years ago and it was the super that lost 2 of their bedrooms. Something about that gene pool.
While I was at the hotel Steve came back and put the air conditioner in the tub and started running that to suck some of the water out of the air. Also put in a fan and a dehumidifier and got the mattress off the floor. Then he took the MackBook Pro out of there as well. When I did come back the humidity level was down to about 70%. I don't think it ever really got below that.
I walked home from the hotel. I was going to call mom but I really wanted to be alone and wanted to prolong going home, just a little bit. Besides it wasn't a long walk any ways. I got home and the first thing I did was call the maintenance guy. His recommendation had echoed that of the superintendant... moving to a new apartment. There was no way that I could stay there. So he came by and showed me the 2 apartments that were available. There was one on the 8th floor which, due to an event that happened there the same night of the flood (I'll post about that afterwards) I was a little apprehensive about. Not to mention the fact I am not crazy about heights. Oh and the layout wasn't quite the same either. It was a little narrower. I would've had to rearrange my living room. I think that was because it was right by the stairwell. The only advantage to that one is that it was ready immediately. The other option was on the 4th floor. The drawback is that the only room that was actually ready was the bedroom. They still had a lot of work to do but said it would be ready by Tuesday. It was the better option... Well aside from having to live temporarily in a tropical environment that wasn't exactly paradise. But the bedroom had just been re-carpeted, the floors were being redone with laminate (yay for no more carpets), new kitchen cupboard doors and counter tops were going in, and there was going to be a new sink, mirror and shelving unit in the bathroom. I was quickly sold on that one.
Spent most of my day off doing laundry... 7 hours and $42 later. Still waiting to be reimbursed for that... right along with the reimbursement for the hotel room I might add. I was still pretty much in shock. Then I moved everything that I could from the bedroom. Steve came over after work and moved the big items from the bedroom. I called in sick on Sunday. I just couldn't do it. And I still had a lot of work to do. Had to go to mom's so I could have a shower. For Monday and Tuesday I worked for 10 hour shifts (9 hours if you take out the lunches). Wednesday I left 5 hours into my shift. After all the new apartment was finally ready (they finished it Wednesday and not the Tuesday as they had orginally said) and I really needed to finish getting everything out of the old apartment. Mainly I wanted to get Azrael out of there. Now each night after work we had been moving as much as possible into the bedroom. After all I wasn't sleeping there and we were still trying to make sure that the mattress was able to dry out as long as possible before using it. As soon as I got home on Wednesday I brought down Azrael's stuff and then brought him down. Hot got kind of spooked by the traffic... the new floors (he can't sneak up on me now... His claws are long so I can hear him coming... the tap tap tap on the floor)... and just the change so he was hiding in my closet. Mom came over and helped me move a lot of the kitchen stuff downstairs and then cleaned the cupboards for me. It was much appreciated. She left just as Steve was getting here. Now as soon as he brought down the futon mattress (or maybe it was the catnip I gave him around the same time) Azrael was perfectly content and no longer hiding. He curled up on the mattress and just stayed there. Guess it was what signified that it was home. Work was nice and gave me Thursday off as a vacation day so that I could get as much done as possible. I had acrued the time from last year. At least this way I was still able to get paid for 40 hours that week. A far cry from the 55 hours that I had been working but I really hadn't planned on being flooded either.
So by Wednesday night (well early Thursday morning) everything had been moved to the new apartment... except the balcony chairs since the door was frozen and we couldn't get to them. But they were just cheap plastic chairs any ways. By Thursday night pretty well everything was set up. Just the finishing touches on Friday. Friday the cable guy was also here doing the reconnection. He also replaced the modem which had stopped working. Could have something to do with the water... Even did a proper installation so the cable goes around the room and not just across the floor. All the OT that I had been working had to go to pay for the cable installation. Cost me $180 when he got there. :( But hey I had my TV and internet back. Really it's just the reconnection fees of $50 that hurt. The rest was my normal cable bill.
I will say that not everything with the new apartment has been smooth sailing. First it wasn't ready on time. It still isn't completely finished. They still have to put a spacer where the carpet meets the laminate flooring and most of the cabinet doors and drawers need knobs/handles. Those should be done on Monday. Also, they were planning to leave the fridge and stove in there. The stove had obviously been on fire at some point and the top was still charred. The freezer door didn't close properly. Complained and initially they wanted to bring down the ones I had upstairs. Roach motel anyone? So in the end I got practically brand new appliances. The only caveat is that Steve had to help them move them. Say what? Again he doesn't live there... and isn't getting paid to do any work there... But he wanted me to have it so he did it. The fridge is much bigger then what I had previously. They are both nice... although the stove is a touch smaller I think. I need a smaller cookie sheet now. Last Friday I was doing dishes in the new place. No big deal right? Except that the pipe only appeared to be connected.... So all the water drained into the cabinets. Immediately report it to the super who tells me he will call Jeff immediately to get it fixed. Surprise, surprise since it's about 4:30 p.m. on Friday Jeff never shows up. I try not to use the water too much and put the stopper in the drain on that side. However, the next day someone in another apartment was running water and it backed up and once again my cabinet was flooded. Must say that I really didn't want to see any more water. And didn't want to lose anything else to water. Went and got the super and he fixed it in 3 minutes. So now everything is good. I have heat here... the apartment is nice... Azrael has settled in... and I am cautiously optimistic about getting rid of the cockroach infestation. It's still possible that I brought some with me so we'll see.
So the flood happened on the 16th. As I already mentioned Steve brought in fans, a dehumidifier and connected the air conditioner. The maintenance guy only showed me the available apartments on the 17th and did nothing about the water in my apartment. On the 18th he came in and got about 5 gallons out of the carpet. Spent about 20 minutes and then his excuse to stop is that I am moving any ways. Then asked me if I wanted to do it. Not really... After all I am moving and have other things to do. And it's not my responsibility to fix the damage. I moved all of the stuff out of the bedroom so that he could work. When I handed in my keys to the old apartment on the 24th they still had not done any more work on it. You could see mildew on the walls. the plastic over the window in the bedroom wall had come off. Not that you need to worry about the cold. The humidity level was keeping it fairly warm. I hate to see how much additional damage has been done by leaving it for a week... Sure they were ripping out the carpets any ways but what about structural damage? What about the mold and mildew? Not my problem since I no longer live there... but it should have been dealt with immediately.
Other then the MacBook Pro I haven't really mentioned what else was damaged. Now it is really easy for me to say that I got lucky because I didn't lose everything. And that definitely is true. But my MacBook Pro was only a couple of feet away from the TV and the entertainment unit. The entertainment unit definitely has some water damage to it but the TV, the PS3, the cable box and the wireless network were all fine. Likewise the sound system is still working. Likewise the Blu-rays were pretty close and didn't get damaged. But the modem was on the floor beside the Blu-rays and was fried. The futon was a little damn but seems to be fine. As for the bedroom the mattress I am still a little leery about. It dried out and seems to be fine... but I am concerned about the potential for mold and mildew to form in the core since it was wet all the way through. The MacBook Pro has been dried out and cleaned and will not power on. But I haven't given up all hope on that one.
I didn't have insurance so it makes it that much more devestating. I kept thinking I should get it... but when you're about $200 short a month as it is I just couldn't justify the cost. With all the OT I had been working I had actually just done a quote not that long ago but it was still going to be about $30/month. I was told later to try State Farm but it's a little late. Well too late to cover what I had any ways. Fortunately, the only 2 big items are the MacBook Pro and the mattress and they are not even a guarentee that they need to be replaced. and while the area rug was destroyed with the new laminate flooring I don't feel the need to put a rug in, even if it would hide the speaker wire. But if anyone does feel generous there definitely are some items that have not been replaced: white sheet set queen size, white knit blanket, 2 16" x 20" sheets of glass (the glass from my picture frames were broken), coffee table, 2 balcony chairs (folding chairs are probably best), computer speakers, and a living room chair. Okay so some things were replaced already but all in all when I look around at my apartment it could have been so much worse. Yeah it's about $400 or so to replace it... but my mattress alone is $1200. When I did a rough appraisal of the contents of my apartment it totaled around $50,000. Not including the hotel probably about $400 has already been spent so at best it will cost around $800. It is a lot of money but to put that in perspective... that is only about $150 more then the orders I placed at Columbia House. And if Azrael had been injured I couldn't put a price on that. But I definitely think once I have some money I should contact State Farm and get an insurance quote.
Emotionally I think it is going to take a little while to recover. Dealing with the heat and then the flooding has taken a lot out of me. To have everything moved and set up in a week is pretty amazing. Obviously it took a LOT of work to accomplish that. There was a lot of adrenaline involved. Not to mention a lot of uncertainty. It has been quite a roller coaster. Right now I am in the middle of a 3 day weekend. I had contemplated going in yesterday to make up some hours but decided my health and well being was more important. Using it as down time to try and absorb the blow... After all I had so much work to do that I didn't have time to process it and work through the emotional devestation that comes with it. There are still a lot of uncertainties. There is a financial cost.. a cost as far as time goes.. and an emotional cost as well.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Back to the Topic of Heat
I came home from work on New Years Eve and it was 12 degrees Celcius in my apartment (53 degrees Farenheit). Last time I checked that is well below room temperature and I know for a fact it is well below the minimum that a super is required to keep the temperature here in P Dot. Now this has been an ongoing issue. And shortly after I moved in I complained and complained and threatened to file a complaint under the landlord-tenants act. All I got was, "We're concerned about the issue but we're not sure what to do about it." And nothing ever came of it. I gave up fighting it because it seemed to be a lost cause... But this was too much. It's one thing when I work the shorter shifts so the space heater is on more... but now I am gone for 13 hours a day and we are in the middle of a deep freeze. So I wrote a letter to my super demanding that it get fixed. So then the maintenance guy came in and the cover is still not really on the heater making it an eyesore. I kid you not but the answer I got was, "Well I can't find any issues with the heat." You have got to be kidding me. That may be but if the thermostat is turned as high as it will go then why was it 12/53 degrees in here??? Sure when the temperature went up outside the temperature went up inside... but why did the temperature get down so low? On Friday when I woke up it was 14 degrees. I complained but that went nowhere since the maintenance guy was gone all weekend. Now we are about to head into a really cold stretch... colder then it has been in a LONG time... and I have no idea what's going to happen. I can guarentee that it's going to get really cold in here. And they don't seem to be too willing to do anything about it. Told me to call next time there was no heat. Hope they don't mind me calling at midnight or so since I am working the long hours. With the space heater on right now it is registering at being room temperature but I can see the ice forming on the inside of the balcony door. There was no ice when I got home and now 5 hours later the bottom half of the door is almost frosted over. Since it's -19 degrees C out there right now I imagine that it is going to be quite cold in here tomorrow morning since I will be turning off the space heater overnight. And it looks like I will be complaining yet again. It really shouldn't be this difficult to get them to take action.
UPDATE: Complained again this morning and came home to find it 12 degrees in here again :(
UPDATE: Complained again this morning and came home to find it 12 degrees in here again :(
Not All Good However
I do have a lot of good things that I can say about the OT. And then there are days like today. Today seemed like a fight. First they made us move downstairs because there were a lack of supervisors. It was packed downstairs and there was a lack of working computers. By the time we might have had working computers we could go back upstairs. Plus I was locked out and waiting for a password reset. My supervisor has me listening to calls... meanwhile someone else on our team got locked out as well and he allowed her to roam so she was answering questions. I was pretty bitter about that and the entire team knows it. After all I am the go-to person on the team for questions but he just keeps denying me the opportunity to roam and then wonders why I don't give a damn and refuse to make an effort. My quality scores will attest to it. Any chance he had of motivating me is long gone. I actually dread my weekly coaching session with him because I don't want to hear it... and nothing he says (short of putting me on disciplinary action) is going to motivate me any longer. That ship has sailed. So then he seemed to be in a bad mood... especially when he got one password reset and I ended up needing another one to be reset as well (blame another supervisor for that... he reset the wrong password last night). Just set the tone for the day. Seemed like we were all fighting customers throughout the day. And then about halfway through the day the Fibromyalgia really flared up and there was severe pain in my hip, half and foot.... I was still going to stick it out but I finally gave up. The money is nice but my health and well being is more important. I still worked my normal 8.5 hours but then I went home. I really needed the time off.... The pain is still there unfortunately but since I am relaxing at home I am not as focused on it. Tomorrow I will be back to the 12 hour shifts but it was nice to have a shorter shift today.
The Long Hours at Work
I know I go for long periods without posting and then usually have a few posts at the same time. Right now I do have a legitimate excuse. I am working 55 hours a week so I don't have a whole lot of time to do much of anything. I am not going to lie. It is hard to work 12 hour shifts. But let's face it how many people work 2 jobs just to make ends meet? I just have to put in extra hours at one job which to me is easier.
It all started when I discovered the Columbia House movie club. Or should I say I discovered they have Blu-rays. They had an amazing deal going where you buy 1 movie and get the rest at 60% off. I posted about it before here and just kept buying. I knew what I was getting into and what I would have to do to pay it off. Now this is the last week, for the most part, for the Columbia House orders. Of which I am still waiting for 11 pre-orders, 8 movies, 2 TV shows and the Matrix Ultimate Collection.
I still haven't completely decided just how long I am going to work the OT for. My general thought right now is to work it for as long as I can handle it. I am not a big fan of winter any ways so work the extra hours since I don't want to see the outside world and make some extra money in the process.
I have some thoughts about what to put the money towards.... For instance I would like to replace my camera. I would also like to save up some money for my vacation time so that I can do something... whether it's going to Niagara with a friend of mine.... or visiting some tropical locale the OT can help pay for it. I would also like an HD TV.... although I am not sure that I have enough motivation to go for that one. I can handle the thought of 3 weeks (say for the camera) or 4 weeks (maybe 6-8) for the vacation... but it would like 3 months to pay for the TV. That might be pushing it. Especially since I need 1 week of OT a month just to pay bills as on my normal pay I am about $200 short a month. I could also do the responsible thing and pay bills with that money.
It is demanding and it certainly does take a toll. I am pretty tired and, as of late, the Fibromyalgia has also been bothering me. But I actually find it to be a good thing. The $1200 (after tax) pay cheque that I just got was nice, of course. But I am also on a routine. It helps me sleep better at night. I sleep through the night as a result. For the most part I am also on a TV fast during the week. After all I don't have a whole lot of time after work so usually I can' be bothered even turning the TV on until possibly Friday night. I don't spend a lot of time with people like SS who take a toll on me so mentally it helps me. And it really does make me appreciate my time off. I was really taking for granted the time off that I had. Now I find that I want to relax more on my days off... and just enjoy the solitude. as weird as it may sound I actually think that working the long shifts is a great thing for me and really helps create a sense of balance and makes me appreciate what I have and the time that I have to myself.
It all started when I discovered the Columbia House movie club. Or should I say I discovered they have Blu-rays. They had an amazing deal going where you buy 1 movie and get the rest at 60% off. I posted about it before here and just kept buying. I knew what I was getting into and what I would have to do to pay it off. Now this is the last week, for the most part, for the Columbia House orders. Of which I am still waiting for 11 pre-orders, 8 movies, 2 TV shows and the Matrix Ultimate Collection.
I still haven't completely decided just how long I am going to work the OT for. My general thought right now is to work it for as long as I can handle it. I am not a big fan of winter any ways so work the extra hours since I don't want to see the outside world and make some extra money in the process.
I have some thoughts about what to put the money towards.... For instance I would like to replace my camera. I would also like to save up some money for my vacation time so that I can do something... whether it's going to Niagara with a friend of mine.... or visiting some tropical locale the OT can help pay for it. I would also like an HD TV.... although I am not sure that I have enough motivation to go for that one. I can handle the thought of 3 weeks (say for the camera) or 4 weeks (maybe 6-8) for the vacation... but it would like 3 months to pay for the TV. That might be pushing it. Especially since I need 1 week of OT a month just to pay bills as on my normal pay I am about $200 short a month. I could also do the responsible thing and pay bills with that money.
It is demanding and it certainly does take a toll. I am pretty tired and, as of late, the Fibromyalgia has also been bothering me. But I actually find it to be a good thing. The $1200 (after tax) pay cheque that I just got was nice, of course. But I am also on a routine. It helps me sleep better at night. I sleep through the night as a result. For the most part I am also on a TV fast during the week. After all I don't have a whole lot of time after work so usually I can' be bothered even turning the TV on until possibly Friday night. I don't spend a lot of time with people like SS who take a toll on me so mentally it helps me. And it really does make me appreciate my time off. I was really taking for granted the time off that I had. Now I find that I want to relax more on my days off... and just enjoy the solitude. as weird as it may sound I actually think that working the long shifts is a great thing for me and really helps create a sense of balance and makes me appreciate what I have and the time that I have to myself.
No Really It's Not All About You
Yesterday I started another work week.... It was an interesting day. I was getting my head back into the whole thought of work and bracing myself for another 12 hour day. A few hours into my shift I get a text from a good friend of mine telling me that her daughter had been attacked by a dog the day before and was in hospital. Of course I was concerned. Above all else I felt helpless since there was nothing I could do. And I HATE that feeling. I was at work so I couldn't get the full story but this person said that they would be on IM after I was done work.
Fast forward to the end of work. SS was supposed to pick up a few things for me during the day. Somehow that turned out to be an epic fail. So in the end he wound up going out to Sobey's to pick up a couple of things (good deal if you buy 2 Old El Paso products you can get free ground beef.... couldn't pass that up) and then dropping it off. Suddenly I got cornered. He starts asking if we're okay (what are we a couple here???) and then commenting on how we never hang out together. Dude I am working 55 hours a week here. When I get home from work I have very little time before bed. And on my days off I pretty much just want to hide. My apartment is pretty cold (but I'll leave details on that for another post) and I just want to relax with Azrael. I don't generally want to be social... Now during the afternoon then I don't mind seeing people... but by evening I just want to be alone. So maybe if he was off during the day I might be up for it... maybe... not making any promises.
No matter how many times though I said that I am not talking to anyone.... and have become pretty reclusive he wouldn't let it go. Just kept bitching about not spending any time together over and over.... Number 1... I don't see him actually suggesting any plans. He just tells me to call if I want to do something. Guess what... I don't want to do anything. Secondly, when plans are going to involve my place and watching a movie I can do that alone and it will be much more relaxing. Lastly, it just seemed like a really selfish and manipulative train of thought. I seriously wanted to tell him to make some more friends so that he will have someone else to spend time with.
How about taking on my perspective? Right now I am in week 5 of the extended hours. It takes quite a toll on you. I understand and can appreciate asking if there is a problem in the relationship (although it still sounded too much like something you would ask a partner and not a friend) but you don't need the manipulation to try and force me to agree to plans. Maybe I am being selfish by depriving someone of the opportunity to spend time with me. But I really don't want to spend extended time with someone that takes a lot out of me... and I really use my time off to recover and prepare myself for the next work week. I am sorry if that impacts your social life but it's about my own survival here and making it through.
Fast forward to the end of work. SS was supposed to pick up a few things for me during the day. Somehow that turned out to be an epic fail. So in the end he wound up going out to Sobey's to pick up a couple of things (good deal if you buy 2 Old El Paso products you can get free ground beef.... couldn't pass that up) and then dropping it off. Suddenly I got cornered. He starts asking if we're okay (what are we a couple here???) and then commenting on how we never hang out together. Dude I am working 55 hours a week here. When I get home from work I have very little time before bed. And on my days off I pretty much just want to hide. My apartment is pretty cold (but I'll leave details on that for another post) and I just want to relax with Azrael. I don't generally want to be social... Now during the afternoon then I don't mind seeing people... but by evening I just want to be alone. So maybe if he was off during the day I might be up for it... maybe... not making any promises.
No matter how many times though I said that I am not talking to anyone.... and have become pretty reclusive he wouldn't let it go. Just kept bitching about not spending any time together over and over.... Number 1... I don't see him actually suggesting any plans. He just tells me to call if I want to do something. Guess what... I don't want to do anything. Secondly, when plans are going to involve my place and watching a movie I can do that alone and it will be much more relaxing. Lastly, it just seemed like a really selfish and manipulative train of thought. I seriously wanted to tell him to make some more friends so that he will have someone else to spend time with.
How about taking on my perspective? Right now I am in week 5 of the extended hours. It takes quite a toll on you. I understand and can appreciate asking if there is a problem in the relationship (although it still sounded too much like something you would ask a partner and not a friend) but you don't need the manipulation to try and force me to agree to plans. Maybe I am being selfish by depriving someone of the opportunity to spend time with me. But I really don't want to spend extended time with someone that takes a lot out of me... and I really use my time off to recover and prepare myself for the next work week. I am sorry if that impacts your social life but it's about my own survival here and making it through.
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