12 Hours

Approximately 12 hours ago I was crawling into bed with another migraine. It was some time around midnight. Way past my bedtime for my 6am wake up call. I had just closed my eyes when I heard a very familiar sound...like rain, only indoors, accomanied by the swoosh of water rushing across my ceiling, then the additional tap...tap...tap. It was raining in my apartment again. But not my old apartment. The new one I had moved into just a week and a half ago with such high hopes for no leaks and no mold.

I sprung into action...grabbing towels and buckets, a system I have down pat and could do in my sleep, as I practically was. Some time around 1am the leak slowed to a drip and I crawled back into bed. I awoke to my alarm at 6am with migraine still in tow. I arrived at work and was greeted by a three year old who burst into tears and threw up on the floor.

Another Chrisemism

So I was enjoying a polite lunch conversation with my two little charges when a strange sound was heard coming from the direction of the three year old. I had a guess as to what the sound was, but I really wasn't sure. So I asked Chris if he had gas. Well actually, I asked him if he cut the cheese, because just about 30seconds earlier David had broken his Babybel cheese round in half and so I teased him that he had cut the cheese. I'm always very proper and polite with my charges. So anyway, I asked Chris if he cut the cheese, and Chris, always ready to one up anybody replies very frankly, "No, that's just my butt motor."

So if you're not laughing, then I guess you had to be there. It was pretty funny.

Apartment Hunting

On Wednesday I saw three apartments. All three terrified me in their own special way. Then I saw this commercial and could totally sympathize with this couple. Check it out.

http://platinumcommercialtruck.blogspot.com/2011/09/chevy-cruze-eco-apartment-hunt.html

I love this commercial, cause its actually true. The options out there are terrible.

I embark on another search this weekend. Wish me luck!

Can't Wait

I just can't wait till my nephew Will gets older!


That's the thought that popped into my head after three year old Christopher informed me over lunch conversation while wiggling in his seat, "I got the moves like Jagger. He wiggles his butt."
I could have squirted milk out my nose. Its moments like that that make three year olds so totally awesome.

I can't wait to hear what my nephew will tell me some day over lunch. Cool.

Home Sweet Home - Andco Style

I could tell you all about the three major floods and the several smaller ones, but its more fun to show you in a short picture book of my time with Andco Management.

This is my table after the 2nd flood.

This is my table after the Handyman with a five star rating did not fix it after 5 hrs of work. I think he went a little crazy sanding that one section. Don't you?

This is my chair after I had already wet vac-ed it after the first flood.
This is what the laundry room looks like during flood season. Oh, yeah, and they don't clean it up. Plus there is no cleaning person for this building - at all!

This is what the laundry room ceiling looks like all the time. Now I know why they "didn't have the keys" to the laundry room when I viewed the apartment.

This is the skylight they made for me after the second flood. Yep, its open right into my neighbor's bathroom too. Howdy neighbor! The drywall to the right is also soaked and about 5inches thick, but they didn't view that as a problem. That, the mold, or the rotten wood.

This is what my shower looked like every morning from the nasty stuff falling down.

I covered the skylight with an art cloth so I could shower in privacy - sort of. Until on my birthday I was showering and a guy started to clean out and cover the hole from the other side. I was naked in the shower with nothing but an art cloth between me and Maintenance Guy. Dry wall was falling on my shampooed head. I emailed Andco about this but got no response. Huh?

I paid a Water & Mold Guy $350 to check for moisture and mold in my apartment. Yep I had both. My bathroom wall was all wet. His Star Trek-like hand held device shot all the way to red. He said it was from the pipe to the right of the one they "fixed" having a steady leak down that wall. It all had to be opened, dried, and mold cleaned out. I emailed all this info to Andco and even offered to move out for a few days while they fixed the problem for good. How nice of me. I stayed at my wonderful employers' house while they were on vacation.

I went home to check on things though due to some trust issues I have with Chicago management companies. Sure enough, I found the guy there patching up the hole and painting all in one day. Job done. No need to dry out the additional wet walls or clean out any mold. Did I mention mold levels over 200 are bad? Mine is somewhere above 2,000!

I moved back in and was just returning my things to the bathroom when I heard the upstairs toilet flush. Then the sound of a rain storm with no thunder took place in my walls. Loud rushing above me and down the walls! Where was it going to come out!? I quickly moved my ruined table to the side that I had been scraping and varnishing in vain for two days! First it poured in the bathroom. I grabbed a bucket. Then it poured in the kitchen. I grabbed a bucket. Here let me show you....




This went on for 45minutes.

My light filled. I thought my ceiling would collapse. Look how full the light is with dirty water! At one point there was so much pressure it started squirting out the sides and spraying at my walls.
Oh, yeah, my neighbor upstairs, her ceiling did collapse!

Here is the water coming out of my kitchen light. It always comes out my light.

After yelling at me that this was not a plumbing issue, the maintenance guy told me I was lucky my ceiling didn't fall in too. I would be fine. it would all dry. ---My ceiling and walls were flooded for 45 minutes with pouring water. If that is not opened up it will not dry. My mold count is already a health hazard, and the walls weren't dry from the previous flood! But as he says, I'm lucky. I suppose as luck goes...this is the type I abound with.

As I moved all my furniture back into my bedroom, poor Fawny threw up. It was all too much for her. I felt the same way.

Mokey and Her Beloved Tub

Until now, I could only assume Mokey enjoyed her playtime "time-outs" in the bath tub. Lately she has been scratching at the gate which has lead me to believe she actually is trying to tell me she'd like to have tub time now. So this evening I picked her up and took her in there and placed her in the tub. As I went to drop the blanket in, she started hopping & squeeking - dooking all over the tub! I played with her with the blanket for a minute and then left her happily attacking the drain. Looks like this situation is working out for the best for both of us. :)

What Are Your Shoes For?

I often feel bad about the state of my shoes. When I enter someone's home I remove my shoes and place them near the collection of shoes from the other guests and those who live there. That's when I notice how worn and dirty mine look. I'm always embarrassed. Why do my shoes look so bad. I walk around the city just like everyone else, but mine look so much worse. I buy pretty decent shoes. Most of them aren't very old. I store them properly on a shelf, not on a crumpled pile of fellow dirty shoes. But my beloved shoes never fail to embarrass me at gatherings.

Recently, as many of you know, I had the privilege or reorganizing and relabeling 5, 500+ pictures my genius brother was able to recover for me. Thanks, bro! Anyway, during this two week long journey with many 18hr. days scrolling through photos and videos, I came across this video.




Then I didn't feel so bad about my shoes being more worn and dirty than everyone else's. Look what joy they bring!