Mayday! May Day!

I couldn't resist the pun. Especially after the last few days.

The hot water heater had been dripping for weeks. I chalked it up to condensation and would blot up the few drops every day. On Saturday, the hot water died. Sunday, I took a cold shower before heading to volleyball and decided that that would be the last time that that happened.

Yesterday, my flatmate let me know that he contacted a plumber. The bad news is that it wouldn't be fixed until Wednesday afternoon. (I got a day pass to a gym last night, so I could take a shower on the way home.)

I thought I was set and looked forward to a wonderfully relaxed evening of an engaging book, maybe some writing, and a podcast or two or a DVD. Au contraire. I got home to a torrent of water splashing out of the hot water heater onto the floor in the kitchen. There was already several inches of water there and it had spread to the living room. There was no knob by the heater, so I pounded on the door to my neighbor's flat. I hoped he'd have an answer as his place was a mirror of ours. No answer.

Upstairs was the only other neighbor that I knew in the building. I lucked out. Not only was she there, but there was a board meeting for the three buildings in the complex. My flatmate was even there. He came downstairs with me, rolling his eyes at my call of a 'flood'.

He opened the door and saw that I had downplayed the problem. The good news is that he knew where the water valve was. And after initially turning off our neighbor's water, was able to turn off the water to our flat. That left us with clean up.

(As an aside, when I buy shoes for work, I tend toward waterproof, warm and comfortable. Usually that means that they aren't very pretty. After last night, I say 'ha!' to the women in my life that are trying to reform me.)

An hour and a half of alternately blotting and wringing four very absorbent towels, we ended with a extremely clean kitchen floor, a damp living room rug, a pile of dry furniture that gave the stacking ghosts in Poltergeist a run for their money and my confirmation that we didn't have a mop.

Brushing your teeth, washing your face or hands with bottled water is just a joy.
I feel more than a little grungy this morning and I'm really looking forward to a shower after work today.

In other news, looking into other flats. Saw a hovel that I could move into immediately: 13' by 18' studio with an incredibly small bathroom and a kitchen that consisted of a mini-microwave, dorm fridge, and four burners — no oven. The bonus was that it was reasonably priced.