Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The Flood

M had a two week break from work. We (I, in particular) had grand plans for the fortnight. I even dreamt up something that we could get into next year to make some extra pocket money. So, there were heaps of things to do and we were prepared for the fact that not everything would be completed in just two weeks, especially when we also organized a couple of daytrips plus a movie day. M had divided his annual leave into two, with the other half scheduled for November. We thought we could carry out the rest of what needed to be done around the apartment then. It was with emotions of fun and excitement that we hit the bed around midnight two weeks ago; anticipating the start of his holidays the next day, but nothing prepared us for the FLOOD!

Hours into our sleep, we were blissfully unaware of something quite disastrous happening in our bathroom. At approximately half past three in the morning of 22/09, M was woken up by a weird noise and someone buzzing at our door. He got up to check what was happening. I got up only because the lights in the hallway and bathroom were annoying me and enquired what the problem was. Still half awake, M mentioned that something was leaking but sounded like he was confused. So, I dragged myself out of bed to see what was going on. The bathroom was completely flooded and the water was flowing out into the hallway. We soon realised that the water heater had gone bust. After switching off the electricity supply to the water heater and turning off the water, we started to clean up. That was our super early start to a holiday we had been looking forward to. For some stupid reasons, I kept thinking that this flood was a good sign. As I tried to soak up the water from the carpet with towels, I kept thinking that this flood was needed to wash away all the sadness to mark a new beginning. Part of me was clearly still sleeping and dreaming away. M was in charge of mopping up the bathroom. I only found out a day later that he ‘burnt’ his feet doing that because the water was very hot in some areas of the bathroom. He had altered sensations under his feet for a couple of days.

The tradesmen arrived after lunch. The first plumber reminded me of Casey Stoner and was friendly enough to include me when explaining what he was going to do. We learned that he and his crew had been replacing the ageing water heaters in other apartments in our building as well. I have seen at least three being carted away this year and thought they had broken down prematurely due to a lack of proper care. We hardly ever checked on ours. Two more plumbers came to assist the first one. I didn’t like one of these two but that is another story. Together, the three man crew knocked up a wooden stand and a metal tray for the new heater to sit on. In the event that the heater popped again, the metal tray will catch the water and guide it down the drain to minimize the possibility of another big flood. Just before the plumbers left, the electrician arrived to do his part of the job. They all left just before 5 pm and minutes after their departure, the tap at the vanity sink started to drip. The plumbers were called and they were not happy to hear from us but arranged to come back the next day. Guess what? When we got up the next day, the dripping at that tap had stopped. How bizarre was that? And despite calling them to cancel the appointment, another friendly plumber rocked up right after lunch.

Approximately 14 hours after we discovered the flood, we had a brand new water heater. By 6:30 pm that day, we were enjoying access to hot water once again. I thought that was speedy but the damp carpets took another three and a half days to dry. During that time I began to think that the problem could be more severe than just a ruptured water heater. I suspected that the water pipes supplying water to the kitchen was leaking because one particular part of the hallway was wetter than anywhere else. It didn’t help that our neighbour downstairs paid us a visit to see if everything was alright. Smokey/Doosh-Doosh Man came up to see if we had gotten the problem fixed. He was the one who was buzzing our door frantically to try to wake us up because the water was flooding his apartment as well. To have flooded his apartment is 200% embarrassing to me. I have a part time to full time subscription to the idea of being a waste of space and am forever trying my best to not impede on others right to enjoy life. So, when the stubborn wet patch of carpet took longer to dry, I freaked out thinking that water was still trickling down into the apartment below us. On the Thursday before the AFL Grand Final, I bumped onto Smokey/Doosh-Doosh Man and his chick on the way upstairs. He gave me one big smile but I looked away in total embarrassment. I took that smile as an indication that all was okay after all. Only then did I feel relief of the trouble my old water heater had caused. By then 4 days of the holidays were gone! Most of what we had planned went out the balcony door.

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