Harlem Blues *
Well, I was going to write a post about many exciting things, but it's going to have to wait... because I want to talk about my apartment for a minute.
I like my apartment, and I like my neighbourhood. My room's kind of small, but I have 2 great roommates, 2 cats and it's not too expensive. But there are a few problems - things don't get fixed quickly and easily if something breaks or leaks. Our buzzer hasn't worked the entire time I've been here, and there was a while there when we didn't have heat or hot water.
Consequently, when we rang to complain about the heat and hot water, they adjusted it so that the next few days it was over 80 degrees (more than 26 degrees c) in my apartment, and at night with my bedroom door closed my room felt like it got up to 90. It was as if somewhere someone went "you want heat? I'll give you heat.."
But now it's settled down a little, which is good. Only problem is, our radiators have been leaking, causing an overflow of water in my roommates room, and a vague smell of mould in my closet which is on the other side of the wall. And the ceiling has been dripping from a repair done by a guy who plastered over some mould and painted it.
So a guy came to fix the radiator this morning - good. We showed him the dripping ceiling, and he went upstairs to our neighbours to see where it was coming from. Then he came back, and knocked a big hole in the ceiling, and left again to go upstairs.... and he never came back!
At first we thought he'd been caught up doing something, but after an hour we started calling different people to see where he was. We called the dispatch company ("Oh, we're trying to get a hold of him - we'll call you back") and finally after another hour, I called our management company and left a message for the same woman all the other complaints have gone to.
She actually called me back and told me that he was leaving it like that to see where the leak was coming from. She then said that a guy would be back to fix the other radiator this afternoon. I told her I'd be there till 4:30. It's 5 now, and no-one has returned.
The best bit about it all is that the guy just walked out, not saying where he was going or that he wouldn't be coming back, and left plaster and debris all over the kitchen - on the counter, on the stove, on top of the cupboard, and all over the floor. It looked like a building site.
So I cleaned it all up, cos I really couldn't face everything being covered in plaster, dirt, and rusty smelly water from the leak. Problem is I'd already cleaned it all up yesterday cos I was sick of the kitchen being a mess..
I just wonder how long it'll take to fix it all up... I'm not holding my breath...
* after a song from a fave Spike Lee joint Mo Better Blues
