Monday, March 10, 2008

What the hey?

So I'm waiting patiently for the light in our village's busiest intersection to turn green when I spotted something in the street. First I noticed it was clothing. Rich, berry colored clothing. As I concentrated on it I noticed navy blue flecks. Then I saw they were boxer shorts.

How could anyone lose their berry-colored boxer shorts on the busiest corner in town on such a cold, cloudy day? I'm fascinated.

Oh, goodie!

So this morning, at about 1 AM, I was rinsing out some cans to be recycled. I hadn't been home since Thursday and naturally the sink hadn't been used in days, but even so, I was surprised to see a bug fly up from my drain. So I looked under the sink and guess what. The elbow pipe of my garbage disposal was dripping and smelled very bad.

Naturally I assumed this is why dirty, smelly water had been leaking onto my hallway carpet. However it was after midnight and a representative from the building company and a roofer were scheduled to be here at 9:00 to check out the roof and eliminate that as culprit. It's not like I could call them at that hour and cancel.

The roofer was just here and I showed him and the building rep. (who was wearing a dramatic eye patch) the leak under the sink and the spots in the hall where the carpet had been soaked.

To my surprise, the roofer and the building guy agree that it's neither the roof (the walls look fine, it's only the carpet that's messed up) nor the leaking garbage disposal (while not good, it's not big enough to cause this much damage). They believe it's the pipes in the wall that bring water up to the sink and my toilet. (They are back to back.)

I have no idea what anyone is talking about. I've only ever been in Home Depot once, and that was to use the bathroom. However I am aware that while the pipes under my sink are my responsibility, the pipes in the wall belong to the building.

Sometimes I wish I still rented. I have to remind myself how much I enjoyed that big ass tax refund, courtesy of all that mortgage interest. And that even in a slow real estate market this place is worth more than 35% more than it was when I bought it, and where else could I have gotten that return on an investment? Pissed as I am right now, I love my neighborhood, I'm even kinda fond of this place, and it's my security against living in a refrigerator box on Lower Wacker Drive.