"Keep a Journal: How else are you going to get a good look at who you were?"

Monday, June 20, 2011

Perfect for a Monday...

I got up and walked into my kitchen a little after 5 AM this morning...

...to find a haze of smoke hovering about a foot off the ceiling and a strong burning smell coming from the vicinity of my fridge.  After staring aghast at the fridge for a full minute I realized two things:

1. I needed to open up the doors and windows before the new smoke alarm went off.

2. I wasn't going to make it to work this morning.

The fridge was cycling on-and-off every minute, but the compressor was LOUD and running more or less constantly.  I moved all the bric-a-brac off the top of the fridge and pulled it out of its niche in the corner.  Once around the back of the fridge, I was able to see the scorch mark on the linoleum and noticed the distinct tang of burned motor bushings.  With the fridge unplugged the smoke cleared and I waited an hour or so (about 6:45 AM) before calling my sister Kathy.

For those who don't know my living arrangements; I moved out of the house L and I owned and moved into a new place with my Sister Kathleen and Brother (in law) Grant...and their five kids.  I've got the downstairs suite and they've got the upstairs plus the other half of the downstairs.  It's worked out really well so far.  I figured I had to move out once the Divorce was final...more on that in a moment.

Anyways; I got all the frozen food into Kath's freezer in the garage and put all the items from the cooler section in a shopping basket to keep temporarily in their fridge.  Now I'm waiting to place a call to the Property Management Company who takes care of this place...I need a new fridge; and maybe a new stove while we're at it?

This place has been BEAT on!  The maintenance has been minimal and looks as if it were done by the Marx Brothers, Incorporated.  I have a tub in the bathroom that sits, no joke, 22 inches off the floor.  Got that?  The rim of the tub is three feet off the floor!  Makes getting in and out of the shower in the morning mighty interesting.  I may have to install a safety bar on the side of the tub surround.  Essentially, they left the old tub surround in place and simply parked a new steel-side tub ( the kind that doesn't need a surround) on top of the old surround.  A tub on top of a tub (that isn't there any longer), so to speak.  I shudder when I think of the re-plumbing of the drain that must have been necessary for this "kludge".  Then there is the kitchen sink that is slowly sinking thru the dry-rotted counter-top.  Then there is the oven with no bottom element (and no-where to plug said element into, the wiring has been ripped out).  Finally, there is the smoking fridge.

To be fair, the P.M.C. has fixed a few of the more pressing items.  The constantly leaking drain in the bathroom sink; which had rotted out the lower half of the sink cabinet, for instance.  The sink and cabinet were replaced and the drain line was re-done.  Not the most aesthetically pleasing job, but at least it works.  The holes in the wall have been patched...poorly.  The carpets and other fixtures that suffered damage from a minor flood that the P.M.C. rep didn't see fit to mention to us were replaced.  Although the over-sized, mismatched, and amateur - installed baseboards are kind of a dead giveaway.  At least the carpet was correctly done.  Indoor-outdoor, low pile, high traffic Berber; A.K.A. "airport carpet"...classy.

I really shouldn't complain too much.  We've only signed a one-year lease.  The P.M.C. has insisted that I take out Renter's Insurance to cover any damage done by my waterbed.  I think I'll be replacing the waterbed bladder with a foam mattress and the P.M.C. can have their Renter's Insurance once all the broken items are properly fixed around here!  Fair enough?

Now, speaking of "properly fixed"...

The case of Sanderson vs Sanderson was heard June 13th at the Vancouver Courthouse.  Because all parties were in agreement, the J.C.C. was wrapped up rather quickly and it was arranged to have His Honor hear the Plea for Divorce almost immediately.  So the Decree was issued from the Bench and goes into effect 31 days from that date.  This will be July 14th...Bastille Day.  There's some irony in there somewhere, but I'm too tired and annoyed right now to go looking for it.