Not A Good Sound To Hear At Lodge

I arrived at the lodge last night a little earlier than usual as there were a number of things that needed to be done and everyone has places that they needed to go later in the evening. It was a relatively quick meeting with everything taken care of, or so we thought, and we soon found ourselves discussing some of the event that we have going on over the next few months and those that we need to work on for next year. In the end, there was more progress made with regard to scheduling than any of us had anticipated. Great, fewer details that we have to take care of later.

With other brothers arriving the conversations quickly became varied and we found ourselves jumping from topic to topic just enjoying the fellowship of the night. With only a couple minor tasks that still had to be addressed I adjourned to my office in the basement, pulled out the books, and finished up my weekly tasks. That is when I heard the sound that I have become all too familiar with over the last couple of years.

The dripping was constant and could be heard prominently in the small space once the rustle of papers calmed. I first looked at the ceiling to see if I could see any stains but didn’t find any discoloration. My attention then shifted to the windows where I again found nothing. But, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of the buckling wainscoting right next to the window. It didn’t take much more than a gentle breath to cause the particleboard to fail and crumble onto my desk. And right above it was the steady drip that was echoing throughout the small basement space.

As I have said before, there are some things that I am able to fix, either temporarily or permanently, but plumbing is not one of them. Thankfully I could hear a couple of the brothers talking in the entryway who have professional experience with such issues and so I ran across the basement and up the stairs before they could walk out the door. After an extensive minor investigation, we couldn’t find much let alone the primary cause of the slow flow but we managed to move everything out of the way, unplug the electronics immediately in front of the water feature, and made the calls to get it taken care of in the morning.

While I could have been out the door moments after those few tasks were finished in the office, the leak took up a little more time than I was expecting and I found myself shutting off the lights and locking the door with enough time to get home by 10:15pm. While usually not for situations like the one last night, this is why my wife and I don’t expect me home early on Tuesday evenings. So far, that is the only plan that seems to be working on lodge nights as everything else remains fluid.

Just Above Our Heads

I knew that yesterday was going to be a long day and a late night at the office. I could tell by the times reserved on my calendar and the work that needed to be done that I wouldn’t be getting home at the usual time. With this fact in the back of my mind, the day was already beginning to drag as midafternoon came around to smack me in the face. In a series of texts from my wife, it was made very clear that the refrigerator was not the biggest maintenance problem in the apartment. When my wife got home she noticed the same subtle noise that we heard last summer in the office… dripping.

Off in the corner of the living room, the saturated ceiling tile was now bathing our bookcases in a stale staccato of water coming from one of the many possible sources in the maze of pipes hidden by the flimsy barrier above. After notifying the front desk, maintenance was in the apartment to assess the mess created by one of their many predecessors. Essentially, what happened was that the many cans of spray foam encapsulating the pipe had given way and the bucket semi permanently secured below this quality piece of craftsmanship was overflowing into our living room.

A couple hours later nearly all the foam had been chipped away and the totality of the failed fix was revealed. While I am not certain as to the exact nature of the issue, it was very clear that cutting corners was made a priority in the past and we should, hopefully, have a proper remedy to the problem. But that is going to have to wait as the area needs to dry, parts need to be purchased, and our patience needs to be tested further. Fortunately, while they were in the apartment, they called a service company to come out and fix the fridge… a problem that was consciously being ignored by the new management company, Camco, for nearly two weeks. After phone, verbal, and written messages there is no doubt in my mind that we were ignored. At the opposite end of the service spectrum, as soon as maintenance found out that the issue wasn't resolved, they took care of it right away.

So now, as we wait for the leak to be fixed (not just a finger in the dike), we are left assessing what needs to be cleaned, what needs to be thrown away, and whether or not we want to keep the furniture in the same places knowing what problems keep surfacing just above our heads. More work that I really don’t have the time or energy to deal with at the end of the day. Needless to say, we will definitely be resuming our apartment search in the new year as the problems and inconveniences are beginning to outweigh the rent at this point.