[I was in a hurry to get this in under the wire for NaBloPoMo and didn't get into detail.]
So we're sitting here minding our business watching "Pineapple Express" when Jess (aka Dark Mistress Hawthorne, who isn't dark at all but a lovely person) got up to fill the Brita pitcher. Unfortunately I forgot to tell her not to use the cold water because it doesn't turn off properly and drips, only it didn't drip this time. It ran full blast and would not turn off at all. I tried to get it to stop. Roy and I walked around outside with a flashlight to see what we could see, but couldn't see a valve. There was no valve under the sink either. It was 10:25pm. What do we do?
We had no choice. We called Frau. I told her the situation and asked her where the shut off valve was outside. She told me the only valve was for the water main which shuts off the whole building. Crap! I guess I can talk to the new guy and Gladys and tell them the water would be off, but that would require me staying home to wait for Frau tomorrow. She told me to look under the sink and refused to believe me when I told her there was no sink valve under there. Finally she said, "I'm coming over." Ah, geez. No one wants a visit from the Frau at 10:30pm, except Jess who was interested to see if the Frau met her expectations.
But a visit is exactly what we got. I met her at the bottom of the stairs and apologized for calling so late. "Why don't you call me at Midnight or 1:00," she said. Well, because it didn't happen at Midnight; it happened now. "How did this happen? What were you doing?" she asked as if we were doing handstands on the faucet. I told her we turned it on and it wouldn't go off. She made a big deal about "I don't think I have washers" when she did, in fact, have a whole bag of washers. She fixed the faucet and showed me that the metal piece inside was broken, saying, "This is because you turn the faucet too hard. See? You don't need to use force." No, the metal is broken because the sink is a hundred years old and it's rusted apart, but whatever Frau.
On either side of the sink, under the counters, is a hollow cabinet with no access. Logic says there's nothing under there except maybe some pipes, but the previous owners sealed it up. Frau asked me about it. "What's under there?" I told her I didn't know as it was like that when I moved in. She eyed me suspiciously as if I were lying and possibly hiding the bodies of the previous owners. I got a lecture about my trash bags in the kitchen, even though I told her I hadn't taken them out yet because the new girl used my can for her crap. "Use someone else's, " she told me. "They're all full!" I countered. She told me some men were coming by to do yard work and they will take all the full cans out to the street, so I should just find one that's not as full and use it. Then I got the Mom talk about how if I were a better housekeeper I'd feel better about myself and it's good for my health.
All in all, it was the usual Frau visit. It was pretty nice of her to come over at 10:30 on Passover, but honestly, it's her responsibility as the landlord. I'm glad we got it over with and that Jess got to see her. It's better than a Bigfoot sighting.
So we're sitting here minding our business watching "Pineapple Express" when Jess (aka Dark Mistress Hawthorne, who isn't dark at all but a lovely person) got up to fill the Brita pitcher. Unfortunately I forgot to tell her not to use the cold water because it doesn't turn off properly and drips, only it didn't drip this time. It ran full blast and would not turn off at all. I tried to get it to stop. Roy and I walked around outside with a flashlight to see what we could see, but couldn't see a valve. There was no valve under the sink either. It was 10:25pm. What do we do?
We had no choice. We called Frau. I told her the situation and asked her where the shut off valve was outside. She told me the only valve was for the water main which shuts off the whole building. Crap! I guess I can talk to the new guy and Gladys and tell them the water would be off, but that would require me staying home to wait for Frau tomorrow. She told me to look under the sink and refused to believe me when I told her there was no sink valve under there. Finally she said, "I'm coming over." Ah, geez. No one wants a visit from the Frau at 10:30pm, except Jess who was interested to see if the Frau met her expectations.
But a visit is exactly what we got. I met her at the bottom of the stairs and apologized for calling so late. "Why don't you call me at Midnight or 1:00," she said. Well, because it didn't happen at Midnight; it happened now. "How did this happen? What were you doing?" she asked as if we were doing handstands on the faucet. I told her we turned it on and it wouldn't go off. She made a big deal about "I don't think I have washers" when she did, in fact, have a whole bag of washers. She fixed the faucet and showed me that the metal piece inside was broken, saying, "This is because you turn the faucet too hard. See? You don't need to use force." No, the metal is broken because the sink is a hundred years old and it's rusted apart, but whatever Frau.
On either side of the sink, under the counters, is a hollow cabinet with no access. Logic says there's nothing under there except maybe some pipes, but the previous owners sealed it up. Frau asked me about it. "What's under there?" I told her I didn't know as it was like that when I moved in. She eyed me suspiciously as if I were lying and possibly hiding the bodies of the previous owners. I got a lecture about my trash bags in the kitchen, even though I told her I hadn't taken them out yet because the new girl used my can for her crap. "Use someone else's, " she told me. "They're all full!" I countered. She told me some men were coming by to do yard work and they will take all the full cans out to the street, so I should just find one that's not as full and use it. Then I got the Mom talk about how if I were a better housekeeper I'd feel better about myself and it's good for my health.
All in all, it was the usual Frau visit. It was pretty nice of her to come over at 10:30 on Passover, but honestly, it's her responsibility as the landlord. I'm glad we got it over with and that Jess got to see her. It's better than a Bigfoot sighting.
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