Wednesday, August 14, 2013

As I said, "I have no endings"

Yesterday I was ironing shirts in the kitchen.  It was hot, so I went to the refrigerator for some Diet Coke.  I looked down and there is water everywhere.  Water in front of the refrigerator, between it and the compactor, between the compactor and the recycling bin, and water headed for the backdoor.  It had to be the line to the icemaker on the refrigerator. That is the only water on that side of the kitchen.  I couldn't move the compactor or the refrigerator to check.  I grab towels and start building a dam.

Backstory:  We paid the landlord's handyman to hook up the icemaker line three months ago.  After he left, we realized he had sealed the wall back up and we couldn't get to the water shut off valves.  Marty called him and asked him to come open the wall up and fix it so we could get to the valves in case of a leak.  He never came back.  We now have a leak.

Then I sent Marty a text to come home. No response.  I called him, no response.  I sent another text.  By this time I have lost it.  I am mad, worried and totally pissed.  I know how to turn off a valve, but I don't have a saw to get to it.  Marty calls me back.  I am a total bitch, he is his icy calm self.  The call did not go well. 

I call the landlord to get the handyman's (S) number.  He will contact S for us and send him out.

Meanwhile the flood stopped.  No new water.  The towels are holding.  I pick Marty up at BART.  When we get home he pulls out the appliances.  Marty checked connections and tightened them  We run the icemaker and the water on the refrigerator over and over, no leaks. 

It was hours later and several calls to the landlord and him calling the handyman before S shows up.  He cuts into the wall and puts in a removable patch over the shut off valves.  It has been around 8 hours and no more leaking.  We were lucky that the water stopped leaking.  I guess we would have bought a saw and made a hole in the wall ourselves if it hadn't stopped. In that time we could have had major damage to our apartment and the one under us.

Now the questions are what was leaking, why was it leaking, why did it stop leaking, is it going to happen again?

I have no endings.

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