*sings* Raindrops keep falling on my bed...

Unlike most stories that involve a wet spot on one's bed, this one isn't about personal shame and embarrassment - which makes it a unique entry for this blog as well!

That wet spot appeared a few weeks ago, prompting me to completely flip out. It is not supposed to rain indoors! My feeble mind couldn't process it! What followed was chaos, as I dragged everyone around me into a panic as well.

My poor upstairs neighbor was dragged home from a social outing because the obvious guess was something in his apartment was leaking. He couldn't find anything, and suggested it was condensation in my AC vent. Ok, so all I had to do was turn off the AC for a while and wait for the handyman to arrive and fix it. Not hard, until I realized I now live in the south, which spends half the year actively on fire.

But I did it. I survived until the repair crew arrived. In my bedroom. At 9am. On my day off. With me still asleep. Since I hadn't answered the door, the building's maintenance man assumed I wasn't in and used his key. Awkward situation for everyone! Still, the fixing was happening. Yay! Life was perfect again!

So, yeah, it started leaking again. Harder than before. (Good thing I hadn't moved my bed back into position yet.) This time the maintenance guy cut a hole in my ceiling to get a look at the cause. It was definitely not my AC that was the culprit, so cool air resumed! The water was coming from up above. Once again my upstairs neighbor got questioned. Once again, no leak was found. I was left with a hole in my ceiling and a ladder in my bedroom, so I could get up in there the next time a leak started and see what was going down. That... that was kinda cool. I kinda looked forward to the next leak.

Last night, the water began to flow again. Once again, pans had to be laid out to collect water. At his point, my one pan had grown to three needed to catch all the drips. As it was the middle of the night, I wasn't about to call anyone. I slept on my couch - again - knowing I was gonna have to ruin someone's Mothers Day in the morning.

Woke up late. Checked the room. Didn't look like any new water. Took a shower. Emerged to a DELUGE! Water was coming down fast and furious. Three pans could only handle the main leak. New dripping spots were forming elsewhere on the ceiling, so this became a full-on five-pan leak!

I sent a tentative text to the maintenance guy. He was out of town, as expected. Texted my upstairs neighbor again, asking if anything new was going on. He was baffled that this was still going on, again asking if it was my AC. I told him the hole in the ceiling proved that wasn't the cause, and that promptly brought him down for a look. I think he was impressed by the calamity!

Seeing how the water was dripping down from high up, he returned to his apartment to make one more check for a cause. This time... guess what? He spotted a cold water pipe that was leaking like crazy. WE FOUND THE CAUSE! He shut off the water. The dripping stopped. Plans for repair are now underway. Life is good. All things now return to normal.

Well, not all things...

The apartment tour

Wow, I totally spaced on getting this post up. I apologize. For those who care, enjoy the before and after photos of my new apartment. I'll *try* to do a grad school first impression post either tomorrow or Thursday.

But anyway, enjoy the tour!

I'll start by giving a basic layout, as best as I can explain. (I should have sketched a floor plan, but whatever.) When you enter, you are in the skinny, teeny kitchen, which is the hall the connects everything.



I don't have a "before" shot of this, because how much difference is there really? Do note the brand new fridge, obtained after the first two were duds. I love it muchly! Fridge aside, there's nothing too fancy here.

Moving on! Upon entering my apartment, if you look to the left you will see... the master bedroom! It's the biggest room in the joint:



Oooh. Ahhh. But, yanno what? I don't want it to be my bedroom! It's right next to the hall and you can hear every bit of movement. My goal for having this spiffy place so close to the Sequential Art building is for it to become a bit of a place to hang out. Thus, I declare this room to be the ENTERTAINMENT ROOM!





...and the studio, since I quickly found out that the original studio room was devoid of entertainment. I need something on TV to distract the stupid part of my brain while I work, so in goes the drafting table and lightbox!

These photos are already dated, as I have since hooked up my video games (to never be used!) and installed a futon, WHICH WAS THE HARDEST THING EVER TO DO THAT WASN'T GRAD SCHOOL RELATED.

Anyway, this entertainment room is off on its own, so we walk back to the kitchen and follow the path to the LIVING ROOM!



This was originally the studio, but that window proved less than entertaining. So what was I to do with it?





Welcome to the I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS room! It contains my library, the closet I constructed (as the apartment came closet-free) and the beloved sexagon coffee table. It will still fill its original studio role for when I (finally) get back to painting.

Anyway, once in this room, if you hang a left you reach what was meant to be the second bedroom - but I've bumped it up to number one!


How could I resist the lone shelf in the place? A BED MUST GO BENEATH IT!



Ta-dah! The bedroom has proven nice and cozy. The only downside is if I play music (softly, so as not to disturb anyone upstairs), I might not be able to hear anyone knocking on the front door. Eh, if they need me they'll knock louder. I *like* my bedroom.

And, finally, if you had taken a right in the whatever-it-is room, you would reach my tiny bathroom. It is a bathroom, and I probably shouldn't have ended my tour with it, but HERE WE ARE!

There, you now have experienced my apartment life in pictures. Your life is better for it.