One Year of Home Ownership
Last weekend, I hit my one-year anniversary of home ownership. Until yesterday, it was good. Then the water happened.
First, Pete, carpool driver for the day, forgot me, leaving me stranded at work. I took the Connector (Microsoft's superb employee bus service), but to get to the pickup stop, had to slog through gushing rain. I was soaked when I reached the bus stop. Ironically, I took my umbrella out of my bag that morning, thinking that it was too much dead weight.
Then, a few hours later, while talking on the phone, I heard a weird dripping noise. It took me a few minutes to realize that it wasn't nature, but inside my home. Drat, I thought. The damn windows are leaking again. Then I realized that the sound was coming from the bathroom. Water was pouring out of the ceiling fan. My home had turned into the final chapter of Solaris.
As a positive, I met my upstairs neighbors, who are very nice and friendly. We think we've figured out the problem, which while it's going to need to be fixed, isn't one of those "uh-oh, we can't use the shower for days and days" types of problems.
All night, I dreamed the sounds of gushing water. That may have been the real rain, playing with my dreams.
This morning, halfway through my shower, the water suddenly stopped draining. For. No. Reason. Whatsoever. Jiggling the plug did nothing. Now, I own a plunger and half a bottle of highly corrosive and toxic drain unclogging agent. It turns out that dropping little nubs of soap down the drain is not a good idea; we theorized that the little bit of thin bar that I dropped yesterday wedged itself horizontally in the drain, the perfect size to completely block all water flow.
Is it just me, or has water been a theme over the past 24 hours?
My brother and sister-in-law had planned an outdoor wedding, but at the last minute, moved inside because of dark and menacing clouds. That was a wise decision, because we could hear the mad pounding of raindrops throughout the entire ceremony. I remember the rabbi saying that in the Judaic tradition, water is a sign of luck, happiness, success.
Hmmm...
About the lack of blogging. I have sooo much to write about, and I don't know when it's going to get done. Really, it's been work. I've been on a project that has stretched for eons, and lately, has caused me so much gray hair and angst and upset, that bad feelings have spilled over into all parts of my life. Things have been better over the past week, in part because my very understanding manager, who realized just how bad it has been when I said, "I have not been this bitter and cynical about anything related to work since I left IDC", made an executive decision that I am to transition off as soon as possible. Happy days will soon return.
Perhaps the water is bringing good tidings.