If it’s not one drama, it’s another

This was supposed to be a blog post about me doing a retro thing yesterday – getting a COVID-19 booster shot.

I like to create the occasional air of mystery around myself, so I will tell you why I got a booster shot another time.

I don’t imagine many people my age or younger are getting COVID-19 booster shots these days. I expect I will feel a bit off today, though my arm hurts way less than it did after my flu jab.

Can you believe we lived through a pandemic? It feels like a lifetime ago.

Anyways, as I was walking back into the apartment block I noticed a big pool of water on the path and substantial amounts of water trickling down the side of the building.

Oh dear, I thought, that doesn’t look good.

I banged on the door of the apartment that seemed to be the source of the water, but no one answered. I put my ear to the door and could hear the sound of gushing water inside.

Oh dear, I thought, that doesn’t sound good.

I don’t know the tenants who live in that apartment or the owners of the one below, so I wasn’t quite sure what to do next.

In the end, I called a more adulty adult, Wendy, who used to run the apartment block’s strata committee before wisely deciding to sell up, move away and rent instead.

While it was no longer her problem, Wendy kindly suggested ringing the strata manager. After an anxious wait I was put through to him. He sprang into action, organised an emergency plumber and called the tenant. Meanwhile Wendy contacted the lower apartment’s owner and gave her the bad news.

Bless you, Wendy.

When the tenant came home, I knocked on their door to check everything was ok. I could hear splashing sounds as he walked to answer the door.

That didn’t sound good.

When he opened the door and I could see a lake behind him on the tiled floor. Eeeek.

The emergency plumber arrived and informed the strata manager that the hot water service had blown up. The strata manager let me know this was the apartment owner’s problem. An expensive problem, I would guess.

It was a bit of a wake-up call for me as I have a weird fire-alarm style thing on my hot water service that starts beeping madly once a year when its batteries go flat.

I consistently forget about the existence of the fire alarm thingy and wander around the apartment feeling confused in the middle of the night wondering what the hell is making that infernal beeping noise before finally remembering and removing the dead batteries to shut it up.

Sometimes it will take me a week or two to remember to put new batteries in.

I think the fire alarm thingy is an anti-flood valve and I now understand how important it is.

I will be much more vigilant moving forward about replacing those batteries.

The two flooded apartments were in darkness last night, with the residents evacuated and industrial fans whirring inside.

Messy. But it was a good thing I was working from home yesterday and spotted it.

Song of the day: Richard Clapton “Deep water”