Posted 08 November 2022 - 08:01 PM
Woke up Saturday morning to find half my living room carpet was soaked through and the ceiling was cracked. Notified maintenance (which I'm loathe to do because of the pandemic, especially since they're not wearing masks and the variants now are more contagious than ever... (and seem to keeping getting more contagious than ever...)). Thought my old weatherproof boots would protect my feet but one of them had water coming in until I realized I could prevent that by walking on the heel, with the toes up in the air. Empty some plastic bins for the ceiling, dug fan and blowdryer out of storage. Expecting maintenance to come any minute all day, I kept my P100 mask on---tight enough to eventually be painful, though I did allow myself the luxury of occasionally shifting the strap.
Woke at 5:30 AM to be sure I'd have time to eat and defecate before maintenance might arrived---but first shaved and got my mask ready, having it nearby at all times in case they barged in. Carpet still soaked, so I moved some plastic bins to help it dry faster and saw black mold. (Not particularly worried about black mold since I've been exposed to it before without having any obvious allergic reaction or negative health consequences. Granted, there are different species, but the so-called 'toxic black mold' is apparently only toxic for people who are allergic or (apparently in some cases) who have weakened immune systems.) Had to move one of my bookshelves, but it's a backless wire bookshelf, so in order to move it without risk of books falling out I had to remove all the books (about a few hundred), check them for moisture and mold, and find places to put them. Reported mold to maintenance. Looked up whether using a fan is a bad idea when there's mold---answer apparently yes (thankfully I had turned the fan off overnight, lest the neighbors complain about the noise, so it wasn't on when I uncovered the mold). Was pretty sure maintenance would arrive promptly to deal with the mold before it spread, but no. Considered using white vinegar, bleach, or the bleachless mold removal spray I have, but was concerned apartment manager or maintenace might object---in retrospect I should have asked them. Though again I was expecting them any second. Nothing. Realized I'd probably have to move all the furniture from the damp half of the carpet, but the furniture had a ton of stuff on it (mostly electronics, musical instruments, etc.). Started doing that.
Hadn't cleaned or dusted in a long time, got concerned I might get a threat of eviction or a fine (happened once before) for not keeping my apartment clean enough so I started dusting and scrubbing. Noticed black specks in the water and started worrying it could be feces until I looked closer. A few years ago one of my meditation cushions---I read that it was good to get a special sort of traditional meditation cushion that's filled with buckwheat iirc---broke, and the filling turned out to be tiny black particles which the cat proceeded to scatter all over the apartment. So that's what they were. But I was worried maintenance might mistake them for feces and insist that I throw out the furniture. So I was obsessively trying to sweep them up---frequently having to pick them up with my fingers, one by one.
Maintenance still didn't come. Thought they probably wanted to find and stop the leaks before entering, worried they might want to wait until it started leaking again. But since it was coming in through the bottom of the wall, not just the ceiling, plastic bins wouldn't be enough... and a second leak of similar magnitude could have soaked the other half of my living room, including my large sectional sofa. So I started putting everything in plastic bags.
Monday came about, and the cracks in the ceiling started dripping again, so I put down plastic bins and notified maintenance as it was happening. Really thought they'd arrive promptly this time. No, of course not. They arrived a few hours later, about an hour before I had set a reminder to order same day delivery for one of the top recommended mold removers and scrub brush sets to get rid of as much of the mold as I could myself. Turned out they had already taken care of the leak through the bottom of the wall, and set to investigating the ceiling. Thankfully they think they've found it. They said they'd use fans to dry out the wall and carpet---when I asked about the fans spreading mold, they said they'd treat it first and that it wouldn't be a concern. Hope they're right. They also claimed they have a water extractor that will be able to take care of the carpet without having to pull it up all through the affected area and use a fan on the pads. Left two fans blaring.
Said they'd be back early this afternoon. After 3 pm now and I'm still waiting.
Pennsylvania website says the ballot I mailed in a few weeks ago still hasn't been received. I'd considered walking a mile and a half to the nearest drop box after my elderly mother told me about people stealing checks from Philadelphia mail boxes, but thought the risk of it getting stolen or lost in the mail was astronomically low, plus I didn't want to exacerbate my toe injury, so I just mailed it. Philadelphia released a list of people who had filled out their ballots incorrectly and who had the opportunity to correct them, but I wasn't on it. Tried searching for what to do if you mail the ballot and it gets lost in the mail---only found results for what to do if the ballot gets lost in the mail en route to you. Could try calling the hotline but would almost certainly be on hold for hours, possibly not get through. Guess I could try to file a provisional ballot... and possibly then get charged with voter fraud. It's possible that it's an error on the website, or that they simply haven't gone through all the ballots they've received---thought maybe it was because Pennsylvania law forbids them from opening mail-in ballots until election day, but other people have been getting notifications their ballots were received.
If it was lost in the mail (or stolen), hopefully there aren't many more people who that's happened to... especially in Democratic strongholds like Philadelphia.
(Today is election day, so I have until the polls close to cast a provisional ballot....)
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