Wednesday, July 24, 2013

This is reality, Greg.

I don't know if you remember the movie E.T.? Apparently it just played at Screen on the Green, and it would've been a delight to sit outside and watch it.

And I bring it up because our house has gotten very E.T. towards the end, when the Feds discover that Eliot has an alien at his house and they quarantine it and cover it in plastic and there are all these tubes and machines and such.

You know, I know how that movie ends, and still I sob when it looks like he's going to die, and I get all panicked when they are trying to escape. I do not know why this is, but it is so.

In any case.
That's the second floor room that India used to sleep in, which the elevator goes through. The part of the closet that hasn't fallen in or been pulled off will basically be ripped out. We're hoping the floor isn't ruined. We've already thrown out half the closet contents and are washing or dry cleaning the rest.

The photo below is Betty's room. Thankfully, she's visiting Maude's parents. Because she wouldn't be able to get to the elevator. And you can't use the stairs, because they're blocked off on the ground floor (top picture).

We have a plastic areas on every floor, and gigantor fans and dehumidifiers that suck 16 gallons of water per hour! This I find very impressive, I don't know why.

I have lots more pictures I was going to post, but then I was like, do they need to see every damn room and hallway with plastic and tubing and a big water sucky machine?

Anyway. Let me sum up.

Some of you may recall how we moved in just over four years ago and immediately commenced construction and really only got done with indoor construction, what, right before India was born?

I mean, now Jordan is almost four and has basically grown up with Australian Builder and Hector Big Wood.

So. We went away for five days. Last Wednesday to Sunday. We so rarely go away, almost never for that long.  But we did. All of us. We went to Nick's work retreat, and Betty went to Vermont.

And during that time, the AC on the fourth floor backed up and flooded. Soaked through the floor, through the wall, through my mom's closet, through what used to be the nursery closet (which, being one of our only closets, was packed to the gills with coats, comforter, clothes, stuff), through another wall, through the dining room ceiling, and down to the dining room floor.

Water turns out to be very terrible, even if it's not a tsunami. Fuckity fuck, basically. It is a giant fucking disaster.

That said, nothing bad befell any of us, and honestly, it's only money and stuff and a big hassle. We have too much stuff. But we can always use more hassle.

Also, everyone we have dealt with, except the initial claims people, who were the ones who broke the news about how our agent snuck in a whopping deductible, has been lovely. Totally professional and very pleasant. The appraiser and all the water mitigation people have been fantastic.

Which is good, because they've spent a lot of time with us lately, and it doesn't look like their visits are going to end anytime soon. The asbestos-checker arrives at 7:00 am tomorrow, the water mitigation fellows arrive around 10:00.

So, basically, I'll...be....right...here.

(I love E.T. Love. Makes me cry every time.)

14 comments:

  1. So, when I first saw the photo, I was totally going to say something about E.T., then thought it might be bad timing. Ahem.

    *Hugs*

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  2. I've only seen E.T. once, in the theater, when I was a kid. I don't think I cried then. I'm sure I'll cry my head off when I see it with my kids.

    That agent was not just sneaky but evil. Gross. Glad everyone else has been good. Interesting times!

    And I, too, cannot wait to hear more about all the other big changes. And glad to see you back here! And glad to hear J's on more of an even keel these days. I think after the truly terrible threes, each year is easier, maybe up until they're teenagers? I don't know, just what seems to be for us so far.

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    1. Yes. Evil. You are right.

      And I cry easily, so who knows about ET.

      I hope that's true, because he is just lovely, and such a contrast to terrible two and three. I hope we have a lot of years of this joy.

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  3. Wow. Fuckity Fuck sounds about right. Hope your new SAHM mom gig is at least giving you some extra time to deal with the hassle. Curious to hear that story too!

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    1. Yes! It's very good that I can be home right now because we've had so many people in and out and calls to make and such.

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  4. I am so sorry to hear about this. We have endured both a flood and a fire over the last two years and the insurance people from the "disaster" team were fantastic to deal with. I was amazed at how quickly teams of people were pulled together to take care of things, from clothes cleaning to fan installation. I can still see my basement gutted down to the studs and not thinking it would ever be the same, but it got done.

    I am glad everyone is ok....it gives the kids a good story someday...it is just stuff.......and the humidifiers ARE cool.

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    1. Oh, Delo, I didn't know. That is awful. So awful. Your amazing basement down to the studs! Ugh! I'm glad all of you are fine and that your lovely home returned to normal.

      They are cool but now on day three the noise is completely driving me out of my mind. We are heading out soon.

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  5. GAH! Bad A/C! I hate water leaks...they're so insidious. The Lawyer's downstairs neighbor complained that his ceiling was wet, which meant a full CSI investigation in The Lawyer's condo to figure out the source. Basically, $ for both units. On the upside, does Jordan think that all of the plastic sheeting everywhere is super fun?

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    1. Yes, water leaks are extraordinary. Turns out water doesn't take a direct path. It's so sneaky! And relentless! Nick's upstairs neighbor in his condo never cleaned his AC and so it would drip into Nick's place.

      Jordan is kind of indifferent to it, and I'm glad. He thinks the machines are cool, but doesn't need to mess with them. Thank goodness. India has gotten used to them as well.

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  6. OH. Lordy. Have I been there. Not me physically, but I did enjoy the 3:30am wake up call in Northern California when my husband called me panicking after our toilet tank cracked and began leaking water into the bathroom, closet, and rest of the bedroom. He woke up to a dripping noise, walked toward our bathroom, and halfway there hit water. Ours sounds like child's play in comparison. You've got the best attitude (the only one really that's helpful) in noting that you and the family are fine and the rest of it is just stuff. But, FUCKING HELL, it is a pain in the ass.

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    1. Oh, no! So lucky that he was home and woke up and caught it. It would've been SO much worse in a few hours! Ugh!

      My attitude is deteriorating. I'm going out of my mind with the mess and the NOISE DEAR GOD THE NOISE! Hopefully when they check them today they will say that the downstairs one can be taken out. I'm doubtful, though, as it seems there's still a decent amount of water going through the tubes.

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  7. I feel your pain! I came home from the annual meeting to find my sunroom ceiling completely collapsed because of my neighbor's HVAC. So so very tired = lots of tears. They claimed to have been hearing a drip, drip, drip but was told it was nothing. I'm finally settling with their insurance and getting it fixed. Not to the same scale, but still a pain in the rear. The residual water is now coming through my neighbor below me......sucks for them!

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  8. Finally catching up on old emails and reading this and hoping that the machines are gone, the plastic is starting to come down and your sanity is being restored. Love you and so sorry this happened. Like the others, super curious for the back stories, but mainly worried for you. XOXOXOXO

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