Today, the toilet got fixed for real. This was the third visit from a repairman, and this guy finally just installed a whole, new, shiny, metal hose. Hoorah.
However, the garage door failed for the 3rd day in a row, for a completely new reason: It was frozen to the ground. So, when you pressed the button and it tried to open, the ceiling runner would bend and groan and started ripping off the walls. So, I stopped pushing the button, and called Maintenance, a little wide-eyed.
They were not sympathetic.
"Well, we're not sure when we can get to you--"
"Oh, uhm, I'm trying to GO somewhere and I kinda can't leave my house until you--"
"Ok, well maybe we can get you in today? We just had an emergency call from another resident."
"Well, my garage door runner just ripped partially off the ceiling."
*long pause* "Ok, we'll do you second," he conceded.
I smiled weakly, recalculating my day while dragging Little One back out of her carseat. "Thanks."
"Will you be home during the next two hours?"
*my own long pause* "Uhm, yes. Evidently, I can't leave. Because the garage door--"
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah - ok, we'll be there as soon as we can."
I hung up, chuckled, and thought, "Morons!" Then chided myself for silent name-calling.
The Maintenance Dudes are actually quite a bit more competent than their dispatcher. So they told me to boil some water, (my gosh, are we having a baby?!) and then we poured tubfuls down the front and back of my garage door to free us. It was quite simple, and I could have done it myself. I could not, however, have re-rigged the tension and cables and chains that got messed up when I first pushed the button.
So we were all hanging out in the garage for quite a while. I couldn't resist asking, "Don't you have best practices for this? I mean, what do the bases up in Alaska do? It's much colder there - do their garage doors all freeze shut?"
"Dunno. We don't make a lot of long-distance calls to find out. Too 'spensive."
Life is humor.
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