It's gonna be legend - wait for it -
You ever have one of those days when the place you end up is not the place you ever imagined it would be?
Last night (was it just last night?) at 11:23pm (according to the alarm system, but I thought it was more like 11), some drunken idiot thought it might be fun to bust open the pressure valve on a pipe in the fourth floor stairwell.
It rained.
For almost forty-five minutes it poured water into the building while the residents (the ones who weren't out at the pub) stood outside in the cold and the security personnel tried to shut off the water. Some thrilling heroics by one of the RLCs got it stopped, and then we waited for an electrician to come and turn off the alarm. And then we waited for the Facilities Maintenance team to make sure the building wasn't too dangerous. And then, finally, we got to go inside.
Not to stay, no. To pack an overnight bag because half of the apartments were being "evacuated" to the Maritime Inn for the night. Including ours, which was "condemned". But! We only had a bit of water damage in the ceilings and around the light fixtures. The apartment next to ours . . . well, remember that scene in Jumangi where the house turned into a rainforest swamp? Yeah, it was like that.
We were settled into the hotel at around 2am, and I got to sleep around 4:30. Woken up by 11 and told that we had to check out and a car was coming to collect us. We were then told that we had to pack a small bag for a few days and clean our stuff up so it doesn't get covered in dust from the renovations, we'd be temporarily housed in Coady MacNeil. It's an empty residence building that's one of the ones up for a massive overhaul. But we didn't have rooms assigned, so we just sat in the kitchen of the new building and waited to be told where to go.
At 4pm (three hours after we were shipped to Coady MacNeil), all the building residents were gathered for the official update. There are twelve apartments in our building, and three of them weren't relocated. The building needs massive renovations before it's liveable again. We have all, 27 people in total, have been relocated to Coady MacNeil for the duration.
Which, at a hopeful estimate, is four weeks.
Then the fun started! At 5:30 I called in the cavalry, and at 5:40 the cavalry arrived to help us pack. Everything. Everything we need for a month, and everything else. It all had to be in cupboards or the back closets. My room, and electronic_emo's, are probably not going to be touched by the construction so we could use them as storage. There was a big truck available for us and a couple nice old guys schleping stuff on and off for us. The three of us have been working on a "no man left behind" policy all weekend, I'm really glad we have. We've gotten everything done quick and efficient (four cavalry really helped), and we were a truck-unloading machine when we finally got to Coady MacNeil with all our stuff. We had a system going. Truck guys carried in, I brought it to the elevator, handed it to Mitch, Mitch rode up two stories, handed it to Maddie, Maddie schlepped it down to our new abode.
The suite is a lie.
They said "suite" which apparently means "double room with semi-private bathroom". The suite is a lie!
We paid our helpers in groceries. Got a big load of groceries in anticipation of a semester of eating at home and cooking healthy. Not living out of a tiny bar fridge and eating at meal hall again.
The fourth roommate is home for the weekend. She never showed up. We called her three times to let her know what's going on. Somehow, I think my reaction to "Our building's flooded, we're being evacuated" would be more along the lines of "I'll be there in forty minutes" and less "I might be there today. Maybe tomorrow". I would not be surprised if she sends her parents to pack up. I don't know what about "As of tonight, our home is a construction zone" means "take your sweet time about getting here".
Maybe I'm just a little pissed because we've had a shitty weekend and she's been at home with her parents doing everything for her.
It's still up in the air as to whether or not she's actually going to move into Coady MacNeil or just commute (and by "commute" I mean "have her parents drive her back and forth to class every day from forty minutes away").
All the walls are marked, the ones that are coming down. Ceiling's being replaced. It still hasn't entirely sunk in. It's all surreal still. Working my ass off to pack and move and unpack, and my hands are all gritty and dusty, and I really just don't know what to say.
Oh yeah.
- dary.
Last night (was it just last night?) at 11:23pm (according to the alarm system, but I thought it was more like 11), some drunken idiot thought it might be fun to bust open the pressure valve on a pipe in the fourth floor stairwell.
It rained.
For almost forty-five minutes it poured water into the building while the residents (the ones who weren't out at the pub) stood outside in the cold and the security personnel tried to shut off the water. Some thrilling heroics by one of the RLCs got it stopped, and then we waited for an electrician to come and turn off the alarm. And then we waited for the Facilities Maintenance team to make sure the building wasn't too dangerous. And then, finally, we got to go inside.
Not to stay, no. To pack an overnight bag because half of the apartments were being "evacuated" to the Maritime Inn for the night. Including ours, which was "condemned". But! We only had a bit of water damage in the ceilings and around the light fixtures. The apartment next to ours . . . well, remember that scene in Jumangi where the house turned into a rainforest swamp? Yeah, it was like that.
We were settled into the hotel at around 2am, and I got to sleep around 4:30. Woken up by 11 and told that we had to check out and a car was coming to collect us. We were then told that we had to pack a small bag for a few days and clean our stuff up so it doesn't get covered in dust from the renovations, we'd be temporarily housed in Coady MacNeil. It's an empty residence building that's one of the ones up for a massive overhaul. But we didn't have rooms assigned, so we just sat in the kitchen of the new building and waited to be told where to go.
At 4pm (three hours after we were shipped to Coady MacNeil), all the building residents were gathered for the official update. There are twelve apartments in our building, and three of them weren't relocated. The building needs massive renovations before it's liveable again. We have all, 27 people in total, have been relocated to Coady MacNeil for the duration.
Which, at a hopeful estimate, is four weeks.
Then the fun started! At 5:30 I called in the cavalry, and at 5:40 the cavalry arrived to help us pack. Everything. Everything we need for a month, and everything else. It all had to be in cupboards or the back closets. My room, and electronic_emo's, are probably not going to be touched by the construction so we could use them as storage. There was a big truck available for us and a couple nice old guys schleping stuff on and off for us. The three of us have been working on a "no man left behind" policy all weekend, I'm really glad we have. We've gotten everything done quick and efficient (four cavalry really helped), and we were a truck-unloading machine when we finally got to Coady MacNeil with all our stuff. We had a system going. Truck guys carried in, I brought it to the elevator, handed it to Mitch, Mitch rode up two stories, handed it to Maddie, Maddie schlepped it down to our new abode.
The suite is a lie.
They said "suite" which apparently means "double room with semi-private bathroom". The suite is a lie!
We paid our helpers in groceries. Got a big load of groceries in anticipation of a semester of eating at home and cooking healthy. Not living out of a tiny bar fridge and eating at meal hall again.
The fourth roommate is home for the weekend. She never showed up. We called her three times to let her know what's going on. Somehow, I think my reaction to "Our building's flooded, we're being evacuated" would be more along the lines of "I'll be there in forty minutes" and less "I might be there today. Maybe tomorrow". I would not be surprised if she sends her parents to pack up. I don't know what about "As of tonight, our home is a construction zone" means "take your sweet time about getting here".
Maybe I'm just a little pissed because we've had a shitty weekend and she's been at home with her parents doing everything for her.
It's still up in the air as to whether or not she's actually going to move into Coady MacNeil or just commute (and by "commute" I mean "have her parents drive her back and forth to class every day from forty minutes away").
All the walls are marked, the ones that are coming down. Ceiling's being replaced. It still hasn't entirely sunk in. It's all surreal still. Working my ass off to pack and move and unpack, and my hands are all gritty and dusty, and I really just don't know what to say.
Oh yeah.
- dary.