Car trouble and fire engines...
...since it seems like I don't write about anything else in this journal lately.
Car trouble first...
deskitty was down visiting this weekend, and he and netolu were going to meet me in Morro Bay for lunch on Saturday. I left to run a quick errand before joining them, only to lose power steering and have the battery warning light (read: alternator not connected) go on. Since I was fairly close, I limped the car into Villa Automotive and discovered that the tensioner for my serpentine belt had gone and needed to be replaced. Thankfully, they found one and had me up and running just in time to make it to Minna that evening.
Then come the fire trucks...
Monday afternoon around 3, I get a call on my cell... from the fire department... suggesting that I get home as soon as possible, because the fire sprinkler in my kitchen had malfunctioned and flooded my apartment.
I quickly learn an object lesson on why I should have gotten to the "get renter's insurance" item on my to do list for this summer a little earlier, since I have to make arrangements for moving my stuff out to dry/store while the apartment is fixed (not to mention replacing anything that's trashed -- I don't know the full extent of that yet).
I call my parents (Dad's a Risk Manager and so good at thinking clearly during emergencies) and they find a casualty restoration company in the phone book, who comes by and gives me an estimate (non-binding) of around $2300 to move my stuff out, dry it off, store it, and bring it back when I can move back in. That sounds a little high, so I talk to the other company that comes out for restoration of the building (paid for by my landlord's insurance)... I take their offer of around $1700, and they start moving my stuff out and tearing out the carpet/linoleum/drywall/etc that was damaged by thousands of gallons of water looking for somewhere to go.
They finally finished tearing out the damage yesterday and are continuing to dry the place out over the weekend before beginning reconstruction on Monday. I need to talk to the person doing the reconstruction on Monday, but I would guess it will be another week or so until I can move back in.
In the meantime I've been staying with my boss, his wife, and their rabbits (working for an incredibly small company has some benefits). That's been ok so far, but understandably a bit weird so I'm looking for a place to stay for the rest of the time if anyone has any good ideas.
On the good news front, both of my computer towers were fairly dry so I left them alone/unplugged for a few days and finally booted them back up last night. I wouldn't be surprised if the monitors/keyboard/printer/etc don't work when I get them back, but the computers themselves are fine, and I'm doing a full backup of them right now just in case...
Car trouble first...
deskitty was down visiting this weekend, and he and netolu were going to meet me in Morro Bay for lunch on Saturday. I left to run a quick errand before joining them, only to lose power steering and have the battery warning light (read: alternator not connected) go on. Since I was fairly close, I limped the car into Villa Automotive and discovered that the tensioner for my serpentine belt had gone and needed to be replaced. Thankfully, they found one and had me up and running just in time to make it to Minna that evening.
Then come the fire trucks...
Monday afternoon around 3, I get a call on my cell... from the fire department... suggesting that I get home as soon as possible, because the fire sprinkler in my kitchen had malfunctioned and flooded my apartment.
I quickly learn an object lesson on why I should have gotten to the "get renter's insurance" item on my to do list for this summer a little earlier, since I have to make arrangements for moving my stuff out to dry/store while the apartment is fixed (not to mention replacing anything that's trashed -- I don't know the full extent of that yet).
I call my parents (Dad's a Risk Manager and so good at thinking clearly during emergencies) and they find a casualty restoration company in the phone book, who comes by and gives me an estimate (non-binding) of around $2300 to move my stuff out, dry it off, store it, and bring it back when I can move back in. That sounds a little high, so I talk to the other company that comes out for restoration of the building (paid for by my landlord's insurance)... I take their offer of around $1700, and they start moving my stuff out and tearing out the carpet/linoleum/drywall/etc that was damaged by thousands of gallons of water looking for somewhere to go.
They finally finished tearing out the damage yesterday and are continuing to dry the place out over the weekend before beginning reconstruction on Monday. I need to talk to the person doing the reconstruction on Monday, but I would guess it will be another week or so until I can move back in.
In the meantime I've been staying with my boss, his wife, and their rabbits (working for an incredibly small company has some benefits). That's been ok so far, but understandably a bit weird so I'm looking for a place to stay for the rest of the time if anyone has any good ideas.
On the good news front, both of my computer towers were fairly dry so I left them alone/unplugged for a few days and finally booted them back up last night. I wouldn't be surprised if the monitors/keyboard/printer/etc don't work when I get them back, but the computers themselves are fine, and I'm doing a full backup of them right now just in case...