For the past month, leaving my apartment in the morning to go to work has been an obstacle course. Our sprinklers are set on a timer, and I guess the best time to water is the same time that I'm leaving for work in the morning. My work schedule changed back in February, so I started going to work an hour earlier. The issue with the sprinkler didn't start until right after we changed for Daylight Savings Time. I figured that the timers just hadn't been reset, so I gave it about a week. No change. At that time, the sprinkler was rotating so I literally had to walk halfway down my steps, wait for the sprinkler to start moving away from the building, and take off running. So, I called my front office and politely told them about the situation. They said they would look into it immediately. After the "Great Air Conditioning Unit Disaster of 2008", my front office is pretty good about listening to my complaints. For those who don't know me or my ongoing "situation" with my apartment complex, I'll try and be brief.
Two years ago my AC unit wasn't working properly. One of the complex's maintenance men even told me that I needed a new one. Basically, there was something malfunctioning that was causing it to overheat every other day, and also MAJORLY affecting my electric bill (for those of you in Texas, this happened in June-July-August, so yeah, during our triple digit days). After going round and round with my front office (who swore up and down that a $400 electric bill was normal for an 800 sq foot apartment), I called my lawyer. It's amazing how my front office's attitude changed once they received a call from an attorney. Within 48 hours, I had a new AC unit, the apartment complex owner's personal cell phone number and free rent for a month (and a discount on the next month). The complex owner swore this was the first she had heard of the situation and was not happy how it was handled. She apologized and said to call her personally if I ever had any more problems. SIDE NOTE: I noticed about a month after I got my new AC unit, other buildings were getting new units as well (I have a picture of my old unit somewhere. It looked like the first AC unit ever built!) I have no doubt that I'm known in the front office as "The White Girl With A Lawyer". BTW, my lawyer is like my second mother, she was not going to let anyone mess with me! : )
Okay, so that wasn't brief. Anyways, back to my current situation. I talked to the complex manager and he said he would come out and take a look at it. After a week, I noticed the sprinkler no longer rotated, it just sprayed one direction. But a new problem came up. Something was causing the sidewalk to start flooding (so I either had to run through the sprinkler or wade through water). I sent a friendly email to our manager thanking him for fixing the sprinkler situation, but now the sidewalk was flooding. Last Tuesday as I was leaving for work he was actually out there observing the situation. He said he could see the problem and would make a phone call (he also complimented me on how nice I looked. I tell you, the man fears me). Thursday afternoon as I was picking up my mail, I ran into him. He said he called the landscaping company to come out and fix the flooding situation ASAP.
So, all this rambling is to basically get to this: As of this morning, the situation is not fixed. In fact, the flooding is worse. I'd like to present pictures (or as I like to call them, "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit B".) ;)
As you can see, the sprinkler is right at the bottom of my steps, there is no way to go to the left. And to the right, we have "Lake Ghetto" (as I call it).
A closer look at Lake Ghetto. I have to jump over the water (landing in mud) to get around it. This is quite a challenge when wearing 3 inch heels I might add!
So yeah, that is my "venting" for today. Thank you for listening.
Next, I would like to publically apologize to
C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers for all the ugly things I said about him last season (he blew a few saves, I got mad, we are moving past that now!) :) Anyways, he's a starting pitcher for the team this season and has done a phenomenal job! If the bull pen could have done their job, he would be 4-0 right now. But let's not go there. So, I'm sorry C.J. As of now, you are on my good list. I would have my picture taken with you if the opportunity came up. Just don't do that ridiculous looking
Fu Manchu mustache thing again! :)
C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers
And lastly, a friend sent me this cartoon today. I wanted to end my post with it (I think it's sweet):
