Tuesday was a long day at work. On entering my apartment car park I noticed water on the concrete and water pouring from the ceiling onto cars below. The area roughly coincided with where my apartment is above. I immediately had very dark thoughts. Did I leave a tap running, was the toilet leaking, was the washing machine leaking… I parked my car and raced up the stairs, at least I tried to but the carpet covering the stairs was soaked and there was water flowing. I opened my apartment door and was confronted with water across the floor and over the tiles in the kitchen area. I quickly took my shoes and socks off to look in the laundry and bathroom. Everything was fine. I walked out my door and noticed a fire hydrant in the services well was on and flowing. I turned it off and noticed the outer door was open; on walking outside there was a man in a high visibility fluorescent shirt. He was a plumber. I asked him if he knew what was going on. He said someone on the second floor had turned on the fire hose and when they tried to turn it off the faucet broke and the flow could not be stopped. I asked why the hydrant was open on my floor and he explained it needed to be open to prevent back flow to the upper floors. The plumber was waiting out the front for a delivery of spare parts because local hardware stores didn’t have the right parts to fix the hydrant. He had been waiting for an emergency store to be opened. I expect he couldn’t turn the water off to the entire complex so let the water run. The down side was that water flowed through my apartment.

I went back to my apartment to try to clean up and prevent any further spread and water damage. I quickly moved as much stuff as possible from the floor. Fortunately most of my personal possessions were stored off the carpet. I’m a renter so I quickly called the real estate agent so she could inform the owner. She also gave me the name of a carpet cleaner who could come out and try to prevent any further damage.

My kitchen floor covered in water.

The carpet in my doorway.

A floor fan that has been blowing since Tuesday evening.

The carpet is billowing with the force of the fan

YouTube video http://youtu.be/3U1_mdTF4nU

I didn’t get much sleep because of the fan. I needed lots of this black coffee.

This is the noise…

I worked from home today and was able to make my lunch. Sardines with red onion, ground pepper and chilli flakes along with avocado. This was inspired by a twitter friend @SunburyFi who posted last week a picture of a sardine sandwich.

The carpet care company my real estate agent suggested was Steamatic. As soon as I called they said they could come out that night and start the process. It turns out my neighbour is also with the same agent and his apartment was worse off so I waited until his place had been attended to before mine got started. The process begins with lifting the carpet and removing the soaked underlay. A floor fan is then started and this will now blow for about four days, especially because I’m living on a concrete slab as it takes longer to dry. It was a rough sleep last night and will continue to be for the next few nights. I don’t expect the carpet to be relaid any time soon. This is such an inconvenience. I still don’t know why the dwellers above turned on the fire hose. I’d like an explanation, all I know is I’m assuming the owner has insurance and the insurance company will be paying for all the repairs. I guess though I won’t be compensated for my inconvenience.

Steamatic
Website http://www.steamaticcanberra.com.au/
Steamatic 24 hours Emergency Response:
Telephone: (02) 6242 0856, Facsimile: (02) 6262 2156, Address 2/38 Dacre Street, Mitchell ACT 2911

Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/R5d0P

I’m very grateful to friends on twitter, facebook and instagram who commented after I posted comments and images on what was happening. This is what I love about social media. I really appreciate everyone’s concern as well as the helpful suggestions on things to do. I’m especially grateful for the funny responses which did lighten my mood

Dinner tonight was good but noisy
Yummy salmon, avocado, grated fresh beetroot, celery, chilli, cucumber, Gorgonzola, ground pepper, lemon juice, lettuce, Maggie Beer quince paste, spring onion, Tabasco sauce and tomato.

Since my last post I had a relaxed Sunday and a busy first day back to work.

It’s silly I think that as soon as Christmas is over supermarkets are selling hot cross buns. I mean the buns are yummy especially when warmed in the oven and slathered with real butter. But Easter is months away.

In an attempt to avoid another broken tooth I chose a softer white bread and didn’t toast it. If you click on the image you’ll see a comment from Trish (@eatshootblog) about multigrain bread being “Dentists’ Delight”. It’s a pity because I love multigrain bread. The Maggie Beer pâté and quince paste was still good along with the Gorgonzola.

Sunday night dinner was Chicken Maryland with lettuce, Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated fresh raw beetroot, spring onion, avocado, tomato, lemon juice and herb bread served with pineapple and mint crushed ice drink.

Back to work Monday I didn’t make my own lunch. I bought a really nice brie and onion quiche from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar.

We also had a small afternoon tea for Ursula who is the branch’s executive assistant. It was Ursula’s birthday last week. The brownies in the foreground were very very nice.

Dinner was simple, some Salmon, Chinese sausage, lettuce, celery, cucumber, tomato, lemon juice and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese with fresh grated beetroot.

This week the weather predictions for Australia are extreme and next week it gets worse. The Bureau of Meteorology has altered it’s temperature modelling charts because the old scale had a maximum of 50 °C, now it is 54 °C. Monday evening was warm and when I went for a walk at around 0500 AEDT it was what I would regard as pleasant but what everyone else in Canberra felt was too hot. Tuesday was a pretty bad day across the southern parts of Australia with temperatures averaging the mid to high 40s in some areas. There were numerous spot fires and large grass fires that burnt extensive areas of land destroying homes and livestock.

Gourmet sausage roll.

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