we have a leak!

"we have a leak!"

no. we have a f l o o d.

a casual tuesday night. the jazz game is on downstairs. kasey is watching with her fiancee, preston. nigel has come over to eat banana bread and visit-- we're sitting on my yellow bed. kim and sachi are in their respective rooms.

bounding up the stairs comes kasey exclaiming, "we have a leak!"

we discovered, it was not a leak.
the carpet outside the laundry room was rapidly turning a darker shade of blue. flinging open the door we splashed into a good inch of water on the linolium and discovered water still pouring into the already underwater machine. quickly shutting it off, we fledged into work.
sachi called aspen ridge to obtain the emergency maintenance number.
because this is an emergency.
they don't answer! she calls again and leaves a semi-frantic message.

who doesn't answer an emergency number?! emergencies don't occur 9-5 people!

downstairs kasey has placed bowls beneath the waterfalls flowing from holes in the ceiling. we are worried the roof might cave in.  her and preston moved the couch and table {saving my laptop and textbooks, thank heavens} to spare more water damage.

we have gathered buckets and bowls.  after throwing down towels and dirty laundry to sop up the soapy water we begin the assembly line of emptying water from the brimming machine into the toilet and tub. we wring out kim's soaking clothes and pack a laundry basket full for her to take to the "laundromat" next door.

finally maintenance man comes. he takes a look at the disaster, nods his head, and says, "i can't do much else here".
we all look at one another exasperated and chuckle. well.... what now?

carpet man came to survey the damage. turns out, it was a lot of water damage--to the carpet, the underlayment, the walls... he ripped up carpet and cut out a bundle of foam. we left gigantic fans on all night to air out the water.

there's other men here now trying to fix this whole mess.

i think the entire thing is hilarious. it retrospect it turned out to be a great bonding experience for my new roommates and i. fortunately we're all cool under pressure.

at the conclusion of the eventful night kim said, "well becky, welcome to 217!" with a smile.