2004 rolled in and things were going alright, with the exception of it being a cold, cold winter that year and it was freezing in my apartment, kind of like walking into a meat locker.The trouble with my apartment’s heater was that it was archaic, one of those old-fashioned beaters that one needed to turn on the gas and then light up, but since the wind came through a small pipe, it would blow out the gas 99 percent of the time, meaning I was unable to light up the heater for 99 percent of the winter.
As a result, the floors were frozen solid. Cold to the touch like an unidentified dead body lying on a slab in the Cook County Medical Examiner’s morgue. I chose not to complain, because I didn’t want to deal with the landlady anymore than I had to and usually my apartment problems fell on deaf ears anyway, so there was no need to bother.
My pipes within the bathroom sink, shower and sink also froze from time to time.
I opted for another choice instead; two pairs of socks on my feet nightly, a winter cap on my head, gloves on my hands and at least four blankets to cover me. I even bought a large stuffed pizza once a week to act as a disposable heater in order to keep myself warm; one had to be very creative in such conditions, as this cold and sometimes sub-zero temperatures inside the apartment, dragged on for the entire winter.
By the time the spring came I vowed to never live through something like this again. But in the spring and up through the end of summer, I encountered a new problem, spring and summer flooding and wouldn’t you know it? There was a rainstorm every single week from the beginning of spring to the end of summer and of course, the house was situated right smack dab in the middle of a flood plain!
In total, there must have been 20 floods, perhaps more and that’s no exaggeration! Just ask the fellows that helped me move out of this mush-pit, but I am getting ahead of myself for the moment…
1 comment:
it's a wonder you came out whole , or did you?
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