Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Today, Let's Mix Water and Electricity!


Well, this was a fun day. The landlord's workmen came early, and started chipping away at the concrete roof of the house. Apparently their idea was to remove some concrete in certain areas, where there seem to be low spots, and then pour patches into those same areas.

As they were working up there, it really sounded like they were trying to chop holes right through the roof. David wanted to get a hardhat out of the tool bodega, to wear around the house, just in case the ceiling fell in.

Then, we noticed that water was dripping off the light fixture in the dining room. At first, we weren't too worried. It was a little drip, clearly water draining off the roof from previous rains. But then it started raining, quite hard, and the water was just pouring down from the light! As we were moving very large containers into place to catch this large flow of water, Rachel discovered another puddle of water near the front door. We were perplexed at first, as there clearly wasn't any leak in the ceiling there. Then Rachel saw that water was flowing out of the light switch beside the door! Yikes!

We showed the problem to the workmen, and they shrugged and said that they couldn't do anything about the problem while it was raining. So, we are simply not using the electricity in that part of the house, and we're making extra sure that any expensive electrical equipment is protected by surge protectors, just in case something wacky and electrical should occur, as the result of our blatantly mixing water and electricity!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, even with all the chaos, i'd be glad to move out of the house now. I hope you find an alternative soon!

مارية said...

What a mess!

Jane McSweeney said...

I just know God must have a house for you that is 1) already built and 2) keeps the water on the outside! In the meanwhile, just keep repeating, "this too shall pass"!
Prayers
Jane McSweeney

Unknown said...

Ouch! Water and electricty! Many years ago, I worked in Mexico. I had an apt for a while, and the sink's faucet in the bathroom did funny things. It carried an electric shock at times. Just a tingle, but enough to scare me. On the other hand, I had just moved from a one-room place with a natural gas leak. I was told to leave the door ajar, just in case of a ... explosion? Ahhh, the joys of third world living conditions!