Oops, I Did it Again

My landlord is the stereotypical Chinese landlord. Hey, stereotypes exist for a reason. He does things the cheapest way possible. He also has a contractor who does things the cheapest way possible. We signed a lease in Dec of 2003. We had a list of about 5 things we wanted him to fix before we moved in the middle of January. Yeah, about April I think the first thing got done. He has been in the country for I don't know how many decades, works for the city of SF, yet pretends to not speak English very well when you want something from him. He responds to letters much better than phone calls. Now, silly me, but I would think that if you could afford to buy property in SF, you would want to maintain it so you can make a mint when you sell it. Apparently I am alone in my thinking.

Anyway, Saturday night I was doing laundry. Yes, the exciting life I lead. Well, all of a sudden the washer stopped. Normally wouldn't be an issue, but it was in the end of the rinse cycle. Figuring it was just unbalanced (I was washing pillows) I readjusted the pillows. Washing machine didn't start. So I tried resetting it to the rinse cycle. Agitation begins and I think life is wonderful. Nope, when it reaches the point where it should start draining it stops again. I tried taking the pillows out and starting it. Same thing occurred. No love for me. About this point I notice a broken piece of plastic in the bottom of the washer. Uh oh.

Being the semi-resourceful person that I am I grabbed the tool kit and tried to find where it had broken off. I took the top of the washer off and was presented with far too many wires for someone that did not have an engineering degree. The "wire key" that they had probably would have been useful to a EE. To me it might as well have been in braile. Turns out that taking the top off still didn't get me where I needed to be in the machine anyway. Oh well, best laid plans. It was already 9pm so I didn't want to ring my landlord then. I'd do it on Sunday.

Sunday rolls around and I ring P. He wasn't home so I left a message. Monday around noon I get a call back. He agrees to come check it out around 3:30 with the lovely quote of "Maybe it's just too old anyway." That was music to my ears since this washing machine may be older than I am. We had also included a letter with our rent checks about a mold issue we were having in our bedrooms. We also have an issue with the tiles at the back of the tub - no grout remains. Ick! P shows up around 4. I explain what happened and he takes a look. He's going to call the Sears repair man to come look at it. Great. Cool. No worries.

Next we discuss the mold. I take him into my room and show him the mold that is growing on the wall behind my bed. The worst part is I had cleaned tons of it a couple months ago and it's back. Yuck! Well, I didn't really feel the need to clean up before he came because I figured I'd point it out and that'd be it.

No no, that would be far too easy. Instead he decides to lean in to get a closer look. I see him glance down as he does so and then he said, "Excuse me" and quickly peered at the wall. Looking down I was mortified to see the old faithful Pearl Rabbit just lying there on top of a box right by my bed in plain site. My face was as red as Santa Claus's suit as he quickly straightened and walked into my flatmate's room. Times you wish the floor would open and swallow you up kinda like the bed did to Johnny Depp in Nightmare on Elm Street #somethingorother.

Note to self - don't leave the pearl rabbit laying around when others are in the room.

This moment of humiliation was brought to you by the letter R (for red face) and 20 (the number of shades of red I turned).

Oh, and his solution to the mold - he'll paint over it with an oil based paint. Oh good, so now I can have yet another shade of white in only a particular area on my walls. Oh thrill oh joy. Anyone want to place any bets as to whether he'll actually have his contractor clean the mold off first?