Where to begin...
No, seriously...
Let's start with the beginning... I came home on New Years Eve to find no hot water. My landlord tried to fix it, but had to resort to a repair man who, through no fault of his own, caused the gas valve on my furnace to get stuck open. I had a gas leak for two days until the second repair man figured out it was the gas valve and shut down the gas going to the furnace. That was on Jan 2nd and I've been without a furnace since then. That's 12 days, if you're counting.
The part FINALLY came in yesterday, but the furnace still wouldn't get going. The repair man said it must be some electrical thingy. He picked up that part this morning and was going to install it tonight. Unfortunately, his grandmother died. So he hopped on a plane this afternoon to go be with his family. This is something I understand, having lost 3 grandparents in the course of 2 years while I was living in MN.
So... my landlord (who came over again tonight) has contacted a different company and someone should be coming out tomorrow morning to fix my furnace.
In the meantime I'm working with two borrowed heaters and one purchased heater (my landlord reimbursed me for that one) and keeping my house around 55-60 degrees. It's HARD to get up in the morning, but I'm managing aside from dreading next months electric bill. It's just been ridiculously frustrating and I let my landlord know tonight exactly how frustrated I am (I did it in a nice way).
In other news... I used my garbage disposal for maybe the 2nd or 3rd time ever last night and it got all plugged up. I tried to fix it without success, but my landlord was able to get it fixed tonight. Thank goodness. He says the guy before me must have shoved a bunch of stuff down there because it was backed up way in the pipes.
SO... I have a working garbage disposal and water heater, but my furnace is still broken. With me?
The kicker? This Thursday I'm having my book club ladies over for dinner and discussion. I don't want them to freeze to death and I don't want to have to reschedule or switch houses because I'm really looking forward to them coming over!
Now we come to the dog situation. When I left for break I was under the impression that everything was fine, a letter would reach my landlords any day, and I would receive the OK to get a dog. Well... I've never dealt with an HOA (Home Owner's Assoc.) and in fact, before I moved here, I never really knew what their purpose was or anything about them. Let's just say they move at their own pace. My neighbor, the president of the HOA works a full time job and is a volunteer fireman, so he's extremely busy. What he didn't tell me before break was that he was going to have to talk to every single owner to get their okay and I guess not all of the Townhouse owners are easy to get a hold of. However, my landlord said that all he needs is a majority vote and it's good enough for him. Plus both he and the HOA president agreed that the law about renters not having pets is outdated and ridiculous and needs to go. So someday... one way or another... In the mean time I am waiting on the HOA president to get in touch with one more person - the swing vote - before he'll give my landlord the official okay (SO not what my understanding was before Christmas).
I reached peak frustration today. You know when you reach the point where you've really just had quite enough, thank you? Yeah. That was me today.
There are some positives:
1. I fell on New Years Eve day and this past Sunday was the first day I was primarily pain-free. I've been taking it easy this week and other than the occasional twinge I'm doing much better. Plus my bruise is almost gone.
2. My landlord has been pursuing both the doggie and the furnace issues AND he fixed my garbage disposal.
3. I'm thinking positive that the furnace will be fixed tomorrow morning so that when the ladies from the book club come over we will have a warm and cozy evening.
Recap:
Still waiting for a working furnace and still waiting to get my doggie.
Reading Agnus and the Hitman by Jennifer Cruise and Bob Mayer (recommended by my aunt) and it is a good one.