between the rain and all that snow melting there was nowhere for all that water to go but into our house. Yep, you guessed the apartment has flooded, yet again. Ugh. This totally sucks. Not only did we wake up to water covering the floor of our apartment but DH has such a busy schedule today that he couldn't hang out and help with the clean up. He said he'd come back over lunch and help but I told him that was pretty stupid and pointless. Besides, he's supposed to give 2 presentations this afternoon and I know he was counting on a bit of time this morning/lunchtime to finish up a few details.
So, I've been mopping up the place for the last 3 and a half hours. The front hall and living room are now dry. We have sandbags in place to contain the flow of water in the kitchen. Unfortunately, it must still be pouring in because I've been diligently bailing out water from the kitchen and the level hasn't seemed to change too much. There's still a pond of about a half inch deep in on kitchen. At least it's contained that's all I can say.
Well, I need to go back to mopping and check on how my lunch is coming along.
Showing posts with label Flood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flood. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, December 14, 2007
Pride
Can I just tell you guys how proud I am of myself? The word of the day is: fierté (fee-air-tay)= pride or fier, which means proud. Why you might query am I so proud of myself on this particular day? Well, sit back and I shall tell you.
It's quite simple really. I accomplished a few small tasks in French. That is the reason for my fierce fierte. This morning after dropping Josh off at CERN, he had promised me the car today to run errands and, naturally, he missed the bus. I shouldn't complain, but sometimes I wonder about his time management skills (Honey, if you're reading this I'm obviously over-exaggerating to make it more fun to read - obviously....) Umm....anyways. It was actually a good thing I had to drive him in because it meant I got off my butt and out of the house early instead of farting around twiddling my thumbs growing more and more anxious about my upcoming task of talking to the insurance company. Now, this is something that would make me neurotic in the States, just think how I felt at the idea of having to accomplish this feat in French! I gathered together all my insurance info, along with every ounce of courage (ironically courage is the same in French, just pronounced more French like). So, armed with proof that I had insurance there, mon courage, and a French/English dictionary I bravely entered the insurance office.
I sat nervously awaiting my turn. A very nice gentleman asked if he could help me and with a flustered smile I began with my usual phrase, "Je suis desole, mais je ne parle pas tres bien francais." For those who know French you know there are a bunch of accents left off, it's just that it's such a pain in the arse to put them in, so I'm leaving them out for now- please forgive me. Back to the story at hand. Josh thinks it's pretty funny that I start out every meeting with a French person this way, but in my mind it tells them straight off the bat, "hey, look I'm trying. If I sound like a child you know why." It also, often, helps in getting the native French speaker to immediately slow down their insanely fast French so I might actually understand 1/3 of what they are saying.
Upon hearing the word inondation (flood - see Tuesdays post if you don't know what I'm referring to) I was ushered into this kind gentleman's office and the paperwork was pulled out. All-in-all it was a pretty easy process. We didn't have much damage to claim and through hand gestures and words pulled earlier from the dictionary I was able to describe what had happened and how our landlords proposed fixing the problem. They are having a drainage pipe installed along the side of the house and they are supposed to have someone put a sealant on/in? the kitchen walls and floor. Who knows when that will happen. Because we only had a rug that was damaged (and second-hand at that, though I didn't tell the insurance agent) I don't know as we'll get any compensation. We need the receipt for the rug, which we don't have. The insurance man suggested I go to the store and see if they will give me another receipt. I have no idea if this would actually work, who knows!?! Maybe I'll try it anyways.
After accomplishing that hurdle, with very few problems, I might add it was on to my next big task. The Bank. dum dum dah. When we first got here and opened our bank account we were told that we really didn't need checks. Most people don't use them they just do money transfers from one account to another. This was surprising to us, but seemed the thing to do so that's what we did. I have to say it's pretty convenient. Every month our rent is automatically deposited into our landlords account, our electricity, Internet, and phone, are all paid automatically. All we have to do is ensure that there is enough money in the account to pay for everything (a difficult task in and of itself) The problem comes when you receive a bill for something new, something that you can't just run down to the local branch and pay in cash. We received 2 of this sort of bill. I was stumped as to how to pay it. One was for an a doctors exam. I had paid the doctors bill, in cash, at the office (I find it hard to believe that neither the dentist or doctor that we've been to thus far accept credit cards -it's cash or check so now we make sure we have loads of cash on hand when we visit - but I digress, again) but then I get a bill in the mail for the lab fees. oy vay what to do now? So, this morning I made my way to the bank, started off with usual deprecating sentence then asked how to pay these bills. One was easily taken care of, he just entered the transfer into the account. The second he told me I had to go to a Swiss post office (the bill was from Switzerland and in Swiss francs) and do it there. I wasn't terribly clear on what exactly I could do there, except I know he said it was free - gratuit - all I could gather was that it is maybe similar to a money order. I haven't done this in States, but I know it can be done. So, next week I shall venture to get this bill paid, or perhaps this afternoon. Once the glow of accomplishment wears thin and I need another shot of fear induced adrenaline and the following rush of pride at managing to get some small task finished in French and without breaking down into tears.
Yay, for me. I'm giving myself a nice little pat on the back. Hope your day is filled with little accomplishments as well!
It's quite simple really. I accomplished a few small tasks in French. That is the reason for my fierce fierte. This morning after dropping Josh off at CERN, he had promised me the car today to run errands and, naturally, he missed the bus. I shouldn't complain, but sometimes I wonder about his time management skills (Honey, if you're reading this I'm obviously over-exaggerating to make it more fun to read - obviously....) Umm....anyways. It was actually a good thing I had to drive him in because it meant I got off my butt and out of the house early instead of farting around twiddling my thumbs growing more and more anxious about my upcoming task of talking to the insurance company. Now, this is something that would make me neurotic in the States, just think how I felt at the idea of having to accomplish this feat in French! I gathered together all my insurance info, along with every ounce of courage (ironically courage is the same in French, just pronounced more French like). So, armed with proof that I had insurance there, mon courage, and a French/English dictionary I bravely entered the insurance office.
I sat nervously awaiting my turn. A very nice gentleman asked if he could help me and with a flustered smile I began with my usual phrase, "Je suis desole, mais je ne parle pas tres bien francais." For those who know French you know there are a bunch of accents left off, it's just that it's such a pain in the arse to put them in, so I'm leaving them out for now- please forgive me. Back to the story at hand. Josh thinks it's pretty funny that I start out every meeting with a French person this way, but in my mind it tells them straight off the bat, "hey, look I'm trying. If I sound like a child you know why." It also, often, helps in getting the native French speaker to immediately slow down their insanely fast French so I might actually understand 1/3 of what they are saying.
Upon hearing the word inondation (flood - see Tuesdays post if you don't know what I'm referring to) I was ushered into this kind gentleman's office and the paperwork was pulled out. All-in-all it was a pretty easy process. We didn't have much damage to claim and through hand gestures and words pulled earlier from the dictionary I was able to describe what had happened and how our landlords proposed fixing the problem. They are having a drainage pipe installed along the side of the house and they are supposed to have someone put a sealant on/in? the kitchen walls and floor. Who knows when that will happen. Because we only had a rug that was damaged (and second-hand at that, though I didn't tell the insurance agent) I don't know as we'll get any compensation. We need the receipt for the rug, which we don't have. The insurance man suggested I go to the store and see if they will give me another receipt. I have no idea if this would actually work, who knows!?! Maybe I'll try it anyways.
After accomplishing that hurdle, with very few problems, I might add it was on to my next big task. The Bank. dum dum dah. When we first got here and opened our bank account we were told that we really didn't need checks. Most people don't use them they just do money transfers from one account to another. This was surprising to us, but seemed the thing to do so that's what we did. I have to say it's pretty convenient. Every month our rent is automatically deposited into our landlords account, our electricity, Internet, and phone, are all paid automatically. All we have to do is ensure that there is enough money in the account to pay for everything (a difficult task in and of itself) The problem comes when you receive a bill for something new, something that you can't just run down to the local branch and pay in cash. We received 2 of this sort of bill. I was stumped as to how to pay it. One was for an a doctors exam. I had paid the doctors bill, in cash, at the office (I find it hard to believe that neither the dentist or doctor that we've been to thus far accept credit cards -it's cash or check so now we make sure we have loads of cash on hand when we visit - but I digress, again) but then I get a bill in the mail for the lab fees. oy vay what to do now? So, this morning I made my way to the bank, started off with usual deprecating sentence then asked how to pay these bills. One was easily taken care of, he just entered the transfer into the account. The second he told me I had to go to a Swiss post office (the bill was from Switzerland and in Swiss francs) and do it there. I wasn't terribly clear on what exactly I could do there, except I know he said it was free - gratuit - all I could gather was that it is maybe similar to a money order. I haven't done this in States, but I know it can be done. So, next week I shall venture to get this bill paid, or perhaps this afternoon. Once the glow of accomplishment wears thin and I need another shot of fear induced adrenaline and the following rush of pride at managing to get some small task finished in French and without breaking down into tears.
Yay, for me. I'm giving myself a nice little pat on the back. Hope your day is filled with little accomplishments as well!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
"THE FLOOD"
Today's word is: l'eau (pronounced low) it means water. At a restaurant you might hear someone asking for "une carafe d'eau, s'il vous plait" (a carafe of water, please). Odd are these people are Americans who are used to having the waiter or waitress automatically bring them a glass of water and to keep it coming. This is one thing I find very strange about Europe, I don't think they drink as much (and I mean regular liquid, not alcohol you lushes) as Americans...but, that's just the impression I get. Maybe I'm just a weirdo how chugs down more liquid than the average person! But, I digress. I am not here to tell you about drinking water in a restaurant. I am here to reveal the exciting events that unfurled in our apartment yesterday.
The morning of December 10, 2007 day live on in the memories of the Mosslins family as the
day we started our battle with Mother Nature - and poor drainage. Ok, to be fair it started last week when I awoke to find a puddle in the corner of our kitchen. It wasn't too large, but enough to make me worry and contact our landlords. We also needed them to call a plumber because our stupid toilet has been running non-stop for days (what a pain to shut off the water and turn it back on every time you use it!) Our landlord thought perhaps the kitchen leak was due to a pipe in the wall. I, secretly, thought he was an idiot. It's been raining for days with very few intervals of dryness, the walls weren't wet only the floor, and this side of the kitchen is below ground! Obviously, the water was leaking in from outside. Regardless, he said he'd find someone to check it and I had to be satisfied with that. That is, until we awoke Monday morning to find the ENTIRE apartment underwater! The water had come into the kitchen, ignoring our feeble towel barricade it ran down into the living room, into
the entrance hall, and was creeping into the craft room/guest bedroom! What a disaster.
We, of course, had to clean it all up, contact our landlords again, and make a list of damage for the insurance company. Luckily, the carpet is the only thing that suffered any damage - all of our furniture has legs so they were kept up out of l'inondation (the flood).
Unfortunately, before we could really get to work on the clean up we had to figure out a way to contain the incoming water in the kitchen. So, off to Botanic, the local garden store, we went in search of sand. I had to make use of my excellent (ha, ha) French skills and I'm proud to say I managed to make the woman at Botanic understand and be sympathetic to our plight. Thankfully, they had two small bags of sand left. Apologetically, she explained that sand is an item for l’été (the summer) pas l'hiver (not the winter) so they didn't have any more in stock. But, two bags ended up being just fine for our purposes. Once we returned to our drenched home I began the mopping up process and Josh began the sandbagging process. Oh, we also bough an extra mop to double team the damned (or dammed) water.
Look at the sheer delight and joy at mopping which is plastered all over my face! This picture was actually taken late Sunday night when we entered into a small skirmish in the kitchen. We thought we had won the day, but oh how wrong we were.
Here is Josh on Monday morning employing our useful weapon, the towel, to soak up the pools of rain water. We bought an extra mop after Josh's hands became so red and raw from wringing out sopping wet towels that his hands looked as though they belonged to a little old washer woman. All day as we mopped and soaked up the water we kept peeking out the windows with the query, "has it stopped raining?" the answer was always, "NO". After about 3 hours the house was fairly dry. The ruined carpet was outdoors (probably getting even more wet though we did try to put it under the cover of the overhang) and we were able to bring some of our furniture back into the living room. We erected our sandbag dam in the kitchen doorway figuring if it were to flood again it would be best to contain it in the kitchen. We had already removed the kitchen chairs and we had placed little plastic booties on each of the table legs (and by booties I mean empty ice cream containers we've washed out and use as tupperware!).
Some of you might be curious as to what Ally did all day whilst we were in the midst of battling that acursed Mother Nature and her minions of rain...Ally was extremely helpful, let me tell you. I think this picture explains it all:
Yep, that's our little princess. She spent the day hopping from couch to dry towels trying not to get her precious paws wet! Can you believe that this is the same dog that happily and purposefully, splashes through every singled puddle on our morning walks? Go figure.
And an update for those interested on Friday I actually managed to finish covering one couch cushion. Here is a rather bad picture of the results. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. It is pretty time consuming sewing all this by hand, but in some ways it's pretty fun too.
Today, I'm hoping to get the next one finished. Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed the rain stops soon. It can't rain forever, can it?
The morning of December 10, 2007 day live on in the memories of the Mosslins family as the
day we started our battle with Mother Nature - and poor drainage. Ok, to be fair it started last week when I awoke to find a puddle in the corner of our kitchen. It wasn't too large, but enough to make me worry and contact our landlords. We also needed them to call a plumber because our stupid toilet has been running non-stop for days (what a pain to shut off the water and turn it back on every time you use it!) Our landlord thought perhaps the kitchen leak was due to a pipe in the wall. I, secretly, thought he was an idiot. It's been raining for days with very few intervals of dryness, the walls weren't wet only the floor, and this side of the kitchen is below ground! Obviously, the water was leaking in from outside. Regardless, he said he'd find someone to check it and I had to be satisfied with that. That is, until we awoke Monday morning to find the ENTIRE apartment underwater! The water had come into the kitchen, ignoring our feeble towel barricade it ran down into the living room, into
the entrance hall, and was creeping into the craft room/guest bedroom! What a disaster.We, of course, had to clean it all up, contact our landlords again, and make a list of damage for the insurance company. Luckily, the carpet is the only thing that suffered any damage - all of our furniture has legs so they were kept up out of l'inondation (the flood).
Unfortunately, before we could really get to work on the clean up we had to figure out a way to contain the incoming water in the kitchen. So, off to Botanic, the local garden store, we went in search of sand. I had to make use of my excellent (ha, ha) French skills and I'm proud to say I managed to make the woman at Botanic understand and be sympathetic to our plight. Thankfully, they had two small bags of sand left. Apologetically, she explained that sand is an item for l’été (the summer) pas l'hiver (not the winter) so they didn't have any more in stock. But, two bags ended up being just fine for our purposes. Once we returned to our drenched home I began the mopping up process and Josh began the sandbagging process. Oh, we also bough an extra mop to double team the damned (or dammed) water.
Look at the sheer delight and joy at mopping which is plastered all over my face! This picture was actually taken late Sunday night when we entered into a small skirmish in the kitchen. We thought we had won the day, but oh how wrong we were.Here is Josh on Monday morning employing our useful weapon, the towel, to soak up the pools of rain water. We bought an extra mop after Josh's hands became so red and raw from wringing out sopping wet towels that his hands looked as though they belonged to a little old washer woman. All day as we mopped and soaked up the water we kept peeking out the windows with the query, "has it stopped raining?" the answer was always, "NO". After about 3 hours the house was fairly dry. The ruined carpet was outdoors (probably getting even more wet though we did try to put it under the cover of the overhang) and we were able to bring some of our furniture back into the living room. We erected our sandbag dam in the kitchen doorway figuring if it were to flood again it would be best to contain it in the kitchen. We had already removed the kitchen chairs and we had placed little plastic booties on each of the table legs (and by booties I mean empty ice cream containers we've washed out and use as tupperware!).
Some of you might be curious as to what Ally did all day whilst we were in the midst of battling that acursed Mother Nature and her minions of rain...Ally was extremely helpful, let me tell you. I think this picture explains it all:
Yep, that's our little princess. She spent the day hopping from couch to dry towels trying not to get her precious paws wet! Can you believe that this is the same dog that happily and purposefully, splashes through every singled puddle on our morning walks? Go figure.
And an update for those interested on Friday I actually managed to finish covering one couch cushion. Here is a rather bad picture of the results. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. It is pretty time consuming sewing all this by hand, but in some ways it's pretty fun too.
Today, I'm hoping to get the next one finished. Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed the rain stops soon. It can't rain forever, can it?
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