Bend over February!

So the award for February goes to a non-foodstuff - in recognition of Bordreaux's willingness to tell it like it is. No more beating around the bush...no more fancy names that hide what a product is for...these guys have the guts to lay it all on the line. Congratulations Bordreaux - and may your cheeks be smooth and rash free.

Singing in the rain...in our apartment?

It's 9.30 on a Monday night...a semi-tropical -20C/2F outside...and we have just returned to our apartment after picking up our replacement car. We find lights flashing and people running all over the place...talking on phones and yelling to each other. As we enter our building we find out that a pipe had frozen and burst in the apartment above us, and in turn several apartments were in the process of flooding. Running up the stairs with images of two-feet of water sitting in our apartment, we were relieved to find that we had arrived home just in time to quickly shift a lot of our furniture into our bedroom before it became soaked.

We would spend the next six hours moving pots and buckets around to catch the water that was pouring through our ceiling, while various workman moved in and out attempting to stop the water seeping through the walls and to keep the carpets relatively dry. After passing out for a few hours we woke to our alarm at 3am so we could empty and replace the buckets to ensure our apartment wouldn't float away while we slept.

The next morning we basically attempted to ignore the state of our apartment, gratefully acknowledging the fact that we had been able to move our valuables out of harms way, and set off early to school and work in a general state of denial and exhaustion. At 9.30 that night we returned to find three industrial sized fans in our apartment - attempting to dry our walls. Of course - in a small apartment these sounded more like jet engines that were threatening to launch our living room into the air and thus once again, in a state of exhausted denial, we retreated to our bedroom and passed out.

The next two days would be spent arguing with the complex management as to how livable our apartment was, and consequently spending more and more time at school and work. While home, we would weave our way through the obstacle course of fans, and should we want to relax and watch television, we must sit on the couch which is all of 9 inches from the TV - and attempt to unwind while subconsciously waiting for our mothers to scold us for sitting so close to the screen. Finally, we were handed a key to a furnished apartment in the complex...and thus have been living in slightly inconvenient comfort for a couple of days now while our apartment is fixed.

While the inconvenience and exhaustion has taken its toll on us...it has admittedly also exposed just how much of an anal-retentive clean-freak I am. With the apartment in complete disarray, I can barely spend 30 minutes there without becoming noticeably stressed and consciously having to fight the need to clean something. Disturbing, and I think quite amusing for Jen...but never-the-less, I am looking forward to being able to put our place back together. On the positive side, this experience has served to make us appreciate having a peaceful place to retreat to at the end of the day together...something that we had been taking too much for granted I think.

Pictured: The water begins to collect in our ceiling before beginning to pour through onto the floor and furniture.

Crash Test Aussie...

Well – after all of one week driving in the snow it finally hit us…literally. Last Tuesday night, while driving home along an icy road, a black van decided that we now longer needed the left side of our car. First and foremost, we were fortunate that nobody in either vehicle was hurt, and barring a few days with a sore back and neck – I will be back to normal by next week. The most surprising part of this whole ordeal, I believe, is the fact that neither Jennifer or I were at fault…true evidence that you can drive at 8 miles an hour and still get where you need to be. So as I proceeded along one of the streets here in South Bend, the other vehicle attempted to merge into the lane next to me (a maneuver that would have been better suited to a Disney on Ice performance), and slid across the road into our car. Luckily the first hit was in front of the driver’s door, and the second hit came behind it, sparing any potential damage to my legs. The hit left me in the snow in some poor person’s front garden, while the other person’s vehicle spun a couple of times in the middle of the road before coming to a halt.

A few fairly solemn phone calls later we determined that the lady who hit me was uninsured, had caused over $5000 worth of damage, and that we would lose our only car for over two weeks for repairs. Luckily, our insurance company took care of almost everything, with a couple of wonderful friends helping us with lifts and offering us one of their cars so we could get around. So after a bit of inconvenience, a lot of luck, some great friends, and only a few dollars out of pocket, we are extremely fortunate to be back on top here in South Bend.

P.S. Jen was, just now, nice enough to point out that in last weeks blog I had joked that driving around South Bend was like Bumper/Dodgem cars...and hence...after this past week...the joke is well and truly...on me...