No Time to Post--Busy Moving Back Home
As I mentioned many posts ago (or maybe I didn't), we were forced to move out of our town home for 'renovations' which we didn't ask for nor wanted. Quick review: the new owners of the rental complex in which we live had signed their contract (so they said) with the stipulation that they would renovate every apartment and town home within a certain period of time. Ours was one of the last un-renovated town homes , and we had the option of moving to another one, moving back to ours, or vacating the premises le-gamrei*; in other words, we had to get out no matter what. Unfortunately, the management was perfectly within its rights, because they weren't breaking our lease--they were just not renewing it.
To make a long story longer, we had to move, one way or the other. After checking out several other town homes in this complex, we came to the conclusion that we really liked our place, which we had chosen 7 years ago and waited two weeks extra until the tenants had moved out. So we opted to move out temporarily, and return to the same town home after renovations were completed. Of course, this had to be done at our own expense: hiring the movers to move out all our furniture, as if we were leaving town--and paying for storing it at their storage facility, as well as finding a place for us to live temporarily. A major pain-in-the-neck, and expense that, with my D. H. still unemployed, was a real hardship.
We lucked out, because the arrangement we made with our next-door-neighbor to stay in his town home (he was keeping it although he was working out of state), though right next door to us, was not ideal: it was a sparsely furnited 'bachelor pad,' with a non-kosher kitchen. In addition, we would have had to get some big guys to drag our mattresses up the stairs to his 2nd bedroom, and it would be awkward, to say the least. We wouldn't be able to cook there, and it would be uncomfortable if he came home for a weekend visit (this is a guy we did not know well, but he had a very good heart to agree to this).
At any rate, this arrangement was changed when the management postponed the renovation on us. Instead, because they screwed up our timetable, we were given a guest apartment, fully furnished and at no cost to us for the month of January while our town home was being painted, floored, carpeted, kitchen gutted and bathrooms partially redone. At least, they did that for us. Because upon return, we were going to have to pay the higher rent because of these 'renovations.' Which was their whole purpose to begin with!
So here we are, finally back in our old place, still chaotic with personal belongings in boxes all over the house--however with new kitchen appliances, cabinets, floors, freshly painted walls, new carpeting with thicker padding--and what happens? The day after we move in, the very neighbor's town home where we were originally going to stay--floods from a frozen pipe which burst--it looked as if it had exploded--in the middle of his kitchen wall (guess I forgot to mention the exteme cold weather and huge snowfalls we've been having here), seeps into our downstairs family room in the basement and floods half the room, with our sofa and table and other furniture just having been moved back in. Half the utility room (-a storage area off the family room where the laundry room also is) where we had stored all our downstairs books and kitchen dishes and Shabbat china in boxes stacked upon each other, was flooded. Boxes tumbled down. Books were water damaged. China was broken.
We are now assessing the damage for our insurance company, whose adjuster should be contacting us shortly. I guess I shouldn't complain. Our neighbor's place was trashed.
Is Hashem trying to send us a message? Am I over-interpreting?
Well, at least I finally found our shower curtain. Now we can...shower again after five days! (Just kidding. We have a hall bathroom.)
To make a long story longer, we had to move, one way or the other. After checking out several other town homes in this complex, we came to the conclusion that we really liked our place, which we had chosen 7 years ago and waited two weeks extra until the tenants had moved out. So we opted to move out temporarily, and return to the same town home after renovations were completed. Of course, this had to be done at our own expense: hiring the movers to move out all our furniture, as if we were leaving town--and paying for storing it at their storage facility, as well as finding a place for us to live temporarily. A major pain-in-the-neck, and expense that, with my D. H. still unemployed, was a real hardship.
We lucked out, because the arrangement we made with our next-door-neighbor to stay in his town home (he was keeping it although he was working out of state), though right next door to us, was not ideal: it was a sparsely furnited 'bachelor pad,' with a non-kosher kitchen. In addition, we would have had to get some big guys to drag our mattresses up the stairs to his 2nd bedroom, and it would be awkward, to say the least. We wouldn't be able to cook there, and it would be uncomfortable if he came home for a weekend visit (this is a guy we did not know well, but he had a very good heart to agree to this).
At any rate, this arrangement was changed when the management postponed the renovation on us. Instead, because they screwed up our timetable, we were given a guest apartment, fully furnished and at no cost to us for the month of January while our town home was being painted, floored, carpeted, kitchen gutted and bathrooms partially redone. At least, they did that for us. Because upon return, we were going to have to pay the higher rent because of these 'renovations.' Which was their whole purpose to begin with!
So here we are, finally back in our old place, still chaotic with personal belongings in boxes all over the house--however with new kitchen appliances, cabinets, floors, freshly painted walls, new carpeting with thicker padding--and what happens? The day after we move in, the very neighbor's town home where we were originally going to stay--floods from a frozen pipe which burst--it looked as if it had exploded--in the middle of his kitchen wall (guess I forgot to mention the exteme cold weather and huge snowfalls we've been having here), seeps into our downstairs family room in the basement and floods half the room, with our sofa and table and other furniture just having been moved back in. Half the utility room (-a storage area off the family room where the laundry room also is) where we had stored all our downstairs books and kitchen dishes and Shabbat china in boxes stacked upon each other, was flooded. Boxes tumbled down. Books were water damaged. China was broken.
We are now assessing the damage for our insurance company, whose adjuster should be contacting us shortly. I guess I shouldn't complain. Our neighbor's place was trashed.
Is Hashem trying to send us a message? Am I over-interpreting?
Well, at least I finally found our shower curtain. Now we can...shower again after five days! (Just kidding. We have a hall bathroom.)
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