We were just sitting down to watch ‘The full monty’ at my sister’s place in Royal Oak, just outside of Victoria. I hadn’t seen the movie, so I was looking forward to an entertaining evening.

A few minutes into it, my pager went off, indicating a phone message at home. When I called, it was my landlord. It seems a repair person was working on the roof of my apartment building, and had an accident with some water. It had entered the building and was now traveling down the electrical system for 5 stories. The fire alarms kept going off because the water had seeped into the fixtures all the way down. They really wanted to put a stop to it. My landlord feared there might be even more damage.

They couldn’t get into my apartment to see how much damage had been done, or to access the smoke sensor circuit where the water was. Seems no one had a key. I said that seemed odd. Up until about two years ago, they’d come in on their own on a regular basis, while I was at work, to check all the smoke detectors. Still, I had just enough time to catch the last ferry back. I suggested that perhaps they’d find the key in the building manager’s office?

No one called back last night, so I had a tough time sleeping. In the morning, Sister asked what I wanted to do. After thinking all night about it and creating all kinds of scenarios of what might be going on back in the apartment, the 11:00 am ferry seemed the way to go. It was a few hours earlier than I expected to go, but at least there would still be time to do something in the afternoon, if needed.

It was a long ferry ride, and an even longer drive from the ferry dock home.

No one was around the manager’s suite when I got in. A good sign?? Up the elevator… key in the lock…the door opening slowly. The apartment hallway looked about the same as I’d left it. I looked up at the smoke sensor. There was a moisture ring around it on the ceiling, but it and the light beside it seemed dry. Ok, check the other fixtures, the piping, the area around my office and computers. All seemed dry. No sign of most of the disasters I’d conjured up. I mean all the drywalled ceiling was still in place, and not all over the floor in a big wet mess. That’s a good thing, eh?

There was a note on the hall table from one of the strata councilors: Please call as soon as I got home. Seems we had to remove the smoke sensor, disconnect it, reconnect the circuit. All would be well until repairs were made and new sensors installed. The company that was on the roof with the water had accepted responsibility, and repairs would be made in good time.

Whew. The good part was that the rest of the building’s smoke sensor circuit was now active again. At least we’d know if there was smoke in the building. The sad part was that my little holiday was cut short.

Pizza and a movie to relax tonight…ham, pineapple, anchovies, and feta (don’t knock it until you try it ;-), and Aeon Flux. Oh, and a big sigh of relief before a good sleep.

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