This is the hole in the wall where our mailboxes used to be. Mine didn’t have a lock, some others were falling apart and I am pretty sure it was older than I am. Good riddance, I say. The new management is really trying to fix things up and I am quite delighted about it. You know, aside from the fact they just cashed 8 months worth of rent that the previous management could not be bothered with. One funny thing about this picture is that it shows there used to be a wood panelled wall there that they just built another wall in front of. Gotta love urban remodeling.

As I sit here, waiting for my toilet bowl to disinfect, I’m finding myself becoming more domesticated. Now that I have moved in by myself, I’m the sole keeper of this domain and as I look around I’m now seeing little things that may not be broken, but I think could be made better. So I’ve set into motion a few minor projects to make things a little better. Today’s project involves cleaning the toilet. The toilet bowl was a bit gross. I picked up some cleaner yesterday with one of those angled tops so you can squirt it under the rim of the bowl. Naturally as soon as I tipped it upside down, the cleaning agent poured out of the sides of the spout and right into the toilet water instead of coming out of the spout aimed below the rim. Clearly the seal was very poor around the nozzle. Wonderful. The next ten minutes were spent swirling the toilet water around the bowl with my newly purchased toilet brush and scrubbing the crap out of the sides of the toilet. Literally! I’ll spare the pictures, but I’m supposed to let it sit for about 10 minutes before I can flush it again.

My life has become so exciting.

Among some of the other items I picked up for the house was a new garbage receptacle since I think I have a little mouse. This way it won’t eat through my garbage bags. I actually watched the little bastard jump into the higher bag I setup. At least this way, the opening is high and covered. As for the mouse, I bought a humane mouse trap that won’t kill it, but will make it significantly easier than me chasing him around the apartment like Wile E. Coyote chasing after the Road Runner like I did in Braintree (odd, I was going to link to the post I had made about that, but now can’t find it). Lastly, I bought a hair stopper, which is just a plastic strainer that you put over the shower drain to prevent much hair going down. My shower was missing a drain plug and was just one big whole, so I needed to put something there. I was getting tired of being paranoid about my hair washing down the drain and having to call the super to have a plumber come and unclog my drain.

I sent this email to my roommates yesterday (except with a lot more typos):

Subject: Please Stop
To: My Roommates
From: Bradley J.

Each morning at approx. 05:45 my alarm goes off, I wake up and turn it off. Most mornings, this is quickly followed by immediately rolling over and falling asleep again for about 20 minutes. I groggily grab my towel as I stumble into the bathroom. I do not bother opening my eyes all the way as I enter. The reason for this is three-fold. It is entirely too bright when I turn the light on for my currently active night vision. I will also be immediately forced to start rubbing my eyes due to the those morning eye krispies in the corners of my eyes. This also gives me the benefit of not seeing any number insects crawling about the floor as I disrobe and brush my teeth in the partial nude.

About two weeks ago, after performing this normal routine, I then sidled over between the bathtub and toilet, pulled the shower curtain to one side and carefully gripped the cold water knob. As I delicately placed the proper amount of pressure on the knob to make certain it was not spinning freely, I quickly turned the knob and moved my hand to the other knob. During this action, the water immediately turned on and like a firehose in my face, I came to the realization that someone had turned the showerhead toward the toilet instead of its default position of straight across. In complete surprise I nearly fell back onto the toilet, but I was able to regain my balance and quickly grabbed the cold water knob and fumbled to turn it off as it spun freely. I gave up and reached to move the showerhead to an acceptable position.

I stood there, completely soaked, water all over the floor in quiet spite.

I recomposed myself and took my shower.

This has happened four times since.

The first time was a fluke. The second through fifth times I was bushwacked!

I’m not pointing fingers. I don’t even want to know who is doing this. All I ask is that this near-daily ambush stop.

Thanks in advance.

Your grumpy roommate,

Bradley J.