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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Picture this - we've been driving since 10 a.m. the day prior; it's 6 a.m. on Saturday and I finally arrive at the new abode. Come into the house, the dog promptly christens the new hallway, I lose my mind for a second, then it's off to crash for a few hours.

Once I woke up, it was time to unload the UHaul from hell. However, one [un]pleasant surprise when I awoke - it was CHILLY! And by chilly I mean just straight up cold. Wiggy, we're not in Florida anymore. So, this gal remembers that her new landlord turned on the AC to get the apartment ready. I decide that the only smart thing to do is turn on the heat and warm up the place.

Well, a couple hours into the heat working, I smelled the faint whiff of something burning. I didn't think much of it until it came along again, off and on as I would go in and out of the house, reminding me of the smell of smores on a campfire. I thought, perhaps, it was just the heating system getting some use after being dormant for a while. Maybe it was a crisp new filter in the vent getting broken in. Or, as my over active imagination was racing with the idea that perhaps the wiring was sparking and me, by turning on the heat in the new apartment, I could have started a fire in the vents and now the apartment would burn down.

The toasty marshmallow smell was quite strong in my bedroom by the vent which was next to the window. I finally panicked and called my new landlord K. and told him my fears. Turns out they were leaving early and maintenance had already left for the day. However, K. paged the maintenance supervisor and then the game of phone tag began. See, I have a plethora of radio towers outside my apartment and I wasn't hearing ONE phone call and things were just driving me nuts. The smell kept getting stronger and now my mind went into overdrive. Finally, upon connecting with John from Maintenance, we discussed the situation as I started to wander the apartment to see where the smell was originating from. I had already turned the heat off prior so now the fact that the smell was VERY strong, the panic was starting to surface. The smell was strong in my bedroom and as I went to the back porch to discuss it quietly with John, I noticed the smell was very strong out on the back porch - where there was no vents. Confused, I looked around and then I spotted it - my neighbors in the building next door were using a charcoal grill with some foil packages on it - most likely containing something with marshmallows.

I laughed and told John that the case was solved. You can imagine my shock when he said "Oh - neighbor XYZ. They aren't supposed to have that type of grill - we'll send out a letter on Monday".

Yeah, that's how this gal started off her new life in her new apartment inadvertently ratting out her new neighbor (who has since moved out due to other issues).

I just will never look at smores the same way again...

Labels: Apt, Moving In Stilettos, Philly, Random Mess

Posted by Lys :: 11:05 PM :: 3 comments

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