Where is the Calm ? Part Deux

So after exactly six days since last week's incident, ServiceMasters were finally able to remove the 10 blowers, 2 dehumidifiers and the desiccant machine (the one with the hose that goes up the ceiling). We can finally hear ourselves think again. The noise from all those machines were starting to drive us crazy and making our skin look like prunes because it was so dry.


On Wednesday, the Construction manager came to reassess the restoration needed and will submit a report and breakdown cost to the Insurance company. Once the Insurance company approves the cost and receives our deductible money, they will pay ServiceMasters 50% downpayment before they can commence the restoration work.

So we hope everything will be back to normal within the next 2 -3 weeks. In the meantime, I found a plumber to install the Pressure Release Valve in the sideyard. I hope he shows up tomorrow.

And we need to schedule the tile guy to fix the two broken tiles in the bathroom.
So those are the two costs that we will bear including the deductible for the Insurance company, which works up to what we just received from Uncle Sam last week.
That totally sucks because I was hoping we would have some money from the tax refund to "play" with.

Where is the calm?

We had just come home and realized that the water pressure was suddenly very strong, causing the toilets to "sing" and it would not stop running. So we fixed that and barely 5 minutes later, I heard Jason yelling downstairs that we have an emergency.
I ran down and saw a waterfall coming from the ceiling close to where our fireplace is and soaking the carpets. And then more water gushed down on the dining table and three other spots in the living room. I just blindly grabbed all the pots from the kitchen and a couple of buckets and some old towels and placed them where the water was gushing down, whilst Jason stopped the busted pipe in the Master bathroom upstairs (actually, it was the hose-pipe that hooks up the bathroom faucet that had broke). The bathroom was flooded and it seeped right through to our bedroom soaking the carpets in there too.

We called the County Water & Sewer Dept. and the line was transferred to 911. We guessed all the piping work that they had been doing on the streets outside the neighborhood for the past couple of days caused the sudden increase in our water pressure which busted our pipes.
So anyways, there was nothing they could do to help.

Jason's parents drove over immediately (bless their hearts) and brought the heavy-duty vacuum to suck up all the water and more towels to dry up the floors. We moved furniture around and did whatever we could.

Tomorrow, we'll have to call the Insurance company and we made an appointment with the plumber to come look at the situation.

My heart is still racing and I am paranoid that the ceiling will fall in because the water is still trapped between.
But we're just so thankful that we decided to come home a little earlier tonight. If we had not, we might have lost the whole house, and Trouble might have drowned.

They love our mailbox so much that...

It was a peaceful afternoon until I got a phone call from my neighbor across the street. She said "Oh good, you're working from home today! You better come outside now coz someone just ran over your mailbox!"

Again??!!! You gotta be kidding me!
This is the THIRD time someone decides to knock our mailbox down.

I go outside and I see our mailbox smashed on one side and the whole box laying lifeless on the ground and there was this truck who was trying to back out. I went up to the truck waving like a mad woman trying to stop him, at the same time trying to catch the name of the company of the truck.
The phone number was not visible.

So this big guy comes out of the truck and here's tiny me with both hands on my hips looking furious. (Don't mess with me when I am mad)
He apologized and told me he had already called his boss and that they were coming to replace it within 30 minutes.

I had doubts.

So I went online and got the phone number for this company and spoke to the manager. I did not want to give them a chance to deny so I asked "hey by any chance you have someone working in this neighborhood this afternoon?". He said "Yes" (probably thinking I was going to give him some business).
I said "Good, coz your guy just ran over my mailbox".

He said "Oh no"

I said "Oh yes he sure did"

He said "We will replace it"

I asked " When? My mailman comes in an hour. If we are not able to get our mail, that's not going to be nice"

He said he'll call me back and I got his name.

He did call me back and admitted that it was his guy who knocked the mailbox down (obviously his guy lied when he said he had already called his boss because his boss did not know of this incident before I called up)
He informed me that they had ordered a new one from the developer. He sounded nice and trustworthy enough.

In the meantime, Jason had called the police and they called me and said they were going to come by and ask some questions.
The police guy could not understand me over the phone and asked if I speak Spanish.
I told him No, I dont speak any Spanish but he brings a Spanish-speaking police officer over anyway.
They came over during lunch time and Jason was home. Good, coz I don't enjoy talking to people who have problems with my un-American accent. It gets frustrating.
So they asked questions, and called up the company who ran over the mailbox.

About 4 hours later, I saw a new mailbox sitting pretty outside.

Relieved.

All this hoohah over a mailbox! So very unnecessary, yet necessary.

I wonder if they'll allow us to build a concrete wall around our mailbox. Coz we know someone else is going to knock the mailbox down again... they just love our mailbox too much!

I no Se Habla Espanol

On Monday, we were scheduled for some workers to come and repair the nail pops in the house because the last guy who came to do the job did not finish and left the company (or country).

So at 9am in the morning, I open the door to find a woman and an infant in her arms. And she said one word "Wall".
I asked her if (name of company) had sent her. She said "yes".
I paused.

I am thinking this is impossible. Maybe there was a hidden candid camera crew nearby. How is she going to climb a ladder and fix nail pops with an infant?
She probably saw the confused look on my face and pointed to two teenage boys walking towards the house.

Ahh, I see... this makes more sense now (sort of)

I asked the boys some questions but they just stared blankly at me.

Lady tells me "No English".

Ok, now it all makes sense to me. So the lady was the interpreter, eventhough she can only mutter "Yes" and "No". But I guess she understood what I was saying.

I have to admit I was a little worried. Here is some stranger with an infant in my house and two teenage boys.

The boys got to work immediately and they worked fast. I was amazed they found so many nail pops that neither Jason or I saw. They were done by noon and will be back next week to paint.

Now I have another thing to add on my "101 things to do before I die". Learn Espanol!