Nothing says welcome back

Like warped flooring and the smell of mildew everywhere.

A few days before Randy was due back to China, we received a message that our apartment had flooded, though the damage was "minimal." Initially the building management said one of our two tubs leaked, but since no one was here, and the water damage is much more extensive than we were originally led to believe, they aren't repeating that story anymore.

Everywhere I turn I am finding something still soaking wet and smelly--cookbooks on top of the fridge, a notebook under Myles' dresser, a roll of papertowels in a cabinet--all in places no one apparently looked for damage. The building management is trying to tell us that only the entryway was affected (it is destroyed), but the mildew path tells a different story.

Building management has offered to let us move into another apartment in the building, at no additional cost, but they aren't taking any responsibility for helping us with that move. At the same time, we are back on the hunt for a new apartment. Randy's employer was already starting to plan (at last!) for this to happen this year, but recent events are making this more urgent.

However, in more fun news, the beggars and recyclers and chickens on our street are happy to see Myles back. They have asked if we had snow, if our holiday was good, if our trip was long. Myles was just as happy to see them as he was to see anyone.