Catalogue of Catastrophe

Bad News

Okay, we moved back into our apartment last Thursday, to be greeted by the following:

  1.  Wrong refrigerator installed (the old one had been left un-emptied and unplugged for two months… draw your own picture).  This one was fine, except it had no icemaker — this is not a First World problem, by the way, as will be seen later.
  2. Washing machine not working.
  3. No wifi/Internet.
  4. No toilet roll holders.
  5. Most kitchen- and dining room lights not working.
  6. Closet shelves not reinstalled.

Then after one day’s residence:

  1. Water started coming up from under the kitchen floor.
  2. Dishwasher motor burned out.
  3. Washing machine was fixed, except that the outlet hose fell out (badly connected by the rehabbers) and the laundry was flooded.  As you can imagine, by now I was getting really sick of water on my floors.
  4. Still no wifi.  (By the way, I am getting heartily sick of “Support” which suggests kindly that you can address your problems through their website when the core problem is that YOU HAVE NO FUCKING INTERNET CONNECTION.)

So as of this writing:

  1. The water coming up from under the kitchen floor was traced to TADA! the unconnected hose that should have led to the fridge’s icemaker, but which had been left uncapped.  Now it’s capped, and awaiting the arrival of a) a replacement fridge or b) an icemaker.  The floor is now dry.
  2. Maintenance reconnected (and fixed firmly in place) the washing machine’s outlet hose.  (Why did I not do so simple a job myself?  Because in terms of our lease, I’m not allowed to touch anything to do with laundry connections because they’re trained and do a perfect job.)
  3. Wifi is fixed and running, and TV (Netflix etc.) also works.  The problem had a two-second fix:  when the apartment was rebuilt, AT&T installed a new wall gateway device which I duly plugged in, not noticing that there was a tiny On/Off switch UNDERNEATH THE FUCKING UNIT which, silly me, I failed to notice because it was UNDERNEATH THE FUCKING UNIT.  So I feel only  a little foolish.
  4. Dishwasher still not fixed / replaced.
  5. Still no toilet roll holders.
  6. Kitchen- and dining room lights still not working.
  7. Closet shelves still not reinstalled.  (These last four because they’re not technically “emergency” maintenance issues, and must Wait Their Turn.  I think I’ll call and report that the dishwasher has sprung a leak.)

Bring on the Apocalypse, Simon.  I’m ready for it.  (Oh yeah, speaking of which, the guns have been retrieved from their sanctuary and installed in their home in the safe.  Now to clean them all… shit never stops, does it?)

Oh, and say welcome to my new bedside gun, a S&W Mod 65 .357 Mag which I secured for only a little too much money at the Fort Worth ELGS (Evil Loophole Gun Show):

So it’s not all Sturm und Drang.

7 comments

  1. S&W M 65, a superb revolver. K frame handy and smooth, .357 maggie powerful.
    Well done Sir!

  3. Good to see that you got a new pistol to make the disasters of the past week a little less disasterous. The Smith 65s are sweet pistols and perfect for the apocalypse being as close to 100% reliable as a mechanical thing can be. Back when I started with the Sheriff lots of guys shot Model 65s and 686s and never thought that they were poorly armed. Load it with .38 specials for fun and some nice hot .357s for social purposes. I’ve got some hard cast 158 grain .357 semi-wadcutters that I built for my 686 and I think that they’d give good service on man or beast. If we ever get together I’ll be glad to give you a box.

    Even though you’re not a religious man remember the saying that God never gives you more that you can handle, but you just wish that He wouldn’t think so highly of you.

  4. The 65 was the issue arm of the Waco PD back when we first moved here in 78. I wouldn’t mind having one today. (Not that I was ever in the Waco or any other PD.)

  5. I have a Model 65-2 357 with the 4″ barrel that I got for cheap years ago. It was a police trade in. The bore, forcing cone, and cylinder looks like it rarely got shot. The holster wear and light scratches show years of use. The grip was garbage and it now has a rubber Crimson Trace laser grip. My target loads are 38+p+ and I have a nasty 180gr JHP 357mag load. It has become the “Truck Gun”.

  6. Cleaning guns is not a chore, it’s a party! It’s the lovely smell of Hoppe’s, the glistening of blueing, or nickel, or chrome, or parkerizing (OK, not really glistening on that one), the lovely click and snap of finely machined parts fitting together (usually) with only an occasional BFH needed.

    Embrace the suck. And yes, at my house, it’s not really suck.

    BTW – we’re going ahead with the WWII weapons shoot this year, Oct 16, despite the ammo situation. It might get more expensive ($2 a round rather than $1) but I’ve already got the ammo bought, stockpiled over the years. I’ve got LOTS of M2 ball I might need help to send downrange. I just talked to the local Marine recruit depot, and it seems bringing a Ma Deuce out is not out of the question. Interested, Kim?

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