Sunday, March 22, 2009

Unfortunate Incidents

I went to Narita Airport to get Angelica Sunday. Her plane was a bit late, but it wasn't a big deal. Some unfortunate incidents took place earlier that day, though.

So recently I have been cleaning up my apartment quite a lot. It has been super warm the last couple of days, so I took the opportunity to do some Spring cleaning. I was doing some dishes about an hour before I needed to catch the airport bus and I heard a new sound come from under the sink, accompanied by the sound of gushing water. Awesome. I instinctively tried the cartoon method of holding the pipe where the water was coming out. Having that fail, I knew I had to shut off the water valve. The next logical question was "where the freak is the water valve?!" I checked under the sink, I checked by the washer and dryer, then the bathroom. Next I ran outside and ran around the building.

There were plenty of valves, but they all seemed to be for the natural gas. AHHH! I ran back in and checked the sink. Water was flowing all over the floor. I put my dish-washing tub under the leak to catch the water, but it was a weak stopgap measure. The tub was quickly filling. I ran out again and towards the mechanic garage next to my house. This being a Sunday, no one was there. Then I jogged to the taxi place next door. In my most excited, grammatically awful Japanese I explained that my apartment was about to float away. There I was directed to talk to my landlord who lives next door. On the way there I called my boss with no answer.

My landlord is about 100 years old and has a hearing aid. She didn't look thrilled when she answered the door and a big sweaty white man was standing there. When I first started to explain my problem, she was certain that my apartment wasn't even her building. Awesome. Eventually she remembered that she does in fact own the large apartment building directly adjacent to her home. We walked very slowly together over to my place. She pointed to a baby manhole cover in the gravel where the shut off valve had been hiding, and that was that.

With only about 15 minutes left to get to the train station, I hopped on my bike and peddled like a monster. My bike didn't appreciate the effort, and the chain came off the gears about a block from my apartment. Giving some colorful blessings, I ditched it, ran back, and got a taxi to the train station with about 7 minutes to spare. The End.

2 comments:

  1. Hahaha ... you wouldn't have thought so many bad things could happen to one person. But then again, bad things happen to bad people ... hehehe

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  2. haha It sounds pretty painful! Good thing you made it! I dont know what I would do by myself at the airport.. well, maybe get some sushi! Thanks for picking me up!

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