Drain Drops Keep Falling On My Head

Adventures in apartment rental continue. A few months ago, I woke up to find that the counter and cupboards above my sink to be drenched with water. After informing my super and doing some investigating, it was found that there was a leak of some sort in a water pipe above my kitchen that was dripping water. Fortunately, we were able to put a bucket underneath the drip and (for a slight reduction in rent) I emptied it every couple days. Eventually, the bucket stopped filling up, and while I noticed that the pipe was still wet, there was no water going into the bucket. Therefore, the water was clinging to the pipe and I couldn't do anything about it anymore.

Then for a while, nothing happened.

However, this week the flow increased and someone two floors below me was noticing a wet carpet. The problem was traced back to the original problem from a few months ago. Of course, there was nothing that could be done to catch the water because it was flowing down the side of the pipe, instead of dripping few inches away from it. Or was there?



Well, after all that, it looks like the water has stopped flowing for now and that the water pipe will be replaced. So, sometime in the near future, there'll be some plumbing work going on here. Hurray for inconvenience.

Light Pillars... That's Kinda Cool

So, I was driving back into Waterloo on Sunday night around 9:15, and as I was exiting Highway 7/8 at Trussler, I noticed that there was some sort of spotlight pointing up into the air, not unlike the ones that the casinos use, except this one wasn't moving back and forth. I thought it to be kind of odd because there isn't much interesting in this end of town. Anyway, I drive closer to the source and realize that this "spotlight" is actually just an ordinary floodlight at a used car lot (at Highland & Glasgow). How very strange, I thought, it doesn't seem to be a spotlight at all. But the light certainly was shooting straight up into the air, quite brightly too, I might add. Anyway, I didn't think anything more of this and probably wouldn't have remembered it if I didn't happen to come across the UW Weather Station page, where in the side margin, there was a blurb about what had happened. It says, For anybody who was outside on Feb 18 between about 8 and 10 pm you might have seen a neat atmospheric phenomena called a light pillar. This is when ice crystals make it appear that any light source on the ground extends into the sky." The page give a link to this site which explains light pillars. Pretty cool.

Still Got It

My team won both of our games on Saturday at the Big Brother's bonspiel to win our draw. Of course, the win was just symbolic as there wasn't actually anything to win. Also, I'm not going to draw attention to the fact that all of our opponents never curl. So, let me just revel in the fact that I was on a winning curling team for the first time since last April.

Giving To Charity And Giving Me Curling Practice

This weekend I'm in a charity bonspiel (aka curling tournament) for make benefit Big Brothers of Sarnia-Lambton. I had to raise enough money to be able to participate in the event. I've fortunately made that goal, but any bit helps, as it's a good cause. So, if you're in a charitable mood, you can donate online here or if you can't do it that way you can let me know and you can make an old-fashioned cheque or cash pledge. (the online method is definitely preferred, though). Anyway, if you decide to donate, it's much appreciated. Thanks.

Getting Back At The Laundry

Previously on Matt's Blog Is Stupid... Matt lamented on the "leaving wallet in pants when washing them" incident.

So, this week, it was time to get revenge. Revenge in the form of free use of the dryers. I had to recall one of the few remembered skills I learned while in university and make sure no one else was in the laundry room. While I won't get into specifics right now, I saved myself $2 and I didn't have to deplete my rare and precious stash of loonies. I gotta take some photos next time and I'll give an instructional how-to soon.

Laundering Money 101

I left my wallet in my pant, which I think washed. Oops. Oh well, at least most of the content of my wallet are plastic and I didn't actually have any cash.

Conspiracy - 1, Insanity - 0

So, it turns out that there was an alarm clock in the apartment below mine. When the super said he had checked with them, it turns out he actually called the apartment four floors below mine. So, it looks like it's gonna be all straightened away now. Hurrah!

Crank It To 11... Then Rip Off The Knob

Or... maybe just lose 11 straight games.

More Award Winning Commercials

I went to see the winners of the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival at the Princess Cinema last night, as I have for the past few years. There weren't any Canadian ones this year, that I noticed, but I did recognize a few from either US television or from the internet. Anyway, here are a few (the rise of YouTube certainly made this easier this year):

Coca-Cola - "What Goes Around"
Axe - "Coinage"
Amora Hot Ketchup - "Marian", "Spider"
Combos Pretzels - "Grace"
Nike - "R10 Crossbar"
Honda - "Choir"
Canal+ - "March Of The Emperor"

Conspiracy or Insanity

So, there's either a conspiracy against me or I'm going completely insane. Since I've gotten back to Waterloo after my vacation, there's been an alarm going off in someone's apartment near mine every night from midnight until 2am. It's a pretty faint noise, but at that time when all is quiet and I'm trying to fall asleep, it's quite noticeable. At first, I thought it was coming from the apartment above me, since ususally, sound travels down in apartments. So, I brought it to the attention of my super, and he said that the guy above me works midnights, so it's a good possibility that he's not home when it goes off. Turns out, however, that it's not coming from his apartment....

So, the night before last I do some more investigating, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. It's very hard to tell exactly which direction it's coming from in my apartment, because it's coming through the walls and therefore seems to be coming from everywhere. So, I head out into the hallways and discover I can't hear it outside my apartment. Same thing about the floor above me. However, I can hear it when I stand outside the apartment below me. So, this leads me to think that it's the apartment below me that the offending alarm resides. I notify the super with the new information....

This morning (after the alarm still persisting last night), I get a call from my super saying the people below me say it's not coming from their apartment.

This noise has to be coming from somewhere, and I guarantee it's not coming from my apartment (and by guarantee, I mean pretty sure). And why am I the only one who hears it? Wouldn't someone else hear it too? Of course, most people are older in my building and therefore are asleep at midnight. But wouldn't the people living in the apartment where it's coming from hear it at some point? So, either there are some who are conspiring against me to keep the alarm on or... I've gone completely insane. Probably from lack of sleep from hearing this alarm.