Yesterday, pulling into the garage, I noticed water had dripped onto a bunch of boxes. I looked up and our furnace, which is, yes, on the garage ceiling, had water dripping from some joints. I was dumbfounded but worked my way, step by step, through the resolution of the problem. I discovered that the filter was filthy and chastised myself for having let it get that way (somehow I thought the filthy filter had some connection to the water dripping). I went to the store, bought new filters, and changed the furnace filter (our furnace is not really a furnace but the blower unit for a heat pump).
This morning, we reviewed our plans for the cruise: what to pack, what meds need refills (old lady stuff), and so on. This morning I discovered that Belinda, my brave spouse, plans to take a single suitcase -- not even a large suitcase. It came up because the final hurdle is getting to the ship. Parking in the pier is $12-15/day: too much. Most of our friends either have mothers (who are still living) or are mothers (and some fall into both categories). We leave on Mother's Day. Something that hadn't penetrated for either of us as neither of us have mothers. In fact, I was focused on the 7th, the one year anniversary of my mother's body being discovered.
We'll get to the pier. No worries. The thing about a single suitcase came up when Belinda suggested we take the bus; I stared dumbfounded and asked: what about our luggage? She replied that she was planning to take a single suitcase. Our friend, who was over for tea, and I stared at Belinda. I declared that I was looking forward to seeing that.
That was all pleasant enough.
I went upstairs to bring the folded laundry to the bedroom and I heard what I thought was running water. I turned off the air cleaner, to be sure that it wasn't that noise, and it was the sound of running water in the wall between me and the unoccupied unit next door. The woman who bought it a year ago is 85 and not physically and mentally fit for the role of condo-owner. It explains, suddenly, the water dripping in my garage: same wall.
We get the only other residents in the complex together and we get into the unit and find that the toilet on the main floor has been running water onto the floor, flooded the main floor and the basement/garage. I stepped into the garage to see what was happening there and stepped into a couple of inches of water.
We turned off the water and electricity for the unit and spent some time hunting down relatives (the owner has periods of confusion) and are now getting ready to negotiate for the clean-up in our own unit.