Thursday, April 25, 2013

a fire and a flood

No photos today.  Although it is a bit dramatic, technically, there was both a fire and a flood in our apartment yesterday.

We decided to spring for a pizza for dinner last night.  Our kitchen was simply too messy to prepare dinner, and by the time we would have cleaned up enough to start cooking, either Mark or I would have already begun to gnaw off a hand or arm in hunger.  But we didn't want to spend $3.00 per topping to get a 'gourmet' pizza, so we ordered one topping and decided to dress the pizza a little more ourselves.  I laid out sliced sundried tomatoes and roasted whole garlic cloves on a baking sheet to warm under the broiler as we waited for our pie to be delivered (we also added proscuitto).  Only, I didn't want to add more mess by way of a dirty baking sheet, so I lined the sheet with foil and parchment paper.  Then I put the pan under the broiler?  The paper caught fire and flames leapt out of the oven!  I quickly shut the oven door until the fire died, but the sight of flames shooting up out of our oven was super scary.  I tossed the burnt mess and tried again, sans parchment.  It was a minor crisis, but the pie was delicious (thanks for asking).

Hours later (nearer to midnight, because that seems to be when I get the urge to clean), I had gathered enough momentum to do a few loads of dishes.  Load = 1 (tiny) dish drainer of dishes.  We have to wash a little, dry a little, put them away, repeat.  I was filling the (also tiny) sink with water to scrub up some silverware and Mark was just getting in on the fun, multitasking by pulling the trash to take to the dumpster while preparing to take Moses outside a last time before bed.  Pulling the trash bag, Mark cut the top of his foot on a broken piece of glass in the trash bag.  The cut was small but pretty deep.  It happened really quite fast, but I left my post in the kitchen to bring Mark some first aid supplies in the bathroom, and there was some business dragging a chair back and forth so Mark could elevate his foot and... I forgot the stopper was in the sink and the water was still running.  I dashed back to the kitchen only to find the floor absolutely flooded.  the carpet that meets the linoleum floor was saturated, the silverware drawer was full of water and everything in our cabinet under that was wet.  Of course I turned off the water, and frantically started to sop up the mess.  I used nearly every towel we own, including 3 'dog' (older) towels, 4 bath towels, 6 beach towels and a plethora of hand towels.  Plus a wad of paper towels.  And couldn't soak up all the water in the carpet... it was a long night.  Never did quite finish the dishes, but Mark's foot seems to be okay (thanks for asking).

I didn't get any complaints from our neighbors today, so it seems I lucked out and our flood did not affect the apartment below ours.  However, in my grabbing towels from the linen cabinet and rushing back to the kitchen I did manage to break the door to our linen cabinet.  I am so upset with myself.  I suppose there's a possibility of a wood glue repair, and I am lucky I did not break the glass door, but... what a disaster.  There's still a fan targeted towards the wet carpet, a full bag of wet towels; let's not forget the original dirty dishes/kitchen, and Mark and I are exhausted today from the lack of sleep.

Today, I began researching renter's insurance.  Not sure if these types of issues would even be covered, but my eyes are opened to the silly little stupid mistakes that can cause a lot of damage.

Well, I better hop to the laundry.  I've got a lot of towels to wash.  Thank goodness tomorrow is the weekend.

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