Saturday, November 20, 2010

Maintenance Monday

We run into some strange people and even stranger circumstances managing an apartment complex.  There was that time when a tenant burned right through the kitchen linoleum and set his drapes on fire with a hot plate that tipped over.  I didn't even witness that aftermath until he moved out months later.  There was another incident when an old lady's pressure cooker exploded on the stove and shot the lid right through the stove hood and up to the ceiling.  The hood and fan were ruined, and there was half-cooked rice on every inch of the kitchen.  She tried to say it was the stove's fault.  Seriously.

Sometimes, my (maintenance) Man and I crack up at the funny ways people try to tell us about things that need attention in their apartments.  I thought it would be fun to share some of those here.

Here's a poor soul whose electrical outlet in the living room is shorting out and needs rewiring.  He said it like this;  "The electric line in the living room has problem.  I open the light, but it turn off quickly every time.  I can hear sound like Ka Ka Ka."

Here's one that we never quite figured out.  "Moth built sand house inside one of the cabinet."  I didn't know moths were such accomplished carpenters.

The overly dramatic, "my heater is just not working please hurry before we freeze to death."  It was the end of November and I'm pretty sure the temperature wasn't below mid-40's that year.

"The toilet paper holder is unglued old got dried out."  Besides some editing problems, this tenants complaint described a new TP holder being mysteriously ripped out despite the careful use of her 4 kids.

Property management has proved to not only be a huge learning experience, but very entertaining as well.