A Roof Over My Head

Having once spent a winter with less than favorable shelter, I am happy to find myself with a roof over my head. If, at some point in the future I find there are no longer roofers over my head, working diligently to teach oxen to tap dance, then I'll truly be thrilled.

Six weeks ago, when I first toured my new apartment, the roofers were hard at work. The minor amount of water damage inside was scheduled for repair prior to my move. All was well with the world, at least that infinitesimal part of the world contained in this small apartment. Perhaps I was overly optimistic.

Having spent eight years in New Mexico, I can appreciate the benefits of a flat roof in the hot and arid desert. In a city that averages over 40 inches of rain per year, a pitched roof is probably a better choice. However, with a brand new roof there shouldn't be any problems. At least not for several years.

The buildings flat roof is an ideal location for air conditioning units. Units, which needed to be moved to install the new roof. This left my apartment with a nice big chimney for all the warm air to escape through. The HVAC company was diligent in putting everything back in it's place, requiring only a week to finish. In their haste to cover the large holes with A/C and ventilation ducting, they managed to poke a surprising number of small holes in the brand new roof. The first to be surprised were my next door neighbors. It seems they weren't expecting cold water to be running through a gaping hole in their ceiling. My own ceiling, though damp and discolored, has so far survived.

The next surprise, discovered by my downstairs neighbor, was big enough to share. Imagine my joy to be awoken late Wednesday night by the apartment maintenance man violently pounding on my door. The flooding downstairs was so bad, they wanted to make sure I hadn't drowned. My own ceiling was damp again, but still intact, with no leakage. I had no sooner crawled back to bed, when he returned, rapping vigorously on my door. He needed to check all my closets, just to be sure.

Now the roofers are back, apparently, getting some practice in for the upcoming soccer season. Besides patching the numerous small holes, they've also decided that the drain holes, which they plugged, might serve some useful purpose. Once they've finished, the noise level will decrease and the huge dumpster will be gone, freeing up three good parking spaces. The downside, I'll no longer be able to open my bedroom window and throw out the garbage.