We had the plumbers over to check on the leak in our wall. I had noticed mold growing at a join and that water seemed to be collecting into bubbles behind the paint, so we knew we had a leak. So  kanis checked the lease-agreement, found that any repair that would be over $100 is the owner's responsibility and relaxed, as this is definitely going to be over that. We had to rip out a wall and part of the ceiling to find the leak and discovered corroded pipes... and a massive nest of leaves, twigs, acorns ans chipmunk feces.

In fact, it literally showered down upon the unfortunate plumbers (who were very patient with the whole thing and have likely seen as bad or worse)- thankfully, they'd had a bit of a head's up on the filth, so they'd laid down plastic before going any further. Easy to clean up, yay- which they did themselves- kudos to them.

So, now we have a "holey" wall, evidence of an established leak that had seemed to "go away" over the winter (the water had been turned off and the pipes emptied to prevent damage from freezing while no one was in the building) that the previous tenant- or the owner- had simply patched over and painted, and an infestation of the cutest little invaders...

I mean, chipmunks are fucking CUTE- disgustingly cute. Agile, playful and hilarious to watch, but dammit, they've apparently been living in the walls for years. Someone in the past has sealed up the access-hatch to the attic-crawlspace, preventing anyone from going up there to patch any holes or clear out nests, so the 'munks have had it sweet for generations.

I have mild allergies to molds and rodents (their feces and dust, really- I can pet someone's rat, for example and not get sick) and my inhaler has seen some use, lately. This is pretty bad- mold has grown all along the wet beams, and the water has apparently been leaking for the entire time since we'd turned on the water-supply, and, once the joists were soaked, it started to come out of the walls.

How nice, we find a major problem and the poor owner is off in England getting surgery for his back. The guy had a stroke only a couple of months ago, does he need any more hassles? Yeah, I'm sympathetic to the guy who owns the place- he's nice, if a bit hack-handed with the repairs he's been doing around the place. But, to be honest, a lot of the really crazy shit we've found had been done by the previous owner- I think this fellow has simply been doing what he can to make the place presentable.

We still like the house, despite the staircase of evil, the mud-patch we call a yard and the hot and cold running rodents (three different species, so far. EGAD). My hope is that Mr. M will be OK with the fact that we keep finding stuff that needs to be fixed: I mean, he'll either be cheesed off because now he has to deal with it, or be pleased because someone finally gives a shit about this poor, neglected property.


Update on the dog-kicker situation.:

It's unfortunately nebulous whether or not she abuses her dog- I know she didn't mean to hurt him, that she never intended to harm him, but it still bothers the fuck out of me that she felt kicking him was not only OK, but actually necessary, as she later told me in a reply on her journal. She's since deleted the journal, but I've screen-capped all of it, so I have evidence of her game of distraction to get me off the real issue: whether or not she has the skills needed to teach a big, rambunctious, possibly-part-wolf dog that would be a handful even for a knowledgeable trainer.

Since she has called into question my own integrity (badly, but hey, she tried), and told me that I didn't know what I was talking about, and that I lack "class" (her words), it's becoming obvious to me that this girl is living in a weird little fantasy-world all her own, where kicking her dog is nothing to worry about.

She just doesn't seem to understand that it's not just one person's unwitnessed word, but five. That five separate people all saw the same thing and all agree that there is something fucked up about even lightly kicking one's pet for anything, let alone something as minor as peeing on their shoes after a long, tiring, exciting night. She refuses to take any responsibility for her behaviour other than to pull out pseudo-animal-psychology out of various documentaries, TV-programs and her butt to justify her "training technique" and make dubious claims about it's necessity to be firm and be the alpha of her pack.

So I'm asking, does anyone know this person on a closer basis than I do? Have you been to her house and seen how she treats her pets in private? Would anyone be willing to let me know if her dog is actually safe and happy, or if they worry about him, too? Comment here or, if you have info that's too private (or potentially legally actionable), email me at twdragon[at]dracoventions.com

Basically, I've learned that I cannot make a report about this without certain information- a user-name on a website and a vague description of the person and their dog isn't enough.

*siiiiigh*