at risk of catching the plague
my parents, the lucky ducks, are away. again. this time to europe, where i can't reach them via a simple phone call. lots of responsibility, lots of errands, lots of things to do to keep the club running. well, when i got there today to wait, yet again, for these electricians to do some work, i ran into a tenant from the apartments above the bar. he informed me that the hot water had been out all day. bugger. i don't know the first thing about lighting pilots, much less where the boilers are. i know they're in the basement somewhere, but our basement is quite large and windy and ... well, as basements are in nyc, full of giant cat-sized rats and just dirty. i mean, there are three restaurants who share the space.

i sit on the dilemma for a few hours before my friend convinces me that i NEED to call some plumbers. the problem may be as simple as re-lighting the pilot, but if i'm not going to try it myself -- i was afraid the rats were going to eat me and give me the plague -- i had to, for the sake of the tenants, call a plumber. and so i did. and i found myself waiting once again. they show up. i take them to the basement, follow them into the deepest darkest reaches of our subterranean hell, and we discover the boiler room in the basement area of one of the korean restaurants. it's in a very busy area, and no, it wasn't as simple as relighting the boiler.

they flipped a switch. really, a switch, like a light, only this one was on a red box that said gas. apparently, someone knocked into it while moving boxes, so says the restaurant's owner. although the plumbers tried to say that it was because there was noise, that some pump isn't supposed to make any noise. and that it needed to be replaced. whatever. still, the plumbers were pretty understanding, didn't make fun of me too much. but then charged me $125 FOR FLIPPING A SWITCH. they originally tried to charge me $150.

crikey.