During the week, from 4:30 to about 6:00 pm, I go to Kitty and Priti’s house. At this time, I’m mostly still taking out garbage and boxes and running to the store for them. I investigate downstairs and discover a three foot pile of clothes in the laundry room. To get to the washer and dryer you literally have to step on these clothes. There are clotheslines hanging from one end of the laundry room to the other, with clothes tossed over them, at one time, to dry. Many, many collapsible hampers filled with clothes line the edges of the laundry room, balancing on the clothes on the floor. The cupboard above the washing machine is packed with detergent bottles, which most, I discover later, are empty. The countertop on the left, also covered with clothes, is has stacked flower pots and dirt, which I see comes from the broken window above. There was a piece of cardboard “taped” to the window, but it wasn’t doing much good.
Speaking of windows, the kitchen window was an issue with the inspector. He said it need to be operable. Again, there was cardboard duct taped to the partially opened window. We would need to fix that before he came back. So MR came over, removed the tape, climbed up onto the countertop and was able to get the window closed. I removed all the little knick-knacks, wiped everything down around the window (they had three shelves on either side plus the windowsill) and cleaned the window.
Priti complains that the cable TV isn’t working. She asks me to call the cable company. After waiting on hold for over an hour, I find out that she’s given me the wrong account number and the cable company won’t verify me as the owner. Aggravated, I go downstairs to their desk, which is covered in a foot of papers, dog paraphernalia and unused laptops, find the modem, unplug it and wait a few moments and plug it back in. Thankfully, that did the trick- Kitty’s TV is working, but Priti’s still isn’t. She asks me to look at the TV itself.
Oof.
I have to get to the TV, which is on the other side of her “bed”, and I say that in quotes because it’s just a mattress balanced on a couple of pieces of wood. I know this because I have to step ON the “bed” to get to the TV because I can’t possibly climb the four-foot tall piles of stuff that start about a foot into her room and cover the remaining areas of her bedroom, excluding the little path to get to her “bed”. As I step onto her bed, it tilts to one side, threatening to throw me off into the clothes piles. I regain my balance, tiptoe across the “bed” and land by the TV, which is also balanced on a piece of plywood, acting as her TV stand. Luckily, the input and outputs are on the nearer side and I’m able to reboot her cable at the TV as well. At one point I leaned on the TV “stand” and almost pitched the TV on top of me, balanced on her “bed”. I stop and take a good look around.
Her bed is covered in bloody tissues, bloody pillowcases, coffee cups, glasses with wine stains on the bottom and DVDs. Her Nook and a portable DVD player are her bedroom companions. Surrounding the bed are piles and piles of clothes, boxes, shoes and more wine bottles. I grab a few of the wine bottles without a word and take them downstairs for recycling.
Before I leave that day, I ask Kitty if she needs anything. She says her overhead fan/light doesn’t work. I go downstairs and find the box I started putting all their light bulbs in (she buys them in bulk) and take it upstairs for another round of “circus bed-balancing act”. At least hers is a proper mattress and frame. I’m able to change the bulbs and I check to see if the fan works (it does, but it needs a heavy-duty cleaning). Kitty tells me her bed is much better than Priti’s, because they need to replace her bed. In fact, she says, they want to get Priti a whole new bedroom set. This is one of many, many delusional ideas that has poured from Kitty’s mouth. I don’t say a word though. I can’t, because if I do, I’ll scream.
The inspector came back during their recuperation time and said everything was fine except there were some boxes in the boiler room too close to the boiler. We had done everything he asked and I think he was just pointing out shit to justify him coming back. I moved the boxes out of the boiler room and he took the violation sign off the door. (Not completely though, it’s still partially there, which drives Priti crazy. She said she should sue them for a new door <eyeroll>).
The APS Supervisor calls me and says she’ll be coming by the next day. This should be interesting.
Inner Pieces 