Candace Meets the NYFD...

Richie had his first day of call on Saturday so he was gone EARLY that morning! I luckily had a day off from work so was just resting up and relaxing. All of a sudden I heard a fire alarm going off. I wasn't sure if it was from the upstairs apartment or not. I quickly checked for signs of fire but none were present. Then I heard water....lots of water. I opened our closet door and there was water leaking from the ceiling, LOTS of WATER! It came rushing out all over me and our clothes! I called my building manager first. At first, I thought that the neighbors upstairs had a tub or toilet overflowing. (Lets just say that they are new to this country from Africa and are still finding their way around!)

I called 911 and tried to explain to them that it was "raining" in my apartment and our fire alarms were ALL going off. After several attempts, they dispatched the fire truck. As I was waiting on them, I wanted to keep as much as I could dry so I started throwing down anything I could find to soak up some of the water that was now coming through the kitchen, over the dining table, and closet. I quickly placed trash cans, buckets, Tupperware all over to get the fastest leaks.

Then I went outside to join my neighbors and wait on the firemen to come. It was freezing and I was in crocs with holes because in an attempt to grab other shoes, it was raining on them and all of my socks were soaked! I was also soaked because I had been drenched trying to keep all of our clothes and bedding from getting wet. It was not snowing at the time, but it was FREEZING outside! I didn't feel so retarded when my neighbor had on flip flops...LOL. I texted Richie at the hospital just to let him know that I had called 911 and it was "raining" in our apartment but that I was doing okay. I also called Cesar hysterical since Richie wasn't home.

The firemen showed up and busted down a couple doors, shut off the water valve, and quickly figured out that there was a busted pipe on the 3rd floor in the attic. I was blessed that Richie's resident let him come home for the day so he was there to be with me! And of course, Cesar came over too! So, it was a PARTY! The manager of our building was great during this mess! The electrician, plumber, and builder showed up within minutes. They came with buckets and mops and quickly started helping us get the water out so the wood floors wouldn't be damaged. They checked all electric outlets before they turned the breakers back on. Reggie was out of town so Richie kept checking on her place to make sure it was okay and it was. They took all of our soaked clothes, blankets, and towels and sent them to the cleaners for us. They came over yesterday to check on this and today they are coming to fix all of the problems (repaint, fix the sheet rock, etc.) Lets just say that I am very impressed with them!

If medical school isn't enough to "wrap our heads around" we always seem to have more things going on in our life. I know its just to keep us on our toes!!! Just thought I'd share another one of our adventures! I of course went from crying to laughing hysterically that this actually happened to us. I had to take a few pictures to share! Fun times in NYC!
Love,
Candace and Richie


P.S. My neighbors upstairs thought it would be a great idea to take the buckets of water and dump them out to help. The only problem is they felt it was another great idea to dump it down the stairs in 15 degree weather. Richie was cracking up about this. Our manager Steve then had to shovel the ice off of the stairs and salt it. But there were icicles left as proof!