so, he wasn't here long.

the shower issue was indeed with the handle, and it appears to have just needed to be tightened. the handle wasn't turning the actual faucet anymore. i could have done that myself, and probably would have if it weren't for the broader situation and the fact that i knew he was coming down anyways; if i had broken it, i wouldn't have had time to learn how to fix it.

upon looking at the cleanout, he seemed to realize that the issue was real, but he didn't commit to actually doing anything about it. he seemed more interested in taking pictures.

but, perhaps more instructive was that i learned that he smelled exactly like the gas i was trying to keep out of the unit. as soon as he opened the door, there was a huge whiff of it, and he stunk the place up quite a bit just by being down here.

when i got a little bit closer to him, i could put the complex smell together a little bit better - it's a combination of third-hand smoke, gasoline and rotten eggs, either from the sewer or just from farting. the gasoline was perhaps diesel-ish, which makes me wonder what he's smoking. but, if i had any previous questions about his habits, they've been cleared up - you could definitely smell it on him, enough that it actually got me coughing. i guess the other option is meth, but i couldn't identify the smell of crystal meth on a user's clothes, because i've never actually been near it (or at least not on purpose). i mean, what does an elephant smell like? you'd have to have experience with elephants, or you just wouldn't know - and, if you're like me, you just don't have that in your odour database.

so, while i'm not convinced that i'm any closer to an answer, i did learn something - either he lives in the smell without noticing it, or he's actually the cause of it, himself, through some combination of his own habits. if it's the latter, there might not be a solution to this. and, it's kind of what i was worried about.

he's a white male in his mid 40s or very early 50s with a very scottish name. i doubt it's what he's eating.

i guess if he hires a plumber, we'll go from there. otherwise, we'll talk this out in court. but, i need to think this through a little more carefully now that i realize this.

i got some fruit after he left, took a shower and passed out for a few more hours, from about 14:00-19:00. there's the remnants of that hurricane coming through, but i dunno, really. i know that i'm going to stop myself from making eggs until i can get through most of the rebuild. so, i'm keen on being focused tonight, anyways.