From: Jessica Murray <death.to.koalas@gmail.com>
To: the initial landlord
hi.
i just got out and i didn't notice any actual leaking.
i'm going to * this mildly, though. see, it's a little damp (very, very mildly) on the tile in the same spot as it was before. it doesn't seem to be leaking from the shower. i don't know if that's a reason to be concerned or if it's condensation from the wood ceiling or even just me dripping. i'll keep you updated, i guess.
i did notice some kind of little insect, though, as i was looking around. i've seen bugs around there before and just killed them. this one got away, though - and seemed to disappear into the concrete. i wasn't sure if it was an ant or a baby centipede. it was fast. is it possible that there could be some ants in the concrete causing the leak?
google suggests this is possible, but only if there are existing cracks in the concrete. i don't know. i know i saw something appear to disappear into the concrete.
*but i also know i see things sometimes and shouldn't rely too heavily on isolated experiences*. i was thinking about that being a possible problem, and that's when i tend to imagine things. it's actually reasonable to suggest that the reason i couldn't kill it is because i hallucinated it.
so, i guess i'll have to let you know if i see that a second time...
i have seen the odd ant in here, all in the living room near that little storage room, but i've lived in basements most of my life and know it's not really unusual to see what they call 'explorer ants' - even in brand new, finished basements. they're just looking around, and won't come back if there's nothing there to get. it's important to get them when you see them, but it's not necessarily a sign of infestation. the fact that i leave all my food in the fridge should dissuade them. the best way to avoid bugs is to not leave food out...
the handle, though, needs some kind of fix. i sort of assumed that you just had it oriented backwards, which i wouldn't care about, but it's worse than that. the way it was before was how you'd expect it to work - off when it's to the far right, then moving from cold to hot as you turn it to the left, reaching maximum flow somewhere about halfway. somehow, the blend between hot and cold seems to have been broken. *when you turn it to the left it's pure cold, and when you turn it to the right it's pure hot, with no way to blend the two*.
the way i got around that today was to rely on the amount of time it takes for the water to turn from cold to hot. so, i'd turn it really cold for a bit, then pull it back to a very low flow on the hot side and wash while i was waiting for it to warm up. then when it got too hot, i'd turn it back to cold and repeat.
but that's not just ridiculous, it's also really wasteful, and requires a very mild flow to be workable. i don't know how this works, and it doesn't really matter to me if it's lined up right (i don't care if hot means cold), but i think it's really important to get the blend of hot/cold working again so that the temperature is actually adjustable.
j