Maintenance Woes

I live in a very large building. Sometimes, the maintenance staff is great and really efficient, but sometimes, eh, not so much. Last week, the lightbulbs in our foyer and dining room burned out. (The building installed light fixtures that use those super long-lasting fluorescent bulbs, and they are responsible for replacing them.) On Monday, Lord Kissington stopped by the front desk and put in a maintenance request. When I arrived home on Monday night, the foyer light had been changed, but the dining room light had not. I stopped by the front desk Tuesday morning to put in another request. When I gave the apartment number, the woman asked if my husband had put in a request yesterday. I explained that he had and that only one light had been changed. She rolled her eyes, so I guess this kind of thing is not unusual. When I arrived home, there was a note saying they had changed the lightbulb, but when I flipped the switch, nothing happened.

On Wednesday, the woman at the front desk was surprised to see LK again. He suggested that the light might be broken as well as burned out. When I arrived home on Wednesday, they had fixed the light, but it’s definitely a case of be careful what you wish for. The other fluorescent overhead lights in the apartment aren’t too harsh. But now when you flip the dining room switch, first you hear that tinkling sound that you get in most office fluorescent lights. Then when the light comes on, it’s this horrible harsh greenish light. Our dining room now resembles a police interrogation room. Sigh.

In addition to our lighting issues, we’re having some major bug issues, so I stopped by the front desk to ask about getting exterminated. When the lady saw me coming, she said, “Don’t tell me they didn’t fix that light of yours.” We arranged to put our apartment on the list to be exterminated the next day. When I came home from work on Friday, there were bugs all over the kitchen and no sign of any extermination. Luckily, the exterminator showed up yesterday. I am now waiting for the bugs to die a slow, painful death, which they don’t seem to be doing. Considering the level of the problem, we’ll probably have to have the exterminator back again this Friday. Sigh.