The New Apartment- Part 1

Part II The Storm and Moreyo

Besides the really odd problems, I had come to the end of my rope here. The landlord never answers emails. He does answer texts. My dishwasher is not yet fixed. The back hand rail is not yet fixed. The front light is out again. I think the upstairs neighbor is taking laundry in and the machines are always in use.

There wasn't much more I could say. He would think I was a nut. He lives an hour away, rarely fixes anything, so telling him anything extra would not go well. He said he would tell one of his guys to call me. Even for the dishwasher, that he had been telling me to screw off on.

And then came the night of the storm. We all had a lot of warning. I think WIVB had said yesterday there would be a bad one today, in regard to wind. That worries me, the upper patios are held up by like gum and a prayer.

I was bitching, again, about the fact I can hardly get to do laundry. The upper apartment uses the machines sometimes 9 hours a day, several days a week. I went down earlier, about 5. Penny had a MASSIVE amount of laundry down there and said she would be done in a bit. She is still down there.

I can hear her talking on her phone, through my floor from the basement, but can't understand what she is saying.

The wind is picking up. I have not felt well all day.


I have a 2 panel curtain on the sliding glass doors in the kitchen. They are called 'English Garden' I think. Fully closed, they really look like an English Garden with a path.

I would really like to put up the pic now, but I have taken 2 and it is one of those times where ATS won't let you upload no matter what kind or size. It is blowing in the wind, thought the sliding doors are well insulated.

I told the landlord people were arguing in the basement. I told him there is an odd situation here.

And the scream comes from the basement.

a reply to: reldra

That's an interesting story there you wrote, is it real or just made up?

originally posted by: Archonic
a reply to: reldra

That's an interesting story there you wrote, is it real or just made up?

It is a mix of true and not true. The next part will be all true.

Part III Dark Water or the Water Poltergeist

Here I am on part III. I want to explain water poltergeist first.

After I got a new 'bed in a bag' set, original price $340 with the spread and 9 pillows and shams. Sheet set, 1250 thread count original price something like $109- I got both sets on sale at a big department store. Something odd happened. I have since added a cool Harley Quinn sham to one of the square pillows from wish.com.

I walked in my room, to look at my made bed to see a dark circle in the middle of the spread. I immediately thought a cat had done it. I dove onto the bed and smelled it. It had no smell. Zero smell. I then looked at the ceiling. Nothing there. And not a place where any pipes would be anyway.

I then looked at the tag, 'dry clean only'. Oh FCK. I questioned google and the best answer was to try to blot it with water or a little Febreeze. I had first tried an oil based 'scent bomb' in a spray bottle. Glad that didn't stain it more. After I used the Febreeze, it dried in an hour with no mark left.

In my searches on google, I did look up 'water marks with no explanation'. I got a lot of links to 'water poltergeists'. Hmm. I hoped not, lol. That was probably in late November. I must have posts here saying when my new bed and frame arrived.

There was no answer. My bed is pushed into a corner where both the long side and short sides are outer walls. An actual corner of the building.


Never happened again that way.

Fast forward to March 1st. I had a dream where there was water coming through the ceiling in my bedroom. Not where the bed is, but on the opposite long wall. I was trying to move things out of the way as I knew the plaster was going to come down.

My grandmother was right, again. Dream it on a Wednesday, it will come true on Saturday. This kind of thing runs in my family.

I was laying about yesterday morning. Had got up once to feed the cats, but was definitely thinking about napping or watching a movie in bed. Looking at when I texted my landlord, the first problem was about 10:25 am.

I was drifting off to sleep. then I heard 'drip..drip...drip.' I remember thinking maybe it is the pope on the radiator, sometimes they lightly drip. It wouldn't stop, though. So I willed myself to open my eyes.

From the ceiling, almost exactly where I had dreamt, there were 2 lines of water dripping from the ceiling. Right over the radiator. I couldn't guess if it was from the upstairs neighbor's bathroom or bedroom as all the apartments are slightly different.

I went upstairs and knocked. No answer and no noise.

I then texted the landlord. he said he would call the upstairs neighbor. 15 minutes later he texts 'they are all at church, she will come home'. I put a bowl and pan on my radiator. I pick my bed up and lean it against the wall. I haven't built the frame yet, so i just lift it up.

An hour later, I text the landlord again, no answer. 2 hours later, the upstairs neighbor comes home. She knocks on my door. She tells me her radiator is leaking and she told the landlord that multiple times and he won't come to fix it.

I have just about lost it now. I call the landlord and get his voicemail. I tell him what she said. I am standing in my living room and notice what looks like condensation coming down the side wall of a cabinet door. I have seen condensation when the boiler overworks on windows, but not on cabinets. I add that to my voicemail. That the boiler is going crazy again.

I get off the phone and look at the cabinet side. A calender I had on a 3M sticky hook has fallen. It is a Normal Rockwell calendar from the pharmacy, It is on the floor, all wet.

I go into the kitchen and see water dripping from the cream colored facade that goes around the kitchen on 3 walls. It is dripping into the end cupboard.

I recall when water dripped into another cupboard a couple months ago. I had asked the landlord to inspect the pipes. He said no, that the upstairs neighbors had spilled something.

I start pulling things out of the cupboards with water. This time it is an upper cupboard, in the middle is a digital built in oven and a lower cupboard.

Fck. What is left of the huge pack of Scott double roll paper towels my aunt brought me is destroyed. I wanna cry. Not for paper towels, but she has been making sure my life is easier since my mom died and when she brings paper towels I exclaim "I'm rich!" and she laughs. I had actually taken a pic of the pack of paper towels and put it on Facebook with the comment, "Best gift an aunt brings amirite?" and I got a ton of likes.



The lower shelf had tools, batteries, flashlights. My best flashlight bit the dust. Also two 'brooklyn lanterns', battery operated, that my mom bought me from a catalog about 2 months before she died. They seem to be ok.

I texted the landlord about the new leak and says, "I will have a plumber call you."

I was sort of thinking that day. I HAD TOLD him to look at those pipes.

Three hours later, the built in oven starts to beep. The display is showing an error code. F0
I look it up on the internet, it means either a button is stuck or the circuit board is dying due to water damage. I am going with the latter. I text him and as if it has a dedicated circuit breaker.

He texts me back with 'propably not. You should unplug it."

REALLY???? I am about to punch walls by now. My oven is built into the wall. There is no plug. It is 2 thick wires going into a junction box. He just does not know. Now the oven is starting to smell. I open it, it is warm. Though I never turned it on.

His answer, "Go down to the fuse box, you may have to try them one by one."GRRRRRRRR

I found the circuit breaker, luckily it was marked as oven and marked right.

No plumber called me until 30 minutes ago. He says it might take awhile, that the upstairs neighbor ignores appointments. By this point I am not believing anything anyone has to say.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

(I had some pictures, won't upload. Changed browsers, cleared cache. It seems around this time every night no new pics will upload here)

a reply to: reldra

You are a strong lady Reldra for putting up with such terrible landlords. I know the place seemed like such a deal but its obviously a headache now. Please consider moving 😕

a reply to: Sheye

It's getting better. The brother of the property manager was here today. I saw the work truck and ran right out. This guy seems to have more of an ownership stake than the manager.

He was stunned by the longllist of things that hadn't been fixed.

He was actually here to fix the attic door for girl's apartment that had been broken into from inside the attic.

NO knowledge of the plumbing problems. No knowledge that my dishwasher hadn't worked since I had moved in.

Definitely no knowledge that there is air in the pipes and they whistle at a high pitch about 20 times a day. Worse as the day goes by.

He apologized profusely. He said a plumber would be here on Thursday morning and that plumber could call an appliance guy for my dishwasher, which the landlord had been avoiding.

There is more, still. Above and beyond all this. One would think 2 different leaks in one morning would be enough. That fire alarms going off for no reason would be enough.

It is what lies under the surface that bothers me.

I finally found out the exact reason for the behavior of the neighbors across the hall. They are on methadone maintenance. I like the woman that lives there, better on that than dead. But, I have an idea that a situation like that could lead to problems. Or a problem, one day. They are never loud, but I hear them arguing sometimes in slurred voices. The American girl, often goes to their apartment, that is probably why she sometimes looks 25 and sometimes pushing 40.

But what lies beneath...this building. I feel it may be pulling people in or down.

It was empty in November, when I came to see it. Though there was a padlock on the apartment across the hall and they say they have lived here since June. Something happened there.

My front door has a a frame where you can see the bolt going into the frame, though it is solid. The chain lock was cut. The slide and holder is there, just no chain.

Something happened here besides the fire and I want to find out what.

The Police

I don't know if this is a part. Or not. I was posting in a silly thread, I had a goofy video of Trump singing Adele's "Hello" blaring on the laptop. There's a knock at my door. I assumed a neighbor, no one really shows up here unannounced.

I snap my neck back to look up at a 6'4" police officer. I say, "Can I help you?" He asks me if I know The American Girl.

I say, "Well, ya, sort of, she's my neighbor." He says her family called for a wellness check. He asked if it is normal for her to go out and leave her car. I said I didn't know and wasn't sure what car was hers in the lot. I did tell them she had her attic door broken into from inside the attic, though, and was worried about it. I said I thought I heard her in the hall earlier when the plumber was here. Other than that, I hadn't spoken to her face to face for 2 days. The landlord's brother and nephew had been here to fix her attic door.

There were two cops. They went back upstairs to knock on her door and call out.

A shorter cop comes down and asks if I have the landlord's phone number. I give it to them and they leave.

I then go to the apartment across and ask if they her number. Nope.

I go upstairs and knock on The American Girl's door and call out. Nothing.

It does seem odd. She must not be answering her phone or maybe didn't show up for work.

I decide to traverse the steep steps to her 2nd floor patio in the back. Maybe a poor idea, especially in high winds.
But I go up.

I knocked on her back door and her dining room window. A tiny sliver of curtain showed a lamp that was on and a chair. I couldn't see anything else. I even tried a window after pulling up the screen. Locked.

People don't just normally disappear in the age of smart phones to the point their family calls the police to check on them.

I don't have a good feeling.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

I have an old house. Built in 1914.
Many cities taxed your property by how many rooms you had and they counted closets as rooms so many older buildings only have a few closets.
This house has two.
Quirky trivia.

a reply to: reldra

Reldra, Darlin' - LEAVE! This rat trap sounds unsafe on so many levels - basic plumbing and electrical fails, meth heads that will end up starting a fire or blowing the place sky high, possible demons in the scary ass basement,weeping walls, missing (Dead???) girl - Leave!

But. First. Tell. Us. More.

Great story.

a reply to: reldra

Happy to read the brother of the property manager seemed to take all your concerns seriously.

Hopefully your neighbor who's family is looking for her showed up or will.

Must say it makes for interesting stories 😏

Reldra, Star and Flag

You've hooked me .... more please.
Makes me think about my old apartment, it was a strange place as well.

Namaste,
YogaGinns

I didn't want to write more, as it had become creepy, in real life.

The picture of the outside stairs..I just couldn't find a good one on google images. The ones I actually went up are steep and wooden and straight up.

I should have gone in. I should have broken something to go in. I might not have been in time, but I wouldn't be wondering about 'what if I had'. That is the worst part.

I remember opening my door about a half hour after hearing the police break a window up there. The landlord was standing just inside of the apartment across the hall. I might have said something like, "So what happened?" I might have said, "What is happening?" I do not recall.

He turned his head and this is all blurry and said to me, "Valerie passed away. They said it looked peaceful."

Then I was dizzy and my knees were not wanting to support me. I know a small cry escaped my mouth. I leaned on the doorknob to both hold me up and close it. I leaned on it for a second and then was able to walk to the sofa, where I fell into a pile and cried. My housemate was sitting on the loveseat, sometimes looking out the window. He had never spoken to her. I am sure he was unsure as to what to do for me. He did say something like, "I took more pictures from outside for your story." I was just in terrible shape.

And the days go by. The heat was off this morning. Apparently Valerie controlled all the heat from her apartment, even though the landlord said my upstairs neighbor controlled mine and Valerie controlled the heat for across the hall. Well, he must be on drugs, because that isn't true.

He finally told the neighbor across from me to go into Valerie's apartment, it has a small, broken window from the police going in. So, the heat was turned back on for the building.

I am glad I didn't have to go in there.

If anything, the feeling of darkness, here, is larger.

In the beginning, I was picking a 'villain'. I picked something, but not the villain.

Now, the remaining neighbors want us to knock on eachother's doors daily. Just to make sure we are all ok.

And they have been. I always answer the door. Usually they ask a question about the building, but not exactly necessary.

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

I have an old house. Built in 1914.
Many cities taxed your property by how many rooms you had and they counted closets as rooms so many older buildings only have a few closets.
This house has two.
Quirky trivia.

I heard that elsewhere recently, too! Weird, that they'd count a closet as a room!! Explains why so many older homes didn't have them!!

Haven't seen you in the forums Reldra 😕... been worried about you .. do come back and tell us how its going at the new place .. if you are still there .

Is she banned ? Or did she just change her avatar ? 😕

Ok... I guess she is gone .. figured out what a banned avatar looks like