Temporary Mold Eviction!!

Yes I mean to say eviction. Let me back up a bit. A couple weeks ago I informed the maintenance workers at our Leasing Office that there was mold/mildew growing on the ceiling of the master bathroom and I was unable to clean it myself do to my shortness of stature. Someone from the maintenance department came and looked at the black specks taking over patches of my ceiling. He said it looked like the mold had gone through the paint and they would need to send a mold inspector. Oh joy. The mold inspector came last Tuesday and confirmed the mold had penetrated through the paint. Pretty tough to do since by the window at least there are about 20 layers of paint. He recommened the ceiling be replaced and the wall right around the window. We would have to be put up in a hotel during the work because of asbestos in the ceiling. He said the Office would contact us with options for hotels once the subcontracting had been arranged.

I waited that week for word on what the plans were for our apartment. I spent all Saturday at home with the kids and around 4 pm I walked past the front door and noticed something sticking in the door. It was a one-page letter informing us that we needed to check into our hotel the next day, Sunday, and be there until Tuesday, March 25. General information about the hotel was provided, but nothing specific about what our room had as far as kitchen facilities or even the number and kinds of beds available. So much for personal contact, instructions, notice, and options!

Now I didn’t it was too bad except that I was told I would have options and I had expected some instructions as to what I had to do to prepare our apartment for asbestos removal. Besides, I could always come back to the apartment in the evening after the workers had gone home to pick up any items we might forget to pack. At least I thought I could. I called up the office and discovered that the locks would be changed on our apartment because of the asbestos and we would need to schedule an appointment to get in while the work was being done.

Suddenly I had to frantically pack up anything we might need for the next 9 days. I never did get any instructions on how to prepare the apartment, but considering the asbestos I decided to just move everything out of the bathroom myself. It was quite fun. Sadly, I had to work a bit on Sunday, but I thought it was an ox in the mire sort of situation.

Thankfully the hotel we are staying in is really quite nice. We have a two-bedroom suite with a full kitchen. The hotel provides a great hot breakfast and a small meal in the evenings Monday through Thursday. All I need to prepare are lunch each day and dinner on Friday through Sunday. Not bad at all with the kitchen facility available in our room. The only downside is the kids have nothing to do. We will be taking lots of walks to parks, swimming in the outdoor pool (provided the weather warms up a bit and the wind stops, yes I’m complaining about California weather shocking! ;) ), and playing at the Burger King Play Land across the street. Sounds like a plan to me.