08Jun12
A quiet day today, spent most of our waking hours on the balcony, reading, chatting and enjoying the lovely weather...26C but not humid and a gentle breeze keeping us comfortable.
Kyle arrived around supper time for an overnight visit while his girlfirend, Laura, her sister and Dad are off to the Country Music Awards festival in Nashville this weekend. Lots to catch up on in his life since our visit in March and we brought him up to speed on where we’re at with O2 therapy and appointments so far. He arrived in the midst of our excitement in the late afternoon. I’ll call it “getting a pulse on the laundry...”
I had done a load of laundry in our ensuite machine, without incident, before Kyle arrived. While he and Dad visited I went to retireve one load from the dryer and transfer the second from the washer to be dried. You can’t imagine the feeling I had when I opend the door and heard the sound of a rapid (obviously stressed) heartbeat in the little storage room where the laundry is located. I listened carefully, then removed the E tanks and other items stored there to check behind the machines. I could clearly hear what sounded like a rapid heart beat and see the vent tube pulsing at the spot where it dipped down from the back of the dryer. I went to tell Carman “we have a situation in the laundry room! I think there is a bird or squirrel trapped in the vent tube and I may have cooked it with the heat from the drier!”. I felt terrible!
We didn’t bring any tools with us, so I called our rental manager, Karin, to ask if this had ever happened to anyone else in the building and see if I could get some tools to remove the vent hose and release whatever was trapped there. She had never heard of anyone in the building having this happen, but said that the vents had all been cleaned recently, so we thought perhaps something had gotten in while the traps were off for cleaning. Karin said she would call Gord, who does some handyman work for her and see if he was available to lend a hand.
In the meantime, Carman helped me to rig the mop and broom handles on top of the stacked washer/dryer in such a way that I could prop the vent hose up. I carefully moved the hose, thinking to help raise whatever was in there up to the point at which the hose met the duct work so the poor creature could try to escape the heat and utlimately gain freedom!
Karin and Gord arrived a short while later and were surprised to see and hear the same evidence of a trapped animal that I had discovered...this was definitley a new one!
We began to discuss a release strategy...Gord tried the same tactic I had...finding the source of strongest heart beat, then gradually lifting the vent hose to help the mystery guest get to the duct tubing in the ceiling. When this strategy failed to secure any result, we turned the dryer on to air only, thinking the air flow would help whatever was trapped to move on out...No such luck! Finally Gord disengaged the hose from the dryer and I retieved a bag to place over the end...now we could simply lower the hose straight to the floor and “whatever” would fall into the bag. Carman opened the balcony door, we closed all the other doors in the apartment and were ready to rescue...whatever!
We attached the bag, lowered the vent hose and...nothing dropped into the bag! Gord tapped along the entire lenght of hose and...nothing dropped from the vent hose into the bag! The two of us carefully ran our hands down the entire lenght of hose (which was still pusling rapidly) but couldn’t feel the weight or any other evidence of a creature trapped in there. Now we were stymied! Maybe “whatever” had gotten into the duct work as a result of our hose tipping...Gord, Karin and I were listening intently at different locations along the duct work but still...the loudest evidence was in the laundry closet itself.
Gord asked if there were any fans turned on elsewhere in the apartment...not that those would share the same ducts, but that they all run parallel to exhaust outside. Karin and I checked and sure enough, the exhaust fan for the bathroom and kitchen was on. We turned it off and all went back to the laundry closet...no more heart beating rapidly! Karin went to turn the fan back on...and sure enough, the pulsing started again! It turns out the combination of air movement from the exhaust fan and what is likely a loose duct, was causing the pulsing of the vent hose and the sound we had been hearing...our rapid heartbeat.
Now, all I can say is that I was very relieved that Karin and Gord were our witnesses to this phenomanon...that none of us had yet indulged in Friday afternoon cocktails...and we all had a great laugh!
Quite a way to meet our new neighbour, Gord (and we’re grateful for his help and knowledge of the building’s duct work); I’m hope Karin isn’t questioning her judgement in renting to us crazy easterners - but hopefully looking forward to more laughs with us!...and we all have a new “you’ll never believe this...” story to tell!
PS - are all your "ducts" in a row...are you a registered donor yet?
07Jun12
Dj texted us today to confirm that she’ll be coming next week and has changed her departure plans so she can arrive in time to go to our round of appointments with us on Monday morning. This is wonderful...with her medical background, she often thinks to ask questions we wouldn’t even know to ask. We did have some negotiation on her travel arrangements...I suggested we would cover the cost to fly her here so she wouldn’t have to do the 5 hour drive after working a 12 hour shift (her Mother doesn’t need the extra worry induced grey hair - in spite of the magic Elisa can work on them). We missed booking her with a 50% off seat sale thru Porter Airlines by 1 day, so when she heard the full fare rate she refused the offer and said she would dirve. After some serious back and forth texted negotiation, we compromised with us covering a flight here and she will take the train back...Mom is happy to “win” this one!
After we settled transportation, she texted later in the day to ask if there was anything we needed, that she could bring with her. Nothing came to mind for me, but when asked, Carman didn’t miss a beat and said, “Yes...2 lungs, some peacan tarts & a cherry pie, please!”
I also chatted with Rae today and she told me “the annuals are in!”...pink geraniums and vanilla mums in the beds along the walkway...although doing the beds was something I’ve been looking forward to with great anticipation, I know I’ve left the job in very capabale hands and am anxiously awaiting pictures of the final product! I will gladly be content with the trade-off I’ve been offered...a bit of weeding here at our temporary home, in return for the outcome of new lungs for Carman!
No comments:
Post a Comment