Back In To The Cold

Got in late, late, last night (Or very early this morning) after our flight was rescheduled due to the storm by New York/Baltimore. As it turns out, the flight while later was very smooth without any stops. I'll have a series of posts on the vacation up shortly, complete with some great pics of places been and things seen.

Now drowning in paperwork that has piled up, so I need to dig out of that in addition to the snow.

And, thanks to the ineptitude of a court officer, I've managed to now acquire one harassing stalker complete with threats of bodily harm who has threatened multiple persons before. Great. On the upside, police are now notified and we'll see if the guy is more than just talk or not.

Sheesh, I may need a vacation from the residue of my vacation.

If It Wasn't For Bad Luck....

I'd have no luck at all.

Today was stormy with flood advisories.

Much flooding on the roads etc, starting around 5:00 pm.

A lot of flooding is ok, but not inside your office, dammit.

It seems the landlord didn't repair the back-flow valve and sump pump system after the flood that took place last year before we moved in. We had been led to believe before signing the lease that it had been taken care of, and considering they had just redone all the carpeting and drywall in the entire basement of the building, it wouldn't make sense to just leave the problem to reoccur, right?

Apparently not.

At 6pm, with my partner and secretary already having left, and just as I was about to leave the office, I heard a gurgling sound from the direction of the bathrooms across the hallway. Then a rushing sound.

Sewer water then came pouring out of both toilets, and the sink in the sump pump room.

It started flowing out, and fast.

I called the building maintenance guy. His repsonse "Dude I'm home and already drinking, can you go in the sump pump room and attach the hose to a pump and pump it into the sink?".

So I went in and let him know the water was pouring out of the sink and there was already a good three inches on the sump pump room floor and water was pouring out the bathrooms.

"Oh" says he. A real great help he was.

The dirty water continued heading inexorably towards our office. I started looking for a kayak.

I called his manager and explained there was flooding.

He said "Well there's lots of flooding on the roads". "Yes", I said, "and that's normal in a heavy storm, but it is not supposed to be flooding inside the frickin' building!"

Needless to say we're not renewing our lease with these guys.

And while I was talking with them, the water came in, and not just through the door, but through the wall nearest the water:

The smell was terrible. Be glad they haven't invented smelli-vision folks.

My favorite shoes were casualties as I raced to unplug equipment, lift computers off the floor and save what files in file boxes I could. Those comfortable yet classy looking shoes are toast.

Everything wooden is apparently going to be a write-off due to the sewage, the fridge is probably dead, and forget about the sofa.

Thank goodness I insisted when my partner's and my practices merged that all files from the start of the merger forward are stored electronically backed up in multiple locations. The office may be toast, the practice is not.

I really didn't need this right now.

Great Moments in Secretarial Typos

So I dictate a letter to an entity that is using my client's trademark (and business name) for their business name.

This is causing some definite issues, including the state applying the entity's worker's unemployment claims to my client and also creating lots of confusion for vendors, customers etc. My client has politely asked them to use a different name to end this problem but they continue in their wrongdoing.

So we begin with the firm yet polite cease and desist letter.

However, my secretary wrote the penultimate sentence as follows:

"It is our demand that you immediately decease and desist use of the "trademark" name.

I told her that was a little harsh.

After all, I didn't want to tell them to F-off and die just yet, nor that they had to kill themselves in order to stop their tortious behavior.

That comes after we file the complaint.....