Wednesday, July 2, 2008

A Watery Affair

This afternoon, I came back to the office after lunch and as usual headed upstairs to my room. The office was practically empty cos it was still lunch time. And I love the office when no one is around. So nice, quiet and peaceful. So I head up to my room to enjoy the couple of minutes of solitude before the rest of them come back from lunch.

As usual, I'll log in my account and check my blogs and emails and all that. After about 15 minutes, I hear the girls coming back cos I can hear them giggling all the way from my room upstairs. Suddenly, one of them starts screaming my name from downstairs asking me to come down.

I'm not all that bothered cos these girls most of the time will always scream for me for the slightest thing. They're still pretty new here and not being mean or anything, but they're a little blur at times So, I walk down and they're all excitedly jumping up and down and pointing at the area just behind the reception.

I look in the direction they're pointing and get the shock of my life! The whole place is covered with water coming from the back. It looks like a nice little river forming there. I'm stunned and my brains practically stop working. Instead of running to the back to see what's wrong I stand there like some moron and just look at the pooling river of water.

After a couple of seconds and with those 3 stooges still screaming frantically at the pool of water, my brains finally start to unfreeze and I run to the back to find the source of the leak and discover that some smart little person left the taps running throughout lunch and it overflowed and made its way all the way to the front of the office soaking up the conference room and two other rooms downstairs and practically ruined the reception area.

There was so much water in the corridors that if I waited any longer, I would have probably needed a sampan to go to the back of the office. The water was left running for about an hour, probably since lunch time for it to cause that much damage. And the best part is no one admits it was them who left the taps on. I mean, who would, ya? My boss is going to freak out when she finds out about it and she can be scary when she's in one of her bad moods.

I know I'm safe from her fury cos I was out of the office practically all day and only came back during lunch. Phew, thank god for small miracles. In fact, I think I'll try and make an appointment tomorrow so I don't have to be in when the boss comes if. I don't really need to see the fireworks. I've been on the receiving end of her fury on more occasions than I care to remember ... LOL!

Anyways, after switching off the tap, I had to figure a way out to sweep all that water back out. I was a little stumped for a solution though. The best option would have been to vacuum the water up but unfortunately our vacuum cleaner is not the wet/dry kind so there went that idea. In the end I used the dust pan to scoop as much water as I could into buckets.

That was really a back breaking job, the amount of times I had to bend down, scoop water up and then carry that heavy bucket all the away to the back to dispose of was unimaginable. Luckily two other male colleagues came back and seeing as how I was more senior in the company, I bullied the in completing the job ... LOL! Seniority does have it's benefits at times. I know my back is going to ache later tonight.

All I wanted was a nice quiet Wednesday and I end up being the water boy. The place is going to stink like hell tomorrow. I'm sure you all know what stale, dampy carpets are going to smell like, right? This isn't the first time I've experienced a flooded office. Once in my previous job, the same thing happened too but that was even worse.

Some moron left the taps on before going home and when we came to work the next day, we were all greeted by a nice cascading flow of water from upstairs. And the moment we opened the doors to get in, all that water inside gushed out like some scene from Indian Jones and soaked all of us. I took the brunt of it cos I was the fool who volunteered to open the doors! I had to even go home and get a change of clothes. And the office stank for weeks after that.

I'm really not looking forward to the smell tomorrow. Maybe I'll go on a quest to look for Shirley of Hollywood or something ... hehehe ... Actually I don't even know who the heck Shirley is and that she was even living in Hollywood! :D
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40 comments:

  1. I thought you were going to say that you're used to girls screaming your name!

    Seriously though, must have been a shock to see all that water. Hope it doesn't stink in the office too much and your back doesn't ache too much....

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  2. such absentminded people really need a checkup! i have the same kind of people at my workplace. sometimes, the tap is dry (i teach on an island, so we need to buy fresh water from the mainland)and these people turn the tap on but don't turn it off after finding there's no water! and when the water does come, water will be running for who knows how long!

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  3. They are definitely going to need a we/dry vac to get all of the water out of there or it will smell horrible.

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  4. I think the whole universe conspires against you, Nick! :o) And you wanted a nice quite Wednesday! That's your Donald Duck' syndrome in action.

    Have you ever heard that "Don't worry, be happy" song? That's the way...

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  5. I would LOVE to have 30 seconds of ALONE time in the office to check my blogs and emails....

    Lucky Dog.

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  6. The World According To Me - Hahaha!

    It was a shock. I was rooted the ground for quite awhile before deciding to do anything about it. And it already stinks right now!

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  7. Perry - There are lots of people like these around in the world. Think of much of wastage could be cut down if only people aren't forgetful at times.

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  8. Tammy - I just got into work and the place smells real bad! My boss is going to have a fit when she comes in!

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  9. Cidao - Yeah, that's my Donald duck syndrome working in overdrive ... LOL!

    I think you're right. There probably is a conspiracy out there to get me :D

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  10. Meleah - LOL! That's something I"m pretty thankful for, getting the chance to blog at work ... :D

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  11. Oh no! I hope you won't hear your boss screaming your name today!!

    The way you describe the girls or stooges is so funny!

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  12. Ooooohhh..That is bad nick! Stink office sure will give you headache for a month..
    Whatever it is, hopefully 'the truth' will be revealed soon..hehe I'm wondering who left the taps running! hmmm...

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  13. Why didn't all those screaming stooges help you clean up? Good grief, it's not just a man's job to clean up that mess. I'll bet one of THEM was responsible for the mess in the first place.

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  14. ohhh noooo...going into a stinking office is no fun at all...

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  15. I'd better call in sick the next day and reason out the pain in my back for scooping the water out, lol!

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  16. Now would be a great time to set all your meetings outside the office ;)

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  17. alamak!Stinky office is not good!!Isk, i can so imagine the smell now Nick..yikes!!! And i hope your back doesn't ache that much tomorrow..if not that would be a double whammy for you..:(

    p/s: good luck with the boss ;)

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  18. Hi Nick,
    Who do u think will admit to something like that?*snickers!*

    Anyway, dun the bathroom/toilet have those water level control holes something like a bathtub to make sure the water dun overflow outside? Just asking because this is the first time i hear some1 got flooded twice bcos forgot to off the tap!

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  19. The World According to Me - HAHAHAHA!!!! That is so wrong. Nick is used to DUDES screaming and calling him "Young Man!" :D

    Btw, TAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahaha

    I'm back Nick! I'm BACK!!!!! :D

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  20. ha ha ha so funny..kind of an interesting day for you all. i rememeber when i first start my new job in tuaran, 1998 or 1999 we were hit by flood and i was like so excited i even moved to stay a night to my staff flat. it does not happen everyday or every year right!

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  21. BT - Well, the good news is, she wasn't that pissed but she did nag at everyone at the office the whole day ... LOL!

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  22. Kadus Mama - We did find out the culprit in the end. It was another of my male colleagues. At least, when he came back to the office later, he did admit it was probably him who forgot to turn off the tap.

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  23. Corrina - Trying to get those stooges to help clean up would have taken way longer than actually doing it myself ... I thought one of them was the culprit too but surprising it wasn't ...

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  24. Aunty J - It's no fun at all. It smells like some dead rat in here right now! Ugghhhh!!!

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  25. Emelda - It's horribly stinky right now and I'm glad I can actually make appointments and leave the office. I don't think I could take the smell all day long.

    And luckily my back was okay ... :D

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  26. Jen - Yup, I know I wouldn't admit ... hahaha ...

    Actually, we do have those overflow holes in the sinks, but unfortunately this was the tap that had a hose which was collecting water in a pail and you know what happens when the pail gets full, ya? Same thing happened with my old office too ...

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  27. Rozella - LOL! I knew I should have not post that that guard story!

    A tag? Again? Ok, you're obviously back to your normal self! LOL! I'll come check it out later. Thanks anyway.

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  28. Deanna - LOL! Yeah, it can be kinda fun but not when you have to scoop all the water out yourself ... To be honest, I've never experienced a real flooding and I hope I don't ever have too. The office flooding is more than I can take already ... LOL!

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  29. Shirley of Hollywood = Lingeries' Pages?? :) LOL

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  30. Faizal - LMAO! I didn't even realize the link pointed to lingerie site! That will teach me to check the link out more closely before I post it ... LOL!

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  31. Ah there!!! You also got something "exciting" happened to you what! Ha ha ha!!!

    For the Indiana Jones incident, did u actually go back to work after changing clothes? If it was me, for sure I'd have taken the day off he he! ;)

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  32. wah, i wonder how much yr company hv to pay for the water bill that particular month frm yr previous job.

    Eww.. i hate the smell of the stinky damp carpet. so, how's yr office smelling like now?

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  33. Marzie - Yes, strangely enough, I actually went back to work. I couldn't think of any excuse to skip work and besides those times I was young and naive ... LOL!

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  34. Jean - I'm sure the bill will be pretty high for next month ... LOL!

    And the office stinks like rotten fish right now ... LOL!

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  35. going itno stinking office is not fun

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  36. I can't stand the smell of damp carpets.. even when Buddy spills a bottle of water, it can stink for days in the living room.. I can't imagine how your office is going to smell. At least, we can just roll it out and dry it.

    I soooo wish I could see you in your indiana jones moment.. that would've been hilarious.. being the first guy to open the door and all.

    Anyways, hope your boss and your back didn't put a damper on your whole week! :)

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  37. Data Entry - It most definitely is no fun at all. And the place really stank like rotting fish! Urggghhh!

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  38. Shemah - It smells like the garbage section of a wet market over here right now! I don't think I'll ever get used to the smell ...

    Indiana himself would have approved of the moment, I tell ya ... LOL! Well, it wasn't so hilarious back then to have my shoes and pants all soaked. And my favourite shoes at that ... grrrr!

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