It’s amazing just how much of an effect two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom can have on one’s life.

It is absolutely necessary if you wish to stay alive.  For example, you can survive for about 9 days without water when the temperature is 80F, but raise the temperature by just 30F and this drops to 3 days.  And that assumes you’re in the shade while you’re without water.  If you’re in the sun, you’re basically screwed.

But the presence of water can also be a bad thing, such as the Saguenay region in Quebec experienced in July 1996 or the tsunami that devastated countries in the Indian Ocean in 2004.

Or when it’s in your living room.

It’s that last example that I have a certain amount of experience with.  My first time was when my 38 gallon salt water fishtank acquired a slow leak one evening and emptied itself over the course of about 5 hours.  Stepping into the darkened living room (the GFI had blown when something electrical got wet) and getting a soaker is definitely an experience that one can do without.

My most recent experience is going on right now.  I picked something up off the floor of my living room yesterday and discovered that it was damp and had a mildew smell.

Uh oh.

Investigating further, I determined that it seemed to be emanating from the air conditioning unit in the wall of my apartment and when I looked at the things in my den that are on the other side of the wall, I noticed there was evidence of water damage there, too.

So, I started moving things away from the damp carpet, rented a storage locker at a Bentley Storage (nice helpful staff, good prices, and a free hat and pen, too!) and started moving stuff into it today.

The building manager came and dealt with the immediate issue of the leak (condensation drip tray drain plugged), sprayed a fungicide/moldicide on the damp areas and left a huge blower to try and dry things out.  The condo’s inspector is going to come check it out later this week, but I’m fairly certain that the carpet is going to have to be replaced.  Even if professional carpet cleaners do their thing, it’s not going to address damage to the underpad.  Time will tell how that plays out.

Since then, I’ve thrown out a bookcase that was damaged by the water and put all those books in storage and pushed most of the other things around so they’re as far away from the damp carpet at possible.  More things are going to be put in boxes and moved to the storage locker.

It’s like I’m going to have to move into this apartment all over again.

Amazing the effect a little water can have, eh?