drat fink

current events

so i was without power for about 18 hours at my apartment until moments ago. ok, thats not exactly true, i ran an extension cord last night from my neighbors apartment, but, in theory, i was powerless. and, as expected, it was a burnt out fuse. unfortunately, the fuse box is in the basement of the building which is only accessible through the landlords "store" on the ground floor. i dont actually think you can call it a store because noone has bought anything in there since 1955.

so im annoyed for any number of reasons with the landlord. first, the wiring in the building sucks, and he refuses to even consider looking into what could be done. and now it looks like it will end up costing me considerable dollars (in increased rent) to put in a gas line for a stove so i can cook and have the air conditioner running at the same time. (im guessing thats what tripped the fuse.) and, of course, that conversation was precipitated by my complaining about his negligence (always a touchy subject).

meanwhile, at least part of my hardship could have been avoided if he trusted his super with the keys to his store. there is absolutely nothing worth stealing in the store. there is no reason not to have this contigency plan for emergencies. the landlord even said it was a good thing this didnt happen while he was away, but there was a good chance he might not have come in today and he doesnt work on saturdays, so i could potentially have been without power until sunday. needless to say, he has no plans to make any changes except to charge me more.

and then i asked if there was any way to reach him after business hours so he could have come back and dealt with my problem, to which he said that he would not come back at night even though he only lives about 10 minutes away on foot (and it was 7pm when it happened). so basically he doesnt give a fuck. if the laws werent what they were, i would have bludgeoned him on the spot.

service ace

broke my sports viewing lockout recently. a first place mets team and time to kill made for an irresistible combination as did the clay courts in paris this week and my recent affinity for tennis. ive kept the nba at bay but ill likely dip my toe into the world cup later this morning. it would be nice with a chocolate croissant and a cafe latte but my garliced homefries and swiss chard breakfast will have to fill that void.

but my kvetch heute morgen is a familiar one. espn has shown the french open live all week. nbc buys the final weekend rights and will likely show condensed time delayed semifinals and could possibly treat the finals and their viewers with equal distain. you suck, nbc. ad infinitum.