Not So In Love With China Right Now

So remember what happened with the septic tank flowing back up through our sink and belching all over our kitchen and living room?  And how the property management promised that it would never happen again?  Remember how mad I was at China about that?  My mom wrote me a reply and said, “I don't think you should blame China, though. Remember the three feet of sewage we had to clean out of our basement? And all the stuff we lost?”

And I thought, yeah, but that was because of a flood.  It was no one’s fault.  Our problem had nothing to do with rain and everything to do with a septic tank not out flowing properly.  And who ever heard of using a septic tank for a 26 story apartment building?  That's another aggravating thing.  And now I have proof that I have every right to be mad at China.  Because it happened again!  At about 4:00pm on Saturday I walked into the kitchen to do something and noticed a puddle of water on the floor and it was coming from under the sink.  

I cleaned it up and thought that might be the end of it.  But then as I was cutting up potatoes for dinner, it started coming out again, this time more!  It would gush for a while and then stop.  I’d sop it up with paper towels as it came out.  But it was becoming clear that, it being dinnertime, everyone in the apartment building was making dinner and using their sinks and bathrooms.  And so the poop-water flowed and flowed.  I almost didn’t have enough time between gushes to sop it up and make dinner.  We ran out of paper towels and I had to run to the store.  I bought paper towels, regular towels, and car wash sponges hoping we could put them under the sink overnight and they would magically soak up the water while we slept.  We were pretty sure no one was going to come to our rescue that night because it was Saturday.  As I was coming back from the store, Adam called to say that the water had gotten so bad that he couldn’t keep it in the kitchen anymore.  So now it was a major issue, and not something we could just leave overnight.  It needed to be fixed ASAP!

We called Gary several times, who is the only person who knows our landlord’s number.  And here’s where China sucks.  The property management is responsible for fixing this problem.  And they’re actually the only people who CAN fix the problem because it cannot be fixed from inside our apartment.  Our landlord doesn’t have the phone number for the property management.  She only has the number for a “logisitics” company who would then call property management.  This logistics company only works regular weekday hours and companies like this often turn off their phones on nights and weekends so they can’t be reached.  Vivian told me this is how China is; I’m not making this up.  So we were only able to call in a plumber, which we knew would do us no good.  The plumber came, and used this mechanized pipe snake which I now know is called a drain rooter:

We told him it wouldn’t work because the problem was not a clog, but he tried it anyways.  It didn’t work, so he went and got an even bigger one.  Go figure!  That didn’t work either.  Also, the second time around there was water on the floor, so that pipe snake rapidly wiggling around on the floor splashed the nasty water everywhere.  His next plan of attack was to just plug the hole with a towel.  We told him the towel would just fill up and then start leaking eventually.  But we let him do it.  It stopped up the water for a while, and just as the landlord had gotten the floor wiped up, the plumber noticed that the towel was leaking.  And for some reason, he decided to pull the towel out.  And when he did that, black water came pouring out and covered the kitchen floor:

About that time, the logistics guy showed up.  The landlord had finally gotten a hold of him, and it took him a long time to get here because at the time she called, he was out drinking in a restaurant across the river and had to take a taxi here.  He spent most of his time on the phone, presumably talking to the property management.  Many other people showed up just to spectate, including two security guards, our neighbors, and the plumber's wife.  I love that our apartment was a complete mess too, so everyone in China got to see how sloppy Americans live.  I don't care, it's not like we had time to clean up.

So this genius plumber, he then decides that they only way to stop it now is…. tape.  That’s right tape.  And I’m not talking about plumber’s tape, I’m talking about clear packing tape.  These are all temporary solutions, of course.  Because by this time, it’s been decided that the property management company is going to take care of the problem once and for all the next day at noon. 

About a half hour after they left, we checked on the tape, which was supplemented by a trash bag tied around the pipe to catch any leakage.  But there was more than just a little leakage going on.  A small hole in the pipe had broken out, which is what happens when you try and “stop” water from flowing.  Frankly, I’m surprised the tape held fast enough to break the pipe.  But now we’ve got a situation where we have to change the trash bag out whenever it gets too full.  Thankfully, it was about midnight at that point, so most people were in bed and weren't using water.  I made myself get up at 5:00am, though, and every subsequent hour to check on it.  I had dreams about going to check on it.  They were the stupidest dreams ever.

By the way, this reminds me of something else I've been meaning to rant about.  Another thing I really miss about America is quality trash bags.  I have yet to find a quality trash bag here.  Most of them are see-through, thinner than paper, and it’s so easy to poke holes in them.  God forbid you throw away anything with corners.
  

They also don’t come with ties.  I miss Glad ForceFlex so much!  The trash bags we’ve been using to catch the water are the thickest gauge I’ve been able to find, but you still have to tie a knot in the bottom before using them otherwise they leak. 

So to my delight, the bag was empty all of the times I woke up Sunday morning and it stayed dry all day.  They must have started working on the tank early in the morning.  So the only thing that was left to do was to replace the pipe under our sink, which someone came to do this morning.  I'm hesitant to say that this is all over now... but I will.  Because I'm tired of this.  I think it's time for a nap.

One last tidbit.  We found out we were the only apartment in the building experiencing this problem.  The last time this happened they told us other people had the same problem and I assumed they meant other people in our building.  But it turns out this happened in more than one building.  (Our complex is made up of 8 buildings)  The reason it only happened to us within our building is because our apartment has the shortest pipeline to the septic tank.  So when the poop-water built up, it took the shortest route to freedom: Our kitchen and no one else's.  Isn't that lovely?