Landlord Adventures

Monday, Dec. 18, 2006 - 12:06 a.m.

Late yesterday afternoon after a mostly relaxing weekend, John climbed into the shower and began sudsing up...and the hot water disappeared.

He shrieked and jumped up into that little wire thing that holds the soap and the sponge. After John was coaxed down, I said I'd go and check downstairs to see and make sure that the hot water heater hadn't finally sprung the fatal leak or exploded or anything.

I bolted down the stairs and saw that the landlord was exiting the area of the garage where the water heater lived. I let him know, LOUDLY, that his timing could be better, because I had a husband standing in the shower covered with bubbles and wanting his hot water back immediately. The landlord blushed and cringed and bowed.

Which was nice and comforting, but which didn't bring the hot water back as soon as John needed it to be back.

It turned out that the hot water was turned off so that one of the apartments could have its water faucet repaired. The hot water would be back in less than an hour if all went well.

Meanwhile, we have Soapy John. Soapy John requested warm water via the microwave and warming up pots full of it on the stove. Soapy John had a very bad time in the shower on Sunday afternoon, but he still got a pretty close shave.

After Soapy John became Rinsed and Clean and Dry John, he was in a better mood. The landlord buzzed the intercom to let us know the hot water was back on, and was very apologetic for the bad timing of the emergency.

Honestly, he's a very nice human being, but a terrible landlord. It's a tough combination.

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Found this over in the arts and entertainment section of the online service of the CBC:

Mother may take Harry Potter Battle To Court
Last Updated: Saturday, December 16, 2006 | 1:10 PM ET

A Georgia mother of three may take her fight to banish Harry Potter books from schools to the courts after the state's board of education voted to keep the wizard series on library shelves.

The vote, on Thursday, upholds a previous decision by the Gwinnett County school board to deny Laura Mallory's request to eliminate J.K. Rowling's bestselling novels from schools.

The mother of three says the books instruct children in witchcraft.

"It's mainstreaming witchcraft in a subtle and deceptive manner, in a children-friendly format," said Mallory, who noted she is considering a legal challenge to the board's ruling.

"The kind of stuff in these books � murder and greed and violence. Why do they have to read them in school?"

Gwinnett school officials maintain the books encourage children to read and spark their imagination.

They also contend that banning books with references to witchcraft would result in classics such as Macbeth and Cinderella being purged from schools.

The series follows the main character and his friends as they navigate wizard school while also fighting evil.

It's not the first negative reaction the books have had. Several other parents and church officials have attempted to drive the book from libraries in the U.S and Canada and the Pope's official exorcist recently called Harry Potter a "prince of darkness."

Rev. Gabriele Amorth said the series doesn't make a distinction between good and bad magic.

The Harry Potter series has sold more than 300 million copies around the world. Four of the books have been adapted to films.

The seventh and final instalment of the series is expected to be published within the year. Rowling has revealed two main characters will die.

There's another very famous book that contains reports of murder and greed and violence -- and even activities that could be construed as witchcraft if one didn't believe in miracles -- whose title need not be brought to the attention of my very intelligent readership.

I sincerely hope that mother will be equally as dilligent in shielding her children from that book as well.

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Okay, there. Have a Monday!

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