I live in an apartment. It’s a matter of choice. My wife said we would live here and I said, “Yes, dear.” (Note: I did not say it was my choice.) It has some drawbacks, but also some items in the plus column. When something goes wrong, the Maintenance Department is only a phone call away. They have always been fairly responsive, if not always as dependable as one could want. We have been living here for nearly twenty-five years. Recently, the apartment complex was acquired by a new company, and many of the old maintenance guys seem to be retiring or disappearing with young guys coming in to replace them. Still, the quality of service is high.

The other day my lavatory wall developed a small bulge in the paint above the bathtub/shower. I had seen this sort of thing before. When a leak gets in between the wallboard and a good Latex paint, the paint holds, but bulges outward. I watched it looking for more signs over the holiday weekend. Seemed like a small and intermittent leak with just the one bulge. Didn’t figure we needed emergency maintenance. I intended to call early on Tuesday morning. But, of course, things can slip one’s mind. I didn’t remember until later on Tuesday as I saw a new paint bulge. At that time, I was running out the door. When my wife and I got home from dinner and running errands, I went upstairs and told the neighbors they probably had a leak in their tub plumbing again (the last time was probably five years ago), and I would be calling maintenance the next morning. And I did.