Our company has special needs when it comes to office space. We need to have a place where we can commute easily to Makati (where most of our clients are). We need a place where we can crash if we work late. We need a place with a shower so we can bathe after a site inspection, where we can store our "business clothes" (usual attire here is a t-shirt, jeans / shorts, and sneakers)...and the main requirement (a dealbreaker really) is that we need a place that will accommodate the office kitties.

We've been staying in a dinky little apartment in Kapitolyo for almost 2 years. It's the generic 2-story, 2 bedroom deal -- but we tore down the walls at the 2nd floor and installed our workstations, rack storage, meeting table and filing cabinets. It's quite run-down, but is beside our bank, 4 carinderias, a massage place (!), a parlor, a photocopy place, a grocery, and a gym. So all in all it was a great place to be.

Except for the toilet. The fucking toilet has a fucking backflow problem. This is usually due to the owner trying to save money by doing some shortcuts with the piping and using undersized pipes. And it is so not pretty. Michael, our officemate, even jokes about us peeing and taking a dump over the floordrain and just stepping on the goo since everything gross just ends up returning through our floor drain. What is grosser is that most of the ick isn't even ours :( I've not used the john for almost a month and the thought of going to Starbucks makes me doubly happy because (1) I get my caffeine fix, and (2) I get to use a decent washroom.

I'm sick and tired of spending about 5k every 2 months to have the plumbing fixed, so we're moving to a new place. Still an apartment, still in Kapitolyo, but a bit bigger, better plumbing, and 2 bathrooms (so the girls get one for themselves). The bonus is there is a small maid's room we can use as a "cat room" and I plan to install the kitty litter boxes and an exhaust fan in this room.

Not So Short Rant:
I spoke to the landlady about the backflow problem and the imbecilic bitch blamed our cats, saying cat hair enters the toilet drain, and blocks the pipes, ergo the dreaded backflow. Forget the fact that our cats never enter the toilet, drains have strainer covers, are supposed to be on 4" pipes, and that I've made it a habit to pour drain cleaner down our pipes regularly. But no, when I explained to her how pipes work (and I should know it's part of my bloody job to know) she just waved her diamond ring clad hand and dismissed me. I swear I felt like biting her diamante wearing finger off or taking off me shoe and swatting her on the head with it. As usual, I smiled and tried to control myself. No point in arguing with an idiot, our lease is ending next month, and I just want to leave peacefully.

Wow, I've come a long way din pala -- In my younger days I would have sic'd our lawyer on her. Now I try to choose my battles. :)

This entry was posted on 8/03/2005 at 8/03/2005 10:28:00 am. You can skip to the end and leave a response.