It never ends

As I was fixing to go grocery shopping I heard a gawdawful banging from the apartment above me. I can understand that everyone needs to do maintenence work in their apartments so I wasn't angry at the Louds for that particular noise. This is nothing but normal apartment life.

My irritation began when I looked up towards the ceiling and noticed a huge water stain on the ceiling above my shower. It's about two feet long and maybe ten or twelve inches wide at the widest point.

Oh fuck me! I can't believe I have to deal with them about something else!

Switch to me all flustered, jibbering at B to call his mother and have her go over to the Louds' to tell them that their leaky plumbing has damaged our ceiling. I'd have gone myself but unfortunately I don't have much knowledge of plumbing vocabulary in German.

My MIL came in a few minutes later to say that due to some shoddy plumbing work done by the previous tenant (the one I hold fully responsible for getting the Louds in that apartment in the first place because they took his lease) they had water leaking into their hallway and the plumber was there and blah, blah, blah. Okay. Just as long as they know that they're going to pay for my ceiling repair.

I was getting my grocery sacks together so I could leave when Frau Loud herself showed up at my door. This is an event because she normally makes one of her daughters do her dirty work - much like I make my MIL do mine.

She had a scared shitless look on her face and began blathering about how she was sorry about the water leak and the plumber was there and that's when I stopped her and invited her to come in and speak with B about this. And may I say that I was very friendly to her.

Frau Loud came in and told B pretty much the same thing that she'd told my MIL but said that she'd also called the building superintendent to come look at this and she'd send him to look at our apartment too. She thought that maybe the Wobau would pay for this but if they didn't she had renter's insurance that would and B said "Okay. Just send the building super down to see us."

Let me stop at this point to bring up a few things.

1. She was barefoot. That sort of weirded me out. I'm not that fond of the idea of a stranger being in my house barefoot. Hope she walked out with the soles of her feet covered in dog hair.

2. She's got some serious BO. Body odor yargs me out so much I can barely discuss it.

3. She started crying for pity's sake!!

Frau Loud is famous for turning on the tears whenever she's confronted about anything. Every time my MIL has seen her and mentioned the noise problem, she's started to cry. The tenants in her previous apartment building have said she'd cry if they talked to her about the noise problem there. The woman at the Wobau (the proper one, not the fuckwit my MIL last spoke with) said she tuned up there as well when she was called in.

I was very polite and friendly. B wasn't friendly but was more civil and polite. Sort of neutral, just-the-facts-ma'am. Neither of us showed any irritation towards her, told her she was at fault or tried to intimidate her in any manner. All we wanted was to let her know that we had water damage from her so she could get things straight with the Wobau and her insurance.

We got entertained with welling eyes, a trembling voice and pleadings over and over for us not to blame her.

Alright already. Enough with the crying. We don't blame you. No pins will be put in the Loud Family voodoo dolls over this. Just send over the building super.

And uh...wash your pits, okay?