FROM ALL APPEARANCES, this was a peaceful day at Fair View Apartments. The sun was shining on the fields and barn roof across the road (the view). And after Kevin and his riding mowers had left the premises, the lawn looked great and it was pleasantly quiet. But there was a tell-tale sign that all was not right, and it was a big white truck with the wording " Compleat ReNew" (don't ask me why they've misspelled a word in their name..I've yet to ask them). Remember the broken water pipe? The damages were insidious and the restoration dragging out. The insurance adjuster, we'll call him Gerry (since that's his name) called me at 9:00 a.m. to tell me he'd be about 20 minutes late in meeting me at Apartment 59. What a stroke of luck for me! (I'd forgotten the appointment completely). So I grabbed up my paraphenalia, dashed out the door, dashed back in to get the catfood and feed Sassy, dashed out again and drove rather speedily up the road.

By 10:00 we'd met at #59 and surveyed the damages, we'd gone over the procedure for compensation, we'd chatted at length about his other career as a private investigator (I'd tell you some of his tales, but they were too creepy), and I was ready to move on to the next workman waiting for my attention....he's going to be working on another renovation, another apartment, another building...and it involves broken things, as well, but mostly just worn-out things. So, as Gerry was leaving, Jack was there to discuss paint colors and the fine details of deck repair and window replacement.

When Jack had gone on his way, I (somewhat spontaneously) stopped in at Rod's place..."Rod Miller, Signs." Why I thought I should spring for a new sign right now, I'm not sure. But, as it turned out, Rod's wife Janet said that she'd come by and have a look at the sign before coming up with a price and design for a new one. Okay. So far, so good. But...hmmm...that bed under the sign was really far too weedy. Did I want Janet to see it that way? There's a great little hardware store just up the road, so I bought myself a 99cent pair of red gardening gloves.

I dirtied those gloves, and I cleaned that bed! And then Susan, my tenant in #56 showed up, just back from a vacation at the beach, and we mutually admired the current weather for a while.

It's afternoon by now, and I finally return home after my hasty departure this morning. I come in the door, and......the phone rings. It's Compleat ReNew. "Can you meet us at #59?"

And so it goes, and so it goes. They remove most of their equipment from Maria's apartment ...most of the big fans and dehumidifiers. But there's still a little patch of damp carpet. They leave one dehumidifier. All of the stuff from her bedroom remains in stacks and piles in her living room (it's a small apartment) and, moreover, the whole place has such a nasty odor. None of us can figure out why.

By late afternoon I've left the apartments and the complete Compleat crew and the distinctly disagreeable #59 and I'm trying to pretend that Maria, who has been away all day, will continue to work everything out nicely with her insurance company (her renter's insurance will cover nights in a hotel as long as the apartment continues to be uninhabitable).

So I'm in the grocery store when Maria first calls.

Sigh.

As it turns out, the various interpretations of uninhabitable are not in alignment.There are many calls...while I'm still at the grocery store...while I'm sitting in the parking lot...while I'm driving home. (Dave at Compleat suggests that it is pet urine stains in the carpet that have produced the vile odor in the apartment. Maria's young son lives elsewhere, but stays with her occasionally and brings his puppy along. I'm not a private investigator, but I do know how to put two and two together).

I get a final call from Maria as she is on her way to a motel. She is pacified....for now.

I arrive home with my groceries and it is 5:05 p.m. I am pacified with this thought: today was not a typical day at Fair View.