Today the power went out in my building a few minutes after I sat down at my desk to write for what I hoped would be a glorious 3-4 hour stretch of uninterrupted deep worktime.

Took 3 hours to restore it.

So much for that plan. 

I go to great lengths to arrange the rest of my life to accommodate those blocked-off hours of worktime, so that was not fun.

At least I'm not on deadline and wasn't on a Zoom call when it happened, so there's that.

Another unexplained 4-hour power outage hit my building today.

At least today I got lots of writing done at my desk before the outage hit.

This sort of thing is nothing new. The building has had one issue after another. Just a few examples from a long list:

- Last year there was a burst pipe that flooded my entire storage room and I had to haul everything in it to the dump.
- One apartment in the building has strange plumbing issues that recur so frequently that the owner can't sell the place. 
- There's an ongoing electrical issue with the installation of the mini-splits that's still unresolved after several years.

I've lived in the building for 17 years now. Really hope I can move out someday.

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In these recent instances it was confined to the building. But even when there are power outages in the wider local area, our building seems to take longer to fix than others. 

During an ice storm in January 2024, my building was mostly without power for 8 full days. It was among the last in the city to have our power fully restored. I was unable to get to the store or receive deliveries for most of that time. (I live on a hill; I don't drive and cannot risk walking on ice). Luckily my unit had *one* electrical outlet that still worked during the outage, so I was able to run a space heater, charge my phone, etc. If that hadn't been the case I would've had to call for emergency help.

As for the weird plumbing problems that keep returning (e.g., drains keep backing up even after a plumber fixes the previous issues), it's hard to tell. I think the unit that's most affected is located on the steepest sloping part of the property, so that may be a factor? Just a guess though.

From what I've heard it seems likely that the building may need to have major plumbing work done (like replacing the system completely) in the next 5 years, if not sooner. I can only hope I'm able to move out before that disruption happens. 

But I'm not on the board, so I don't have the full story about these things. I only hear these reports second- or third-hand.

Curious. Do you think the power problems are specific to your building or more general to your area?

I always wondered who was responsible for something like those “weird plumbing problems”. Seems like the condo board should prioritize resale of units as it makes prices go up.

It was built in 1951, so it's almost 75 years old now. Around 2006 it was renovated extensively and the condos were marketed as "luxury" at that time... lol.