Have been the other side of the pond since prior to Christmas, visiting family.
On my way back home but in a rambling kind of way. Booked a motel in Florida to stay in for three nights. Was stupidly cheap which should have given me a heads up that it was to be avoided.
So arrived last night and noticed the toilet was not draining as it should. Left it as it was late and could not be asked at that point.
Was awake by half six this morning so phoned the front desk who said they would get the maintenance guy to have a look when he arrived.
An hour or so later, he arrives and brandishes a plunger at me, I step aside and let him get to it.
He plunges and then seems to think the job has been done.
Not so. I walk over to the front desk at around ten am and ask for them to provide me with some chemicals so I can sort the issue. They cannot possibly do that, the receptionist, who hales from Manchester, tells me she will get him to come over again.
Takes another hour or so but he gets here, plunger in hand. I tell him that it's not going to work as the blockage is obviously further down the pipes and could he perhaps throw some bleach down.
He starts acting like I am an oddball. But does go and get a snagger to clear the blockage.
On his way out the door, he tells me that 'I would have to be out of mind to put bleach down the toilet.
I probably should have just laughed at that point but the comment plus the two cockroaches I have seen have got me riled and I email the motel chain, with an outline of what happened and a few web links showing how actually normal it is to put bleach in toilets.
I go out and have a wander and grab some dinner and then when I get back I decide to post a review of the motel. Having done that, I read some of the other reviews and find the one I have screenshotted and attached below.
So anyway having found a couple more cockroaches upon my return (but armed with bug spray) I resign myself to having no sleep tonight and to booking a more salubrious establishment tomorrow.
And then at one am I start hearing rustling noises outside my door, I've seen a few feral cats around here and with the cockroaches, I am guessing it might also be a rat, so not overly concerned. I play an ultrasonic sound file for around ten minutes and then there are no more rustling noises.
A while later I hear what I think are two people coming up the outside stairs, while sounding drunk and laughing. Then I realise it's only one person.
Then this person is hanging around outside my door and starts talking, quietly at first but increasing in volume, sounds drunk, talks 'dont you worry your pretty little head, Mike's going to take care of it', volume decreases again, very glad I have been awake all night at this point, as would have been a bad way to wake up.
Fuck he just came back and banged on the air conditioning unit.
He talked about bashing the door in previously but then wandered off muttering about how 'he done fucked up'
Have my laptop and will be programming in 911 (they literally started offering the emergency call service TODAY)