When I returned home to my cozy apartment from the silent meditation retreat, I noticed a funny smell. Had I forgotten to take out the garbage? No. Had the recycling gotten wet? No. I walked around my apartment, searching for the funny, somewhat familiar, smell. In the living room I stopped. The wall was bulging. Oh, no.

I called my landlady. “Hi there, it’s Lori. I just got back from vacation. Remember a couple of years ago when the radiator in the apartment above me burst a valve and water leaked all in my walls and we had to tear them out? Yeah… it’s happened again. Give me a call when you have a chance.”

Call me crazy, but I would think replacing a radiator would be cheaper than ripping out walls and re-plastering every couple of years. Just a thought.