Loco Landlords

Well, it was bound to happen.  Everything has gone great with our landlords up to the point we tell them this is our last month.  They have always been so helpful when something goes wrong... except for the other night.

I return to Quito with our baby while Larry stays with a mission team from Texas.  When we get home, I realize there is no hot water, and unfortunately, my sweet dear husband is not here to change the stinkin' gas tank like he normally does.

After trying to figure it out myself (to no avail), I call some friends to ask how I get the hose off in order to change it.  Still can't get it off, so they come over to help me.  Talk about some great friends!  We get the tanks changed, and still the hot water heater will not ignite.

I call our landlords to tell them (they normally have a worker come out to fix it), and he tells me that the house was working fine when we moved in, if we want it fixed, go down the street and find a technician.

Really?!  I'm here alone, with a baby and no hot water and you can not have someone come out to fix it.  His answer was no.  All I could say was, "Thanks.  Thanks a lot."

I warmed up two pots of water on the stove to give her a bath and then rocked her to sleep.  The whole time, I was just fuming.  Why be so insensitive after 3 years of a good relationship?  This is the 2nd time this has happened, and I just don't understand what happens to people when you tell them you are leaving.  It's like they turn into Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde or something.

I sat there, rocking my baby, thinking of all the things I could do to the house to get back at them.  I figured, "Why try to clean it when they probably aren't going to give us a dime of our deposit back anyway?"

I could paint graffiti, smash some holes in the... okay maybe that's a little too far.  But that is exactly what my head was saying.

I got up to read my devotion the next morning and Jesus put me right in my place.  It was all about not paying wrong for wrong and being kind to everyone.

Shoot!  Sometimes, it's really hard to do the right thing even though you don't feel like it.