Wet Wednesday

Today I arrived at work to find our office manager looking even more harried than usual. I quickly saw why as I headed down the hallway: We'd had a leak. A big leak.

There are two rooms in our office designated as "family rooms." Because parents are usually camped out here for two days while their children are assessed, we have private spaces for them to sit with couches and computers where the can watch the assessment via the cameras set up in the rooms, read, check email, etc., all behind closed doors if they choose. Sometime after we left last night, water, either because of the rain we've had recently (we're on the top floor) or a leaky pipe, had started dripping steadily from the ceiling. The computers in both rooms were soaked and ruined by the time we all arrived this morning, and one of the ceiling tiles was gone while growing water stains spread across others. I sat at my desk and minutes later heard a thud. Another tile had come crashing down, landing on a chair and spraying the room with soggy bits of the ceiling. 

My office, thank goodness, seems to be in good shape, though some of my coworkers have water stains developing on their ceilings. In the assessment room where I worked this morning, I had to move my chair nearly against the wall because one of the tiles there was looking increasingly droopy and had started to drip more and more. I fear it is not long for this world. 

Happily, our insurance should cover the damages. Unhappily, we still have to keep on with business as usual as much as we can. One of my coworkers has temporarily vacated her office so that one of the families with us today can use it, and another office that is temporarily unoccupied is being used by the other family. People are being very kind and flexible about this, which is much appreciated. But there really never is a dull moment around here.