::A Geek in Korea::

This month our apartment is getting a new paint job. This has led to a few annoyances.

Our apartment is on the second floor. This puts us right at the tree line four our windows. When we moved into the apartment, the security guard came over to harass the movers because they were going to put up the lift to our window through a space between the trees. The movers had to climb onto the lift an tape back the branches so that they didn’t damage the trees in front of our apartment.

Fast forward to a few months later, when they decide to paint the apartment. The security guards are in charge of getting the areas around the apartment ready for this procedure. Despite having no power tools, horticultural experience, or any sense of aesthetic taste, the guards handle all the landscaping duties in the apartment complex.

These old gentlemen spent the entire day yesterday absolutely mangling the trees directly outside out apartment. They selected a level, which I think was simply the highest they could reach on a ladder with a saw, and went to town cutting all the trees to the exact same height. It looks like someone gave the trees a buzz cut. The only tree they didn’t destroy was the persimmon tree that’s in front of our living room. They only reason they didn’t mangle that was because they swipe the fruit off that tree to snack on.

The rest of the trees that used to keep the sunlight out of our bedroom in the morning are all hacked back several years of growth. When we wake up in the morning it’s like the sun went supernova outside our window. It’s so bright! Also, we have to keep our frosted windows closed at all time or the children on the playground will get a rude surprise after we finish a shower! Ick!

Even more annoying was their declaration that to seal water damage anyone with an air conditioner mounted on the entrance roof had to disable, disconnect, and move their machine before the painting process started. They said anyone that didn’t do this would be responsible for any water damage the building took. Seeing the cracks in the roof, we decided to call for an estimate.

The air conditioner after service center wanted to charge us 300,000 won for this service! My wife, at my urging, went to complain that the apartment told us we could mount our air conditioner on the roof of the entrance, and that if they were going to charge us to detach it, we would want them to cover part f the cost. No one told us they were going to paint the apartment when we moved in a few months ago. We got permission from a security guard to place it there, so for them to tell us we HAD to move it on our own seemed unfair. Especially since it was so expensive to do, and they weren’t letting us take time to get various estimates.

They told us that we should eat the cost, it was our fault for having the air conditioner installed and put on the entrance. We said that the security guard had told us it was okay. The central office told us to never listen to a security guard, because they don’t know anything about the policy of the apartment. Hmmm, I’ll keep that one in mind the next time the security guard says something to us.

We alerted our neighbor about the policy, and he knew a guy from work that could detach the air conditioner much cheaper off the clock than the company officially allowed. We went in and split the cost of that with them and got our air conditioner unit off the entrance for 1/6 the cost of original estimate.

They are repelling around painting the apartment during the afternoon. The cars in the parking lot are covered in plastic to prevent paint damage. I hope the paint looks good, because right now it’s a total pain in the ass.