Dear Gaia:

Your story reminds me of my story, when I was about thirty I lived in a very small studio apartment. One evening, I was wearing a wide brown cotton skirt, and was too close to the electric hotplate. My skirt caught fire big time. I couldn’t believe it, fire all around me. Well, luckily I wasn’t burnt, only the skirt. Another day, in that same apartment, I turned the water faucet on in the morning. When I returned in the evening I realized that I forgot to turn the water faucet off and the apartment was flooded. Next morning, the wooden floor rose to create waves, like solid waves of an ocean. There was no way to fix that.

Do pay close attention in the future to not repeat that particular mistake and any other that can create fire or a safety hazard. I hope your roommates will be careful as well.

anita