Poltergeist Lights

For the past few weeks my lights have been flickering off and on randomly.  On Tuesday night it was like the exorcist was in there.  I was sitting on my couch, reading my Nook, with the kitchen light on and the living room light on, when the living room light started flickering and humming really loudly.  I freaked out and turned it off and then the kitchen light started.  It was going on for a while so I got my phone and started recording it so when I called in to maintenance they wouldn’t think I was crazy.  Don’t you hate when something breaks and you try to get it fixed, but it won’t do it then?  Well, yeah, I wanted the proof on video.  This video is of the only light that is on in the apartment and no major appliances are on either.  The video is from my phone, so it sort of sucks, but you can see the lights flickering.

After videotaping it for a while, I heard this sizzling and then a burning smell.  My TV (that was plugged in, but not on), was burning.  The freakin’ electrical burned my TV to pieces!  Granted, I don’t watch TV, only movies, but still!  That is when I decided to call the maintenance and have them come out right away.

The maintenance guy that came out was not certified in electrical work, but assured me that he knew “all about electrical stuff”.  I tried and tried to get them to come out with an actual electrician, but to no avail. He said that electricians only get called for ‘big stuff’ and that he can handle it.  I said it just fried my TV. and my apartment smells like burnt popcorn now; he blamed the problem on the TV. being old. I said no.  He went out to get a ladder and the poltergeist struck again.  Luckily, he came back and it was still going crazy (he didn’t care to watch the video I had on my phone).  He turned on the laundry room light and the living room lamp turned off (which is two rooms away).  I said that is not normal.  He took down a light fixture because he said it was a loose wire, and then he taped it up and was ready to go.  I told him I didn’t feel comfortable with that since it still wasn’t safe.  I said you aren’t even a trained electrician, and he said ‘how do you know that’ and I said that you told me that you weren’t earlier!  I think he just wanted to leave since he didn’t really know what the heck he was doing.

I have him on video saying that the apartment is 100% safe and there was no chance of fire at all.  I asked him if he would feel 100% safe staying in the apartment that night, he said yes.  I asked him if he felt 100% safe leaving his child there that night, he said that he doesn’t leave his children by themselves-basically saying no, that he didn’t feel comfortable.  Well, Jabba is my kid and if the maintenance man is telling me that there is no chance of a fire but he wouldn’t leave his child there, would you really feel comfortable with his non-expert opinion?  Probably not! 

He called the maintenance supervisor (that didn’t want to come out either) and he assured me that it was 100% safe to stay there that night.  He said that the fire department would not give them permits if they weren’t safe. I slept with one eye opened that night to be sure that the electrical system was not going to burn the apartment down (and 23 other apartments that are connected).  The maintenance supervisor came out the next morning with his whole crew to check out the system.  They said it was fixed and that if the lights flicker (or poltergeist) one more time, then they will call an electrician.

So, that is my poltergeist electrical issue and how my maintenance guys really don’t know what the heck is going on, but still refuse to call an electrician.  I really don’t know what to do.  I don’t care about my stuff; I care about Jabba getting hurt or worse.  The management is not the best at my apartments, despite it being a nice apartment complex and supposedly a nice management company.  I just re-signed for a 1 year lease.  Pray that nothing happens!