Poop. Literally... POOP.

Here's a fun little story to share with you all.

Since all of these ridiculous earthquake shenanigans started, things that were normal previous to the shakes are now goin' crazy.


Example:  Power.  You'd think this would be pretty consistent, but no.  I sleep with a torch (flashlight) next to me just in case, because t's been cutting out frequently. Pain in my butt.  And CHCH in the winter is COLD, so no heat? Also not fun.

The real focus of this post, however, is about the plumbing. 

Water mains break and the plumbing underneath the city in places has literally been exploding.  After the February 22 quake, we went to the bathroom outside (not kidding) for a few days until portaloos (portapotties) were delivered around the suburbs.  After a couple weeks, houses around CHCH were being administered chemical toilets.  Ours lasted for a good while... and then it broke and leaked all over the floor - YEAH, SICK.  Because of the plumbing and sewage that was leaking into water mains, we had to boil water for about two months. We were finally at the point where it was safe to drink the water and use the toilets regularly and then the June 13 quakes hit.  There was more water main damage and we were on boiled water alert once again. However, the council told us it was alright to use our toilets in the area I live... so naturally, we did.

Fast forward a week and a half...

It was in the middle of the night and I could hear Neil and Yo up and about and talking loud/making lots of noise.  I woke myself up a little bit more and could hear water and I noticed their voices were pretty frantic.  I walked out of my room to see what was up and all I smelled was sewage.  They were in the toilet and it was EXPLODING.  Not kidding.  Geyser of sewage out of the toilet.  I rushed to their aid and when we tried to close the lid, it just sprayed out the sides.  Poop... EVERYWHERE. All of the walls and all over us.  The same thing was happening in their toilet as well.  After a couple of minutes it stopped, but the nasty sewage water was everywhere.  It was one of the grossest things I have ever experienced.  And I think I scrubbed my skin raw in the shower to try and get rid of the stench.

It still smells so bad that when I have to pee, I literally do it in record time so I don't have to stay in there too long and smell it. 

Man... out. of. control.