What is living in the walls of apartment condominium buildings?

Vancouver is a sea of apartment buildings. Most of these buildings contain a large number of privately owned condominium units. And most of these lovely apartments hide a labyrinth of duct work, electrical wiring, and plumbing design done by a certifiable madman.

In our building we've recently had our dryer ducts cleaned. Well, most of us have had our dryer ducts cleaned. But several months after this process started, today they are finishing up the 9th floor. What happened on the 9th floor that caused the act of duct cleaning to take several months? It's the labyrinth. Maybe it's something that's been living in the labyrinth. Maybe we have a small version of the Minotaur living in our walls!

The final solution to removing the Minotaur from the dryer ducts on the 9th floor has involved making holes in the walls in the apartments of the 9th floor. Big holes with new hatches. Permanent doors to give access to the world of the labyrinth beyond the walls. Maybe the Minotaur just thinks this is a home improvement, giving it access to wander about outside the labyrinth.

Why the 9th floor? You may ask. Because the floor plan of the 9th floor is not the same as the floor plan on the 10th floor. There are 4 apartments on the 9th floor and 3 on the 10th floor. The floor plans change again a couple of times as you go up the building, but the problem is only on this one change-over point. The Minotaur obviously doesn't like heights.

We had to find a water shut off point in our main bathroom a couple of weeks ago. It was well hidden under the vanity, behind the drawers, covered by a metal plate that was screwed on, 2 handles surrounded by pink insulation. And this is all a very long way from the shower stall and bathtub. Just how the pipes get from there to the shower we will never know! So what's been living in that maze? Is it the refuge of sea monsters that have had to find new homes because all the divers with side-scanners and sea monster investigators with cameras are making too much noise in their regular environment? At night there are some very odd noises that come out of our pipes. Maybe it's the sea monsters.

Since we live on the 6th floor, maybe the Minotaur on the 9th floor is battling with the sea monsters from our floor at night. I'm sure the plumbing on the 9th floor has its own special problems as well - maybe it is connected to the labyrinth.

This is, of course, all wild speculation on my part... but noises in the night do make the mind wander.