"A former home entertainment business owner"? Does that mean "former porn star"?
≡ Click to see image ≡

Sadly, that sounds like exactly the kind of thing I would do.

I can see my husband doing this. Flakes on the ceiling? Aghast!!! Poor thing, but why do this so late at night?

I also wonder about the fact that her husband didn't notice her missing until the next morning.

One of the theories being propounded here at the office is that they were fighting when she swung the mop at him but missed, causing her to overbalance and tip over the railing. That's my theory, actually, but it seems to be the most favoured so far. There's definitely more to this than meets the eye, I think.

I was at a friend's new apartment last night, talking on my cell phone with my wife, standing by a closed window. At some point I lean over to press a hand against said window and realize it's been open the whole time, and the bottom of the window is unusually low, somewhere around 70cm.
I got this really strong 'whoaaaaa' feeling, realizing if I'd leaned in a little bit harder I might have gone over. It was a 4th floor.
So, this story seriously creeps me out.

I wonder if she had time to think to herself just how stupid a way to die she'd "chosen" for herself?

Seriously, people who can't imagine the potential for harm in a situation like that are defective humans.

Not that I don't feel bad for her but still, this was about the most avoidable death I've heard of lately.

dg, they slept in seperate rooms, the partner wouldn't have expected her to come to bed and wouldn't have noticed her being gone until the next morning.

No way. I refuse to believe that a person who would have done that could have possibly survived to be 49 to begin with.

You're on the 36th floor (the 36th floor!); it's night, and you decide, "hey, I'll just balance this plastic chair on top of this plastic table, and climb on up for a little light housekeeping."

I don't think so.

Like Miko, this is the sort of idiocy I would talk myself into, too.

noooooooo! Don't tell me this, please!

Both of you go out today (today, I say!) and buy yourselves proper, sturdy ladders - and use them! I categorically forbid you to use rickety furniture to reach high places or mop your ceilings. I have spoken.

Like Miko, this is the sort of idiocy I would talk myself into...

Me too. I mean, you know, sometimes you just don't think that something bad is going to happen to you. Even when you make decisions that, when examined later, are stupid.

I feel bad for this woman and her family, especially because people aren't going to be talking about the tragedy that befell her -- they're going to be talking about her "stupidity." And that makes me really sad.

Oh... And taz? I have fallen off sturdy ladders. I mean, they're definitely the wiser choice. But they certainly don't prevent accidents. And definitely not at 36 stories up. Still, I know what you're saying, dearie. But the woman had an unfortunate accident that still might have happened had she taken precautions.

What she really needed was a longer mop handle.

My sin is overconfidence here. I climb on things a lot, and am used to climbing around boats and stuff, taking calculated risks. I always basically think I'll be fine and that my balance and reflexes will take care of me. I do do things like stand on milk crates on top of chairs in order to replace a light fixture.

I know, I need a keeper.

I blame the condo association that told her not to worry her pretty head over the flaking peeling paint, forcing her to take matters nito her own hands.

What she really needed was a longer mop handle.
Or a real man that would have looked after her.

This post is haunting me.

First of all I read it and started morphing into Monk... Like why did the mop fall off with her? As soon as she started slipping or teetering, she would have dropped the mop and tried to grab for anything to keep herself from falling... and it's hard to imagine how the mop wouldn't have fallen to the balcony floor.

Anyway, I kept thinking of that, and of miko and small ruminant doing gruesomely dangerous things in the privacy of their homes... then, when we went to lunch yesterday, of course this happened: I see a lady, none too young or thin, balancing on this incredibly wobbly chair (something like this, but a million years old) to wash the shutters of the taverna. The chair was on an incline, the legs were all splayed and unbalanced, the woven seat of the chair was saggy and thin... I mean it was insane. And I felt like I was in some kind of Freddy Krueger nightmare thingy where whatever you read about on the internet comes to haunt you in your dreams. Except your dreams are real life.

So let's be very careful what we post! I'm beginning to worry that I'm going to walk out my door and run into a huge pink bunny covered with snakes.

taz,I think instinct would make you grab the mop handle for support if nothing else was available. Also, the balconies on that building are quite narrow and have metal railings, so the mop could well have fallen from the balcony even if she had dropped it.

Really, while we snigger about people's stupidity when things like this happen, who hasn't done this kind of thing from time to time? Perhaps not on the 36th floor, but not much smarter all the same.

OK, I knew there was more to this. Also, in other news, it's a small world.

In speaking to my Mother this afternoon, she mentioned that a client of hers was in her office today, having spent all morning at the local police station being questioned. Turns out she and her husband were holidaying in the apartment next to our clumsy lady and her man. At about 11.30 pm, they heard a strange noise outside and, on looking out, saw the partner of Ms Clumsy looking down over the balcony. You may remember that "Police believe the incident happened some time after 10pm".

Remember, you heard it here first.

whoah. I knew it!

/me gets her Monk on, sanitizes thread