our loft is a 2x4or5 foot thing, and when you pull a handle a 2 foot rope comes down, and if you pull that (keep pulling) this thing pops down, and stairs unfold, and then you can climb up, flick two light switches, and the lights go on

the only time i've experienced it is the condensation catcher thingy of our A/C unit got blocked last summer (it's basically a very large metal tray about 3 inches deep that sits directly below the actual air condition condensor, or whatever it's called, and all the condensation, drips (well, in the summer it POURS) into the tray, and the tray has a half inch pips that pretty much goes and dumps the (clean) water outside at the back of our house.) well the one time what thing got clogged, so at like 2:00 in the morning one time, i woke up and saw a shimmery, light-catching substance running down the walls of my room... scared the crap out of me... i didn't know what it was till i went and smelled/touched it. heh
so i spent half an hour, in the 150 degree heat up in the attic, and like 97% humidity, replacing the pipe... the whole condenser unit (about 6 feet by 6 feet, and 3 inches deep) was completely full, and was buckling under the weight. if that thing had fallen cause of the weight i would've had a 800 pound air conditioner fall through the ceiling and into my room... heh... what's even worse, is the actual tray was like 30 feet through the hatch, so i had to crawl to get to it, and sweat was running off me. i've never sweated like that since, well...
