Another Crazy Weekend Sept. 16th, 2008

So the rains came this past weekend.  I was sleeping on Friday night, and the dog gets ancy when thunderstorms roll in.  So she woke me up with her digging in the basement; i.e. where I habitate, so I called her over, scratched her belly while I laid there trying to fall back asleep.  Around 3:30 she woke me again, and I heard the gurgling sound of the drain in the other room.  I jumped up, and ran into a puddle of water...My sandals were floating at the doorway, so I turned and high tailed it for the shut off valve.  After closing the valve I turned on the lights and saw the few inches of water on the floor in the laundry room and the hallway to my living quarters.  I walked through the water to go upstairs and look outside.  The dog followed through the mini lake and I stood outside watching the rain pour down on the landscape while I smoked a cigarette and gathered my thoughts.  After the smoke I made some coffee because I realized it was going to be a long day.  I went to watch the weather for about an hour on TWC and then when I saw the levels of water go down on the street, I went downstairs and opened the valve to let the water out of the house.  The water disappeared and I closed the valve.  I went back upstairs and my dad got up around 8.  I told him what happened, and he said, "you should have woke me up." 
I said "I took care of it"
"you still should have woke me up." 
To which I replied, "What could you have possibly done that I didn't do?" 
"I could have helped you." 
"Help me do what?  If I woke you up at 4 AM, you would have been crabby all day, and I am not going to deal with that!" 
"Well you should have woke me up!"
So after that little conversation, I went back downstairs and saw even more water than before.  I got really confused because I shut the valve.  That is when I went back upstairs and told the big guy there was nothing more I could do, there is more water, and the valve is shut.  So I started moving the electronics to higher ground, moving the furniture, etc...Well the water rose to fill the entire basement, at the drains it was shin high.  Good times...So after the downpour let up around 9 AM, I waited for the street water to dissipate again, which lets me know the sewers are slowly releasing.  Then I opened the valve and got rid of the water yet again.  It filled up again around noon, but the valve was closed at that time too.  The perplexing problem was the water coming into the house while the valve was closed.  I couldn't figure it out, nor could my dad.  So the day progressed, the water left, I kept the valve open from then on, and it turns out the water rose so high it killed the gas pilot on the hot water heater, and when my dad found that out, he realized the fuse had been blown on the sump pump.  There was the problem, if somebody would have told me there was a fuse for it, I would have checked it.  I would have reset it, and there would not have been such an issue, but that is where communication is so important...
So I spent Saturday night cleaning the basement, mopping, throwing out damage stuff, etc.  I have to still cut all the dry wall I just put up in the new bathroom.  The water rose to about 6 inches, at least those are the marks on the dry wall in the bathroom.  There is alot of work still to do, but hey tis life.
Now onto Sunday, so I had to get out my house, I planned on Saturday, but the issue above obviously canceled that.  Sunday came and I went out with the moms.  We had a nice time, got some food and just talked.  Well, we were on way home and we are a toll booth, traffic was bad all over the place.  She paid the toll and was about to drive off, when we got rear ended.  Yep, another frickin' car accident.  Minimal damage, no injuries, but I swear when it rains it pours; literally!!!  Well I have to get back to cleaning the basement.  The parents are in Canada for the week, and I told them I would have it all cleaned up and everything thrown out that needs to be thrown out...

Thanks for stopping by...
Kenny