The Weather PWNED Me
Regarding PWNED.
It is 12:48 am. I have not found myself awake at such a time in so long that I have forgotten the euphoric feeling associated with the complete lack of sleep that I currently suffer from. How did I get to this point? Read on.
This past Saturday was the beginning of a nor'easter (I am really liking wikipedia tonight! or is it morning?). Sunday morning I awoke to nasty snow, sleet, rain, etc. Which really sucked as I was scheduled to play at Slow Jed's from 12-2. Well, I had to cancel. But not before I packed up my car with all my gear and attempted to brave the wicked driving conditions. Once on the Thruway, I passed a car that was pulled over on the side of the road. About 10 minutes later, another car. This one appeared to have slid off the road. A few minutes more and there was a two car accident, both vehicles were off the road and facing directions that were not equivalent to the direction of traffic on that side of the Thruway. No more than a minute later, I saw a car on its side. I then took the next exit, called Slow Jed's, and headed back home--more slowly, mind you, than I was going before.
So, no show on account of snow, etc.
Today (Monday--well, now it's Tuesday), was the first eye opener that I have suffered as a homeowner. After doing some shoveling earlier, I had left my shoveling clothes on the back porch. At about 8pm, I finally decided to put them back in the cellarway, where they normally hang. I did this, and before turning the light back off, I glanced down the cellar stairs. "Funny, it looks like water," I thought as I was about to leave the cellarway. I turned the light back on; it was water. The basement was becoming flooded. I didn't panic; I was relaxed. I slowly walked down the stairs and carefully assessed the situation. I grabbed a ruler; I measured how deep it was. 4 inches. Now, I must say, I am blessed with an incredibly sloped basement. So all the water can easily gather on the low side. Where the hell was it coming from, though? Cracks. Cracks in the floor, cracks in the walls.
Now, it should be noted that I have lived in this house for like 18 years. I just bought it from my dad six months ago. Never, have we had water in the basement in the 18 years prior to this glorious Monday--now Tuesday. Actually, one particularly rainy week produced some moisture in the basement; but, it was nothing more than a few puddles that were quickly sopped up with old towels.
So, what does one do when one finds water in his basement? He calls for help. Dads either came by to help or offered advice via the telephone. A 24 hour plumber was called and yet the best they could offer was "We might not call you back until tomorrow." (they have not called... it is tomorrow).
To make a long story short, the only solution that was attainable by the time that help assessed the situation, was to bail. So, I bailed. Bucket upon bucket upon bucket, I bailed.
The water kept coming...
and it keeps coming to this very moment. I bailed for about a half an hour at 9:30. Then I stopped and let the water come. I let it come to see how much could breach my basement in what amount of time, so that I could tell often I needed to bail. At 11:30 I checked on it. It was higher than when I had started bailing at 9:30. I bailed until 12:15. The water was down to nothing--a mere puddle... yet, it keeps coming.
It is 1:16 as I finish this post... I will check the basement once again to assess the advance of the enemy. If it is up to the ruler that I laid on the floor, then it is going to be a long night... if it is not yet up to the ruler, which is strategically placed in an area that is further from where the last assessment occured (ie. the water will be higher than at 11:30 when I started bailing last), then I will try to get some sleep... an hour, maybe two... before I return to bail again.
**edited to add**
7:50 am.
I was able to sleep after I blogged earlier. However, I set the alarm clock for 3am, at which point I awoke (notice that I slept for less than 2 hours) and checked the basement again. Still taking on water. The ruler had been submerged. I bailed water again. I finished at 4am. When I say "finish" I mean that the lake that was forming in my basement was down to puddle size. Even so, the puddle was growing. I gave it one last vacuum with the shop vac and replaced the ruler. Then I went back to bed. I set the alarm for 6am, however I forgot to set it to "alarm;" so it didn't wake me up. I got up at 6:30 and checked out the basement again. It was not as bad as it had been at 3am. However, I could tell that it was still rising.
It is now almost 8am and my dad is on his way with a sump pump. He should be here in an hour. He bought the pump at Home Depot. They had two pallets full of these things. He said that people were crowded around the pallets checking out the pumps. One guy said "my basement's never flooded!" Sounds familiar.
In an hour a pump will take the place of my bailing. I may need to do some bailing before it gets here, though.
The worst part about the bailing is putting on the cold, drenched sneakers that I have been wearing. Even so, it's only cold for a few minutes. Once you get down in the 4-5 inches of freezing cold water, you don't even notice how freezing cold the sneakers are. After a while, your feet adjust to the temperature and pretty soon you aren't even aware that you are in freezing cold water wearing freezing cold sneakers.
It is now after 8am. The 24 hour plumber hasn't called.
I think when he does call, I'll invite him over for a swim.
Well, I must don the freezing sneakers and bail.
It is 12:48 am. I have not found myself awake at such a time in so long that I have forgotten the euphoric feeling associated with the complete lack of sleep that I currently suffer from. How did I get to this point? Read on.
This past Saturday was the beginning of a nor'easter (I am really liking wikipedia tonight! or is it morning?). Sunday morning I awoke to nasty snow, sleet, rain, etc. Which really sucked as I was scheduled to play at Slow Jed's from 12-2. Well, I had to cancel. But not before I packed up my car with all my gear and attempted to brave the wicked driving conditions. Once on the Thruway, I passed a car that was pulled over on the side of the road. About 10 minutes later, another car. This one appeared to have slid off the road. A few minutes more and there was a two car accident, both vehicles were off the road and facing directions that were not equivalent to the direction of traffic on that side of the Thruway. No more than a minute later, I saw a car on its side. I then took the next exit, called Slow Jed's, and headed back home--more slowly, mind you, than I was going before.
So, no show on account of snow, etc.
Today (Monday--well, now it's Tuesday), was the first eye opener that I have suffered as a homeowner. After doing some shoveling earlier, I had left my shoveling clothes on the back porch. At about 8pm, I finally decided to put them back in the cellarway, where they normally hang. I did this, and before turning the light back off, I glanced down the cellar stairs. "Funny, it looks like water," I thought as I was about to leave the cellarway. I turned the light back on; it was water. The basement was becoming flooded. I didn't panic; I was relaxed. I slowly walked down the stairs and carefully assessed the situation. I grabbed a ruler; I measured how deep it was. 4 inches. Now, I must say, I am blessed with an incredibly sloped basement. So all the water can easily gather on the low side. Where the hell was it coming from, though? Cracks. Cracks in the floor, cracks in the walls.
Now, it should be noted that I have lived in this house for like 18 years. I just bought it from my dad six months ago. Never, have we had water in the basement in the 18 years prior to this glorious Monday--now Tuesday. Actually, one particularly rainy week produced some moisture in the basement; but, it was nothing more than a few puddles that were quickly sopped up with old towels.
So, what does one do when one finds water in his basement? He calls for help. Dads either came by to help or offered advice via the telephone. A 24 hour plumber was called and yet the best they could offer was "We might not call you back until tomorrow." (they have not called... it is tomorrow).
To make a long story short, the only solution that was attainable by the time that help assessed the situation, was to bail. So, I bailed. Bucket upon bucket upon bucket, I bailed.
The water kept coming...
and it keeps coming to this very moment. I bailed for about a half an hour at 9:30. Then I stopped and let the water come. I let it come to see how much could breach my basement in what amount of time, so that I could tell often I needed to bail. At 11:30 I checked on it. It was higher than when I had started bailing at 9:30. I bailed until 12:15. The water was down to nothing--a mere puddle... yet, it keeps coming.
It is 1:16 as I finish this post... I will check the basement once again to assess the advance of the enemy. If it is up to the ruler that I laid on the floor, then it is going to be a long night... if it is not yet up to the ruler, which is strategically placed in an area that is further from where the last assessment occured (ie. the water will be higher than at 11:30 when I started bailing last), then I will try to get some sleep... an hour, maybe two... before I return to bail again.
**edited to add**
7:50 am.
I was able to sleep after I blogged earlier. However, I set the alarm clock for 3am, at which point I awoke (notice that I slept for less than 2 hours) and checked the basement again. Still taking on water. The ruler had been submerged. I bailed water again. I finished at 4am. When I say "finish" I mean that the lake that was forming in my basement was down to puddle size. Even so, the puddle was growing. I gave it one last vacuum with the shop vac and replaced the ruler. Then I went back to bed. I set the alarm for 6am, however I forgot to set it to "alarm;" so it didn't wake me up. I got up at 6:30 and checked out the basement again. It was not as bad as it had been at 3am. However, I could tell that it was still rising.
It is now almost 8am and my dad is on his way with a sump pump. He should be here in an hour. He bought the pump at Home Depot. They had two pallets full of these things. He said that people were crowded around the pallets checking out the pumps. One guy said "my basement's never flooded!" Sounds familiar.
In an hour a pump will take the place of my bailing. I may need to do some bailing before it gets here, though.
The worst part about the bailing is putting on the cold, drenched sneakers that I have been wearing. Even so, it's only cold for a few minutes. Once you get down in the 4-5 inches of freezing cold water, you don't even notice how freezing cold the sneakers are. After a while, your feet adjust to the temperature and pretty soon you aren't even aware that you are in freezing cold water wearing freezing cold sneakers.
It is now after 8am. The 24 hour plumber hasn't called.
I think when he does call, I'll invite him over for a swim.
Well, I must don the freezing sneakers and bail.