...even if I do say so myself. The sump pump is no longer running continuously, but it is still running, and I'm astonished by how much water must still be saturating the earth around my foundation! Today I moved the lighter half of my houseplants outside, and since I didn't water them before I moved them, they were pretty dry. I was just going to water them when I realized my garden hose is not hooked up to the spigot, but to the sump pump.
So after a moment of thought, I put the hose in a bucket, and emptied it into my houseplants when it filled. It took three hours and three buckets to get them all, but I was pretty happy. No wasted water, no wasted electricity, and happy plants.
Now to get the mulch down before the idiot landscapers mow down another lavender or daylily.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Friday, May 16, 2014
Alarums and excursions, the final chapter (I hope!)
Previously, on Curmudgeonette:
Our heroine's garage flooded and she went to work anyway.
Jammies took a day off to clean up the garage and it flooded again.
Then the basement flooded!
Jammies took another vacation day.
We join the story with our heroine discovering that her sump pump wasn't pumping, which was the cause of the flooded basement!
Our heroine's garage flooded and she went to work anyway.
Jammies took a day off to clean up the garage and it flooded again.
Then the basement flooded!
Jammies took another vacation day.
We join the story with our heroine discovering that her sump pump wasn't pumping, which was the cause of the flooded basement!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
More alarums, more excursions
After driving out to Casa de Senior Jammies and getting a brush, the ozone generator and a squeegie, I came back and worked all day just clearing the garage. I found at least one dead mouse and a ton of styrofoam peanuts.
Then it flooded again.
Then the basement flooded.
So here I am, taking another vacation day, using every rag in the house to try to mop up the water in the basement, bleaching the garage floor and thanking my lucky stars that I met a scrap metal dealer at court last week who is coming by to pick up all the metal I found whilst cleaning out the garage. Goodbye, old lawnmower blades, rabbit ears and plant holders.
Now I just have to get the icky, sodden, dog-destroyed armchair out of the basement and wash another load of rags.
Then it flooded again.
Then the basement flooded.
So here I am, taking another vacation day, using every rag in the house to try to mop up the water in the basement, bleaching the garage floor and thanking my lucky stars that I met a scrap metal dealer at court last week who is coming by to pick up all the metal I found whilst cleaning out the garage. Goodbye, old lawnmower blades, rabbit ears and plant holders.
Now I just have to get the icky, sodden, dog-destroyed armchair out of the basement and wash another load of rags.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Alarums and excursions!
Yesterday was a fairly ordinary work day, even a pretty good work day. I woke up early enough to be ready in time to leave the house and make a quick stop on the way in for Lemonheads and Raisinettes for my two co-workers who just finished school for the semester, and the day went pretty quickly. I was pottering around at home last night when Little Miss Piggie Pie started whimpering a bit and then the city tornado sirens went off.
I was just debating whether or not to head for the basement when my dad called. After asking me how I was, he asked if I was aware of the weather, and then proceeded to read me the entire text of the warning. I promised him I would keep an eye on the dog and on the radar and went about my evening. He told me to call him if a tornado was headed for Hudson because he was going to take a nap. Typical Scary Bear, nothing gets in the way of a nap.
LMPP calmed down and went to sleep, so I went back to working on spreadsheets for Mom while outside it was storming to beat the band. I took a break when the hail started. It was so loud I knew what popcorn sounds like from the inside of the popper. Then the hail stopped and the rain started again, and when I went to look at the lightning, I realized there was standing water in the driveway.
So at 9:30, I was outside in flip-flops and a rain poncho, wading through ankle-deep cold water trying to clear the grate on the driveway drain. I succeeded, but too late to prevent the garage from flooding. I came back inside, saw that the tornado warning was over and there was a flash flood warning, washed my feet, set up the coffee and went to bed.
This morning, the garage had a layer of mud and yuck all over the floor, lots of things moved around from the water and was in a general state of disarray. Unfortunately, because today was call day, I had to go in. I'll need to be, at minimum, in the hospital before I call off on call day--it's just too hard with only two people in the accounts department.
My drive in was complicated by a detour that meant I had to use the high-traffic route and included the sight of a whole bunch of downed trees and washed-out shoulders. Lake Morley was full of water, with more dripping from the pipes. I told my colleagues what had happened, explained that I'd like to take Wednesday off and got permission from the chief clerk to do so. I then had to tell one of my fellow auditors that yes, I washed my feet after wading in dog-knows-what. :P
Call day was interesting. For the first time in my experience, we had two people admit, albeit reluctantly, that they weren't just behind in their paperwork, they'd done things they shouldn't have with money that wasn't theirs. Thankfully, the judge is more interested in helping them fix things than punishing them.
When I got home, the garage had started to stink (it was 90ยบ F today!) and I called dad to make sure he and his couch weren't buried in the remains of my childhood home and to see if I could borrow a floor squeegie and the ionizer. He was alive and well and said he'd leave everything where I can find it tomorrow morning without waking him.
A big thank you to all of the G+ friends who held my paw last night and sent me dry thoughts. <3 all="" nbsp="" ou="" p="" rock.="">
I was just debating whether or not to head for the basement when my dad called. After asking me how I was, he asked if I was aware of the weather, and then proceeded to read me the entire text of the warning. I promised him I would keep an eye on the dog and on the radar and went about my evening. He told me to call him if a tornado was headed for Hudson because he was going to take a nap. Typical Scary Bear, nothing gets in the way of a nap.
LMPP calmed down and went to sleep, so I went back to working on spreadsheets for Mom while outside it was storming to beat the band. I took a break when the hail started. It was so loud I knew what popcorn sounds like from the inside of the popper. Then the hail stopped and the rain started again, and when I went to look at the lightning, I realized there was standing water in the driveway.
So at 9:30, I was outside in flip-flops and a rain poncho, wading through ankle-deep cold water trying to clear the grate on the driveway drain. I succeeded, but too late to prevent the garage from flooding. I came back inside, saw that the tornado warning was over and there was a flash flood warning, washed my feet, set up the coffee and went to bed.
This morning, the garage had a layer of mud and yuck all over the floor, lots of things moved around from the water and was in a general state of disarray. Unfortunately, because today was call day, I had to go in. I'll need to be, at minimum, in the hospital before I call off on call day--it's just too hard with only two people in the accounts department.
My drive in was complicated by a detour that meant I had to use the high-traffic route and included the sight of a whole bunch of downed trees and washed-out shoulders. Lake Morley was full of water, with more dripping from the pipes. I told my colleagues what had happened, explained that I'd like to take Wednesday off and got permission from the chief clerk to do so. I then had to tell one of my fellow auditors that yes, I washed my feet after wading in dog-knows-what. :P
Call day was interesting. For the first time in my experience, we had two people admit, albeit reluctantly, that they weren't just behind in their paperwork, they'd done things they shouldn't have with money that wasn't theirs. Thankfully, the judge is more interested in helping them fix things than punishing them.
When I got home, the garage had started to stink (it was 90ยบ F today!) and I called dad to make sure he and his couch weren't buried in the remains of my childhood home and to see if I could borrow a floor squeegie and the ionizer. He was alive and well and said he'd leave everything where I can find it tomorrow morning without waking him.
A big thank you to all of the G+ friends who held my paw last night and sent me dry thoughts. <3 all="" nbsp="" ou="" p="" rock.="">
Saturday, May 03, 2014
Somebody gets me!
Five days a week I park my car at the downtown parking garage closest to work. I pay $65/month for the privilege, and consider it well spent when I don't have to slog through a polar vortex for more than two minutes. However, I am wondering what the company that operates the garage is doing with my money (and everyone else's).
When it rains or snows heavily, all of the pipes carrying the water away from the flat roof leak and all of the drains back up. Huge puddles form, great swathes of parking spaces are blocked off, and this spring, the lowest level of the garage had two feet of water in it for almost a week. The only "maintenance" ABM seems to do is to put out "Wet Floor" signs convenient only for blocking more parking spaces.
Last Wednesday, I got out of my car and stepped right in a puddle. Fortunately I keep my work shoes at work and I was wearing sneakers, but I was still ticked. I thought about it all day, and at 4:00, I grabbed a sheet of paper out of the recycling bin and made a little sign.
Welcome to Lake Morley, Cabins and Fishing are in my handwriting.
I taped it on the door to Level 2 and went home.
On Friday night, as I got to the door, I saw that "Kiddie Pool", "High Dive" and "Canoes" had been added, each with their own unique arrows. As long as it's up, I can start my day happy with the knowledge that even if I don't know them personally, someone in Akron shares my sense of humor.
When it rains or snows heavily, all of the pipes carrying the water away from the flat roof leak and all of the drains back up. Huge puddles form, great swathes of parking spaces are blocked off, and this spring, the lowest level of the garage had two feet of water in it for almost a week. The only "maintenance" ABM seems to do is to put out "Wet Floor" signs convenient only for blocking more parking spaces.
Last Wednesday, I got out of my car and stepped right in a puddle. Fortunately I keep my work shoes at work and I was wearing sneakers, but I was still ticked. I thought about it all day, and at 4:00, I grabbed a sheet of paper out of the recycling bin and made a little sign.
Welcome to Lake Morley, Cabins and Fishing are in my handwriting.
On Friday night, as I got to the door, I saw that "Kiddie Pool", "High Dive" and "Canoes" had been added, each with their own unique arrows. As long as it's up, I can start my day happy with the knowledge that even if I don't know them personally, someone in Akron shares my sense of humor.
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