Let the water flow…up

As in up out of the sump pump pit when the sump pump fails…  You may have heard of, or even experienced the weather happening around here while Ike was pounding the Gulf coast.  Rain.  Lots of it.  It wasn’t as bad as the storm system that hovered over us for days last year [EDIT: According to this morning’s paper it actually was worse], but then last year we had a working sump pump.  Apparently our sump pump got its intake clogged causing it to run dry and burn out.  I learned this the other morning when I went downstairs to use the bathroom so as not to disturb the other occupant here.  I tend to not turn on the light at the bottom of the stairs because I know my way around.  Normally not a problem, but this day I put my foot down the final stair to a splash.  Yuck.  Four inches of water.  Not so bad, but then think about where the water came from and what goes through that pit…

Bottom line, we needed a new sump pump.  So did hundreds of others around here.  After learning that Lowes, Home Depot, Sears, etc. were out, I found that Menards apparently stocks hundreds of the things as when I got there they had dozens left on the shelf and the cashier told me they sold wel over a hundred that day.  In the meantime, we do have a backup pump and my brother and I set it up.  Unfortunately a hose was securely attached so its status as a backup remained firm.  We had to run the hose up the stairs, buying and attaching another length to make it possible to run it out the door.  Once set up, it took a few hours to drain the basement while the rain poured mercilessly down.  Later that night, after church, I was able to secure that new pump along with the attachments my brother said we needed.  We would have had it hooked up tonight, but the PVC cement takes several hours to cure so we will have to finish tomorrow.  Good thing the weather report shows that we are pretty much finished with the rain for now.  After that, let the cleanup and damage assessment begin.  Both of our dehumidifiers were caught in the indoor lake, but one of them still works.  Hopefully once the other dries out it can be put into active duty as well.

Other casualties from the rain included a hot water heater that I only was able to restart a few hours ago and a closed road today next to a retention pond- pretty full when we passed it yesterday, and that was before another nearly 30 hours of rain.  Another casualty was my lower back.  It started hurting pretty bad yesterday to the point where I could only stand for a limited period of time and when sitting I had to make sure my back was supported.  At one point I sat down and could not get back up it hurt so bad.  It is a little better today and I am using a heating pad on it as I type.  I did learn that Aleve does not ease back pain.

I am not looking forward to the rest of the week.  So far I have 2½ days assigned (my first elementary jobs of the year- up to now it has been middle school only) and a large cleanup job in the basement.  By the way, the ELL assignment went without hitches.  My boycott of ELL assignments in that school is over for now.