Bad Weather
Well, it's official. The weather here is nasty!!
Kris, Jolene, & I were in Bowling Green tonight and came out to go to my car and it was sleeting. Hard enough that the pellets were very stinging. We got to my car and I scraped the icy windows off and we moseyed on home. We took Jolene home and then went to Wal-mart to get some storm supplies (batteries for dad). By this time the roads were all covered with the ice pellets to make a nice almost snowy road.
When we got out of Wal-mart, it had turned to rain. And so now there's soupy, sleety, slushy goo every where. The trees are covered with ice, bringing back memories of the ice storm of 1994 when some people were without electricity for a week or more because of downed power lines.
Ok...I'm back after a 2+ hour delay. I was just finishing the previous paragraph when the electricity went out. My wonderful battery backup kept my computer from shutting off before I could save everything and shut it down. I shut down my computer, lit a few candles and went to call Dad.
I called their number and it was busy. I tried several more times to no avail, so I called Dad's cell phone and he answered. He had obviously been sleeping because when I asked him if they have electricity, he said "I don't know." I told him we had been without for approximately 5 minutes and as he went to ask Mom, he promptly hung up. The reason for calling him was that the sump pumps must run. We can do without all other amenities but the sump pump MUST run to keep us from floating.
I waited for 5 or 10 minutes to hear from him and when he didn't call back, I tried the home number (busy) and then called him again on his cell phone. He said that he would head out to round up a generator to bring over. He figured that we would have at least 30 minutes before we were in danger of water in the basement.
What I didn't realize is that he had been sleeping on the couch because he was rather suspicious that something like this would happen and when I woke him up, he couldn't remember where he had put his shoes. And without lights to search for them...
Kris & I put our coats on and went out to measure the water level. Back when we were having sump pump problems earlier (a whole other story), Dad had told us that if the water measured somewhere around 7 to 7.5 feet from the top of the manhole that we would be in danger of water coming into the basement. The water was 8 feet from the top.
Around this time, our upstairs tenant, Stacy, came out to see what was up and to keep us company as we nervously waited for Dad to arrive. She was nervous about the fact that her husband, Ray, was at work and wouldn't get off until 4:00 a.m. He has a Trans-Am (I think) and as Stacy put it, "That thing might as well be on roller skates in weather like this." She wanted to know if there was anything she could do to help us besides pray.
A bit later, I went back in to call Dad and see if any progress had been made because we didn't seem to hear anything happening over that way. I called him on his cell phone and he frustratedly told me that he was trying his hardest but the backhoe was key was frozen in place and he couldn't start it. I asked him if Martin's presence would be helpful and he said "Definitely!! Call him."
So I woke Martin up and explained the situation to him and asked him if he wouldn't go help Dad. He said he would. I went back up to the garage where Kris & Stacy were hanging out and we continued to chat.
We finally heard the backhoe start up and rejoiced that anytime a generator would arrive. We waited and we waited and we waited. We measured the water several times over the course of waiting and the water level had risen 3 inches. We were quite relieved that it wasn't rising faster than that. I finally went in and called the house to see if they had any updates for us.
When Dad had left the house, he quickly realized that he would need more clothes than he was currently wearing. The outdoor clothes that he usually wears were in one of the trucks so he went to get them...but the truck was frozen shut. He went back in and fished around in closets until he had sufficient gear to wear. Then he headed out to the backhoe and promptly sat on the seat which was covered with cold rain water and ice. You can imagine how that felt. Since the key was frozen in place, he had to chip away at the ice until he was finally able to turn the key and start it. He drove down to the barn to get a welder, but when he arrived at the barn, the doors were all frozen shut. The wind was blowing, it was frigid, anything he tried to access was frozen shut, and nothing was going right for him.
Martin had to find a candle to light so he could get dressed, and he finally arrived on the scene. He and Dad managed to chip enough ice away from his pull-behind generator to open it up and got it started. He hitched it to his Explorer and they came over to our house. It was somewhere between 1:00 and 1:15, probably at least an hour and a half since the electricity had gone off. We were so very glad to see them arrive. We had been pitching ideas around as to how we would start drawing the water up by hand, not an appealing idea.
The generator was backed up to the manhole and we got the extension cord, that Stacy had managed to dig from her stuff, and connected the outside sump pump to the generator. What a sense of relief!! The next thing to do was to find a cord long enough to run from the generator, into the garage, down the steps, and to the indoor sump pump, since it too needs to run occasionally.
Martin thought he had a cord in his carport but before he went after it, Kris brilliantly remembered that we have a very long weed-eater cord that would work. We got that cord and Martin took his end out to the generator and I took my end downstairs. I emptied the closet so I could get back in under the stairs where the sump pump was (smacking my head in the process) and went to plug it into the cord only to discover that the pump was a three-prong cord and totally incompatible with my two-prong extension cord. *sigh*
I managed to find an adapter in the laundry and plug the sump pump in. I was certain that something was wrong with the pump because it sounded weird. I summoned Dad and he came and listened and said it sounded fine to him. I figured out that since it usually kicks on before it's under water, I wasn't accustomed to hearing it in the muted fashion in which it was currently running.
Dad decided that his usefulness had run it's course and so he walked back home while Martin unhitched the generator and got us settled in. Martin went on home then, and Kris & I thanked Stacy for her support as we parted company.
I climbed back in to where the sump was to shut the lid to it and clean up a bit of water that had sprayed the wall while it was running. Just as I finished up, the beautiful florescent lighting from the living room lit up the closet. I nearly broke out into the Hallelujah Chorus.
Martin came back over and we plugged the pumps back into real electricity. He showed me how to start the generator if it became necessary during the night and went back home.
Kris & I had berated ourselves earlier for not taking our showers right after we got home, so the first order of business was showers. Who could know how long it would be until the next outage? I started my computer and typed some more of this e-mail while I waited for Kris to finish her shower. It was late enough after I got out of the shower that I just saved the rest
for later.
Dad & Martin definitely achieved hero status for their efforts on our behalf. My heart goes out to those who don't have someone nearby that they can call on in times of trouble. If you guys want a challenge, be a hero for someone that may not have the resources you have. It may be a widow, a single mother, or even an older single girl/lady. It might mean taking her somewhere in bad weather, transporting something in your truck, or building something for her. Even if she needs nothing, it may just make her day that someone cared enough to ask.
Kris, Jolene, & I were in Bowling Green tonight and came out to go to my car and it was sleeting. Hard enough that the pellets were very stinging. We got to my car and I scraped the icy windows off and we moseyed on home. We took Jolene home and then went to Wal-mart to get some storm supplies (batteries for dad). By this time the roads were all covered with the ice pellets to make a nice almost snowy road.
When we got out of Wal-mart, it had turned to rain. And so now there's soupy, sleety, slushy goo every where. The trees are covered with ice, bringing back memories of the ice storm of 1994 when some people were without electricity for a week or more because of downed power lines.
Ok...I'm back after a 2+ hour delay. I was just finishing the previous paragraph when the electricity went out. My wonderful battery backup kept my computer from shutting off before I could save everything and shut it down. I shut down my computer, lit a few candles and went to call Dad.
I called their number and it was busy. I tried several more times to no avail, so I called Dad's cell phone and he answered. He had obviously been sleeping because when I asked him if they have electricity, he said "I don't know." I told him we had been without for approximately 5 minutes and as he went to ask Mom, he promptly hung up. The reason for calling him was that the sump pumps must run. We can do without all other amenities but the sump pump MUST run to keep us from floating.
I waited for 5 or 10 minutes to hear from him and when he didn't call back, I tried the home number (busy) and then called him again on his cell phone. He said that he would head out to round up a generator to bring over. He figured that we would have at least 30 minutes before we were in danger of water in the basement.
What I didn't realize is that he had been sleeping on the couch because he was rather suspicious that something like this would happen and when I woke him up, he couldn't remember where he had put his shoes. And without lights to search for them...
Kris & I put our coats on and went out to measure the water level. Back when we were having sump pump problems earlier (a whole other story), Dad had told us that if the water measured somewhere around 7 to 7.5 feet from the top of the manhole that we would be in danger of water coming into the basement. The water was 8 feet from the top.
Around this time, our upstairs tenant, Stacy, came out to see what was up and to keep us company as we nervously waited for Dad to arrive. She was nervous about the fact that her husband, Ray, was at work and wouldn't get off until 4:00 a.m. He has a Trans-Am (I think) and as Stacy put it, "That thing might as well be on roller skates in weather like this." She wanted to know if there was anything she could do to help us besides pray.
A bit later, I went back in to call Dad and see if any progress had been made because we didn't seem to hear anything happening over that way. I called him on his cell phone and he frustratedly told me that he was trying his hardest but the backhoe was key was frozen in place and he couldn't start it. I asked him if Martin's presence would be helpful and he said "Definitely!! Call him."
So I woke Martin up and explained the situation to him and asked him if he wouldn't go help Dad. He said he would. I went back up to the garage where Kris & Stacy were hanging out and we continued to chat.
We finally heard the backhoe start up and rejoiced that anytime a generator would arrive. We waited and we waited and we waited. We measured the water several times over the course of waiting and the water level had risen 3 inches. We were quite relieved that it wasn't rising faster than that. I finally went in and called the house to see if they had any updates for us.
When Dad had left the house, he quickly realized that he would need more clothes than he was currently wearing. The outdoor clothes that he usually wears were in one of the trucks so he went to get them...but the truck was frozen shut. He went back in and fished around in closets until he had sufficient gear to wear. Then he headed out to the backhoe and promptly sat on the seat which was covered with cold rain water and ice. You can imagine how that felt. Since the key was frozen in place, he had to chip away at the ice until he was finally able to turn the key and start it. He drove down to the barn to get a welder, but when he arrived at the barn, the doors were all frozen shut. The wind was blowing, it was frigid, anything he tried to access was frozen shut, and nothing was going right for him.
Martin had to find a candle to light so he could get dressed, and he finally arrived on the scene. He and Dad managed to chip enough ice away from his pull-behind generator to open it up and got it started. He hitched it to his Explorer and they came over to our house. It was somewhere between 1:00 and 1:15, probably at least an hour and a half since the electricity had gone off. We were so very glad to see them arrive. We had been pitching ideas around as to how we would start drawing the water up by hand, not an appealing idea.
The generator was backed up to the manhole and we got the extension cord, that Stacy had managed to dig from her stuff, and connected the outside sump pump to the generator. What a sense of relief!! The next thing to do was to find a cord long enough to run from the generator, into the garage, down the steps, and to the indoor sump pump, since it too needs to run occasionally.
Martin thought he had a cord in his carport but before he went after it, Kris brilliantly remembered that we have a very long weed-eater cord that would work. We got that cord and Martin took his end out to the generator and I took my end downstairs. I emptied the closet so I could get back in under the stairs where the sump pump was (smacking my head in the process) and went to plug it into the cord only to discover that the pump was a three-prong cord and totally incompatible with my two-prong extension cord. *sigh*
I managed to find an adapter in the laundry and plug the sump pump in. I was certain that something was wrong with the pump because it sounded weird. I summoned Dad and he came and listened and said it sounded fine to him. I figured out that since it usually kicks on before it's under water, I wasn't accustomed to hearing it in the muted fashion in which it was currently running.
Dad decided that his usefulness had run it's course and so he walked back home while Martin unhitched the generator and got us settled in. Martin went on home then, and Kris & I thanked Stacy for her support as we parted company.
I climbed back in to where the sump was to shut the lid to it and clean up a bit of water that had sprayed the wall while it was running. Just as I finished up, the beautiful florescent lighting from the living room lit up the closet. I nearly broke out into the Hallelujah Chorus.
Martin came back over and we plugged the pumps back into real electricity. He showed me how to start the generator if it became necessary during the night and went back home.
Kris & I had berated ourselves earlier for not taking our showers right after we got home, so the first order of business was showers. Who could know how long it would be until the next outage? I started my computer and typed some more of this e-mail while I waited for Kris to finish her shower. It was late enough after I got out of the shower that I just saved the rest
for later.
Dad & Martin definitely achieved hero status for their efforts on our behalf. My heart goes out to those who don't have someone nearby that they can call on in times of trouble. If you guys want a challenge, be a hero for someone that may not have the resources you have. It may be a widow, a single mother, or even an older single girl/lady. It might mean taking her somewhere in bad weather, transporting something in your truck, or building something for her. Even if she needs nothing, it may just make her day that someone cared enough to ask.
posted by Sharon @ 7:58 AM
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