Oy, it's hot and humid and the mosquitoes are attacking in swarms. The experts say these mosquitoes - flood mosquitoes - are harmless and don't carry the West Nile virus. Yeah, right, so just let them bite the hell out of you, content in that knowledge, and die from an infection caused by scratching bites until you bleed...
Tomorrow is the longest day of the year - the summer solstice. Isn't that when pagans do all sorts of weird things at Stonehenge?
Thunderstorms are threatening but so far - no rain. My basement has alllmmmoooossstttt stopped leaking water but the dehumidifier is making very strange noises. I believe it may be contemplating passing to the next world, where all worthy appliances go when they die. I'm not going to give it passing marks though. I bought this top of the line Sears model in 2002, so it's not even six years old, and mostly sits unused! Now I ask it to perform the relatively modest task of extracting a kajillion gallons of water from the air in my basement and it's balking! Must have been made in China. Ha!
Okay - returning after a bit of a break to make some Kraft mac n cheese. Yeah, I know, not exactly gourmet, but it's easy and quick and I'm starving! So, while the mac is bubbling away in the pot I run downstairs because I don't hear the dehumidifier humming. It's stopped. But the red light signalling a full container of water isn't lit. I check the container - not even a quarter full. I empty it anyway. As I'm putting the container back in it's spot I notice for the first time this filter thingy on the back of the dehumidifier. It looks clogged up with lots of gunk. So I grab a rag and start scrubbing at the gunk. It comes off! Lots of it. I turn the dehumidifier back on and it's no longer making strange laboring noises. Praise the Goddess! Maybe the basement will be dried out before Labor Day after all...
About the RAIN...
You know, all the news stories about our "unprecedented" rain a few weeks ago keep referring to it as a "100 year flood." Now, of course, the water is still causing disasters and headlines as it makes it way downstream on various rivers. Iowa has been especially hard hit, as has Missouri. Rivers are cresting at levels never seen before - new records are being set even as I type this. Thousands upon thousand of acres of planted croplands have been wiped out for the season. If you think food is expensive now, just wait until harvest time, when there is no harvest...
I have a real problem with calling this latest event a "100 year flood," because on August 6, 1986, we got six inches of rain in a matter of about 8 hours and the basement of my parent's house was blown out by water - not from sewer backup in their house but from the storm sewers in the street literally blowing their round heavy metal tops and tons of water beating against the house from the street - several feet deep in a matter of moments The basement windows in that big old duplex were about a foot above grade, but the waters smashed through the windows and poured into the basement.
That rain was called a "100 year flood."
In the spring of 1993, we got a lot more rain. So much rain, the Mississippi River and most of its tributaries were flooded over. So much rain, my sump pump could not keep up with the water pouring into the drain tile. The sump crock overflowed and I had a foot of clean storm water in my basement in no time at all - with the sump pump continuing to work! That was the year I first heard the term "cryptosporidium." This house was was not quite three years old.
That rain was called a "100 year flood."
After the sump pump experience, I had my handy brother-in-law Fred install a super-duper industrial strength sump pump that can suck up 2500 gallons of water a minute. I had a dry basement for the next 3 years.
And then the end of June, 1996 happened. It rained for about 48 hours non-stop. And not just rain - buckets and downpours, constant. I had a seminar to attend in Madison on a Saturday, about 24 hours after the rain began. I left the house at 7:30 a.m., my basement was dry. I was confident the super-duper sump pump would keep me dry.
I was wrong. When I got home about 9:30 that evening, the house was quite. So quiet, I could hear the distinct sounds of running water coming from somewhere - it took me a few moments to realize that it was coming from...THE BASEMENT! EEEK EEEK EEEK EEEK!
I collapsed into bed about 2:30 a.m. the next day, after having attempted - unsuccessfully - to mop up the water. It was a hopeless task. I had a river flowing from the overflowing sump crock to the drain, and the water just kept recirculating...
That rain was also called a "100 year flood."
So, let's see, we've had three "100 year floods" in 22 years. Do you think there is something wrong with the definition of "100 year floods" that the National Weather Service is using???
Okay - the thunder is now getting much louder - the last blast shook the house, so I'm going to shut down for now. 'night!
Tomorrow is the longest day of the year - the summer solstice. Isn't that when pagans do all sorts of weird things at Stonehenge?
Thunderstorms are threatening but so far - no rain. My basement has alllmmmoooossstttt stopped leaking water but the dehumidifier is making very strange noises. I believe it may be contemplating passing to the next world, where all worthy appliances go when they die. I'm not going to give it passing marks though. I bought this top of the line Sears model in 2002, so it's not even six years old, and mostly sits unused! Now I ask it to perform the relatively modest task of extracting a kajillion gallons of water from the air in my basement and it's balking! Must have been made in China. Ha!
Okay - returning after a bit of a break to make some Kraft mac n cheese. Yeah, I know, not exactly gourmet, but it's easy and quick and I'm starving! So, while the mac is bubbling away in the pot I run downstairs because I don't hear the dehumidifier humming. It's stopped. But the red light signalling a full container of water isn't lit. I check the container - not even a quarter full. I empty it anyway. As I'm putting the container back in it's spot I notice for the first time this filter thingy on the back of the dehumidifier. It looks clogged up with lots of gunk. So I grab a rag and start scrubbing at the gunk. It comes off! Lots of it. I turn the dehumidifier back on and it's no longer making strange laboring noises. Praise the Goddess! Maybe the basement will be dried out before Labor Day after all...
About the RAIN...
You know, all the news stories about our "unprecedented" rain a few weeks ago keep referring to it as a "100 year flood." Now, of course, the water is still causing disasters and headlines as it makes it way downstream on various rivers. Iowa has been especially hard hit, as has Missouri. Rivers are cresting at levels never seen before - new records are being set even as I type this. Thousands upon thousand of acres of planted croplands have been wiped out for the season. If you think food is expensive now, just wait until harvest time, when there is no harvest...
I have a real problem with calling this latest event a "100 year flood," because on August 6, 1986, we got six inches of rain in a matter of about 8 hours and the basement of my parent's house was blown out by water - not from sewer backup in their house but from the storm sewers in the street literally blowing their round heavy metal tops and tons of water beating against the house from the street - several feet deep in a matter of moments The basement windows in that big old duplex were about a foot above grade, but the waters smashed through the windows and poured into the basement.
That rain was called a "100 year flood."
In the spring of 1993, we got a lot more rain. So much rain, the Mississippi River and most of its tributaries were flooded over. So much rain, my sump pump could not keep up with the water pouring into the drain tile. The sump crock overflowed and I had a foot of clean storm water in my basement in no time at all - with the sump pump continuing to work! That was the year I first heard the term "cryptosporidium." This house was was not quite three years old.
That rain was called a "100 year flood."
After the sump pump experience, I had my handy brother-in-law Fred install a super-duper industrial strength sump pump that can suck up 2500 gallons of water a minute. I had a dry basement for the next 3 years.
And then the end of June, 1996 happened. It rained for about 48 hours non-stop. And not just rain - buckets and downpours, constant. I had a seminar to attend in Madison on a Saturday, about 24 hours after the rain began. I left the house at 7:30 a.m., my basement was dry. I was confident the super-duper sump pump would keep me dry.
I was wrong. When I got home about 9:30 that evening, the house was quite. So quiet, I could hear the distinct sounds of running water coming from somewhere - it took me a few moments to realize that it was coming from...THE BASEMENT! EEEK EEEK EEEK EEEK!
I collapsed into bed about 2:30 a.m. the next day, after having attempted - unsuccessfully - to mop up the water. It was a hopeless task. I had a river flowing from the overflowing sump crock to the drain, and the water just kept recirculating...
That rain was also called a "100 year flood."
So, let's see, we've had three "100 year floods" in 22 years. Do you think there is something wrong with the definition of "100 year floods" that the National Weather Service is using???
Okay - the thunder is now getting much louder - the last blast shook the house, so I'm going to shut down for now. 'night!
