I'm Bailing Out

No, I'm not quitting my JT2 or my BTCT, I'm bailing water. Grrrr. Tuesday night was guild night, but since it was pouring rain and pitch black, M and I decided to go for Mexican food in town instead of driving to the guild meeting. First we got her quilts all bagged up and put in her car, and looked at everything going on in my sewing room.
When I came home, I made sure all the drains outside the front of my house were clear of debris, then I came in and was looking forward to an hour or sew of hand quilting, wrapped under 'the tank' and catching up on some tv.
But I needed something, (I can't remember what it was) so I ran downstairs and started walking through water.
Needless to say, my plans changed in a heartbeat. I grabbed the first stack of towels, threw down a rag quilt that was handy, and headed back upstairs for the second stack of towels and throw rugs. Anything that would soak up the water hit the floor.

Once all the items on the floor got moved to the garage, the towels hit the washer on spin, and got reused until there was no water left to mop up. At this point, I realize that a drain out the back wasn't draining and the water was building up in a catch area. I called my Dad, he's in AZ, but all I got was moral support, (what did I expect??) He said to call the guys from my work, so I called T. Again, moral support and "call a plumber". I called the plumber, and yes, they can come....... the next morning at 8 a.m.
So I started bailing. Then I decided I needed sandbags as the water was coming into the drain area as fast as I was bailing and it was going to breach the concrete slab and just push through again into my downstairs. OK so here I am in a tiny border town driving around at 11 p.m. in a torrential downpour, going from gas station to grocery store to truck stop, looking for sandbags. No luck. But I did see Border Patrol so I drove over to where he was parked and asked if he knew where I could get some sandbags. He offered up a phone number so I hurried home and called. It was the county emergency number and after I was transferred three times, the last lady told me the fire dept had been dispatched to my house. Good grief, but maybe they could help me.

When the big red truck came around the corner into my driveway, I was out there, standing in the rain, waiting for them, and no, they weren't hot and single! :-) but I got some more moral support. He told me "keep bailing"! I guess they had already been to several houses that were far worse than mine. I must have hauled about 30 of these buckets of water out of here.

By midnight I was too exhausted and too wet and too cold to keep bailing so I went inside, rolled up a fresh batch of dried towels all around the walls of my room, went upstairs, got dried off and went to bed; but not before I set my alarm to wake me up at 4 a.m. No need for the alarm, I was wide awake at 3, and I laid there, listening for rain. When I finally convinced myself that I had to put on my big girl pants and go back down stairs to check things out, I was SO relieved to see the water had receded and the rain truly had stopped.

Short version, my floor is ruined, the upside, no quilts were damaged in the process. Of course my home owners insurance, which has me covered for EVERYTHING, along with an additional $1 million umbrella, doesn't cover this. Let's just say this insurance co will never see another penny from me.

I'm not sure if I was more upset about the flood or the fact that I didn't get to take a stitch in my quilt.
So that's how my week has been, that's my excuse for not showing anything quilt related, and thank goodness I had a massage appointment today, I think I earned it!

Sharon