holy ====

 This was one of those days

    Plan was to leave at 11, hit four places in DeKalb, be home by 1:30 or 2 at the latest.

    I am writing this at 1:42 p.m.....tired, wet, discouraged, upset......you name it.

    At around 10 Julia said there was a man walking around the house.

    It was Tom, the landscaper.  He is putting some edging and mulch down for me.

    We talked for a few minutes and I went inside.

    I got Jackie breakfast, then decided, luckily, to get a muffin from the downstairs freezer.

    (Emily made a Costco trip and bought us several dozen muffins, which we froze.)

    I opened the door to the furnace area.  I  took a step inside and......water, water, everywhere.

    Shit.  (Which is not what I said several times, but I am cleaning it up for the youngins' out there.)

    I called the plumber, they said soneone would be out ASAP.  Julia and I began hauling out the wet carpeting and  boxes,  I used the shop vac on the water, along with a wringer bucket and mop.  Emily came over and we moved my pillars out of  the water and set them on edge against a wall so the bottoms  dry.

    I figured the floor drain where the water softener discharges into, was blocked.  No such luck.

    The ejector pump failed.  After 12 years, it finally died.

    Which is ironic, because I had actually thought about having it replaced  before we needed to, just in case.

    That opportunithy as passed.

    Because the concrete is saturated, I bought  a dehumidifier.  

    The one bright spot is I discovered it today.  We don't go into that room very often and it could have been Sunday or Monday, double time days for a plumber, so we saved some money.

    But crap, what a hassle.

    I eventually made it to DeKalb. I got to my first stop at 3:06.  They closed at 3. The rest of my stops were pretty routine. 

    I picked up a pizza and got home about 5:30.  Sheri came over with dessert and we had pizza, wine and 2 kinds of dessert.  It was a welcome end to a stressful day.

    I have a humidifier running, all the soaked carpets are out, a couple of bags of wet stuff are still in the basement but it is pretty well cleaned up. 

    The carpet is no big loss. It was left over from when the house was carpeted 12 yearas ago and I just threw it down on the floor to make it more comfortable for walking.

    The biggest losses were time, energy, and not getting my muffin.

Peace and Love