Tuesday, July 27, 2004
my worst nightmare
So my parents trust me with their house. Cool beans, right? I would never go behind thier backs and host a phat party or anything destructive to the house, and I think they know that. Perhaps the only thing I would even consider is a LAN party, but even then ... a bunch of geeks armed with caffine?
Anyway, the worst happened last night. I completely screwed over the house.
It started when I got back from dropping Richard off. I got home around 1:30 or so, turn on the drip sprinklers in the backyard for the night, shove a load of laundry in the washer so I can have clean clothes in the morning and do my bathroom thing, then go to bed. I slept soundly until my alarm went off at a quarter to seven when I stumbled out of bed. I heard water running and was glad that I remembered to put the sprinklers on the night before. That reminded me to put my clothes in the dryer so I had something to wear to work. I walked down the hall, past the bathroom. Then the sound of water seemed to be close ... as in not in the backyard, or even in the pipes ...
My foot stepped into an inch and a half of standing water. I hadn't even gotten to the kitchen yet, still 20 feet from the laundry room. I almost screamed. I started freaking out. There was water everwhere! The door to the washing machine was open and water was pouring out of it as a steady stream. Still in my boxers, I went outside and shut off the water at the source where it enters the house, along with circuit breakers for electical appliances in the area.
I went inside to see the damage.
There was indeed over an inch of water resting on the hardwood floors of the kitchen, and it was spilling over into the carpeted living room. If you have never been to my house, you need to know that it is on a hill. The living room/kitchen is right above what used to be our home office (before my parents moved out). I went down the stairs and saw rain. Water was dripping - almost streaming - down from the ceiling and creating puddles on the floor. Water was everywhere!
I called my parents in San Jose and got my mom. I told her what was going on. She was frustrated more than mad, and suprisingly not mad at me. I was completely relieved. She told me to call my grandpa to have him assess the damage and help with the cleaning process. That was the last call my cellphone let me make for some reason, so I ran up to my grandpa's house, just a block away. I ran into my neighbor who was gardening and asked for his help as well. Both were more than happy to gather mops and towels and fans and go down to the stillman's.
We literally swept the water out the door. By the time we got back, the flow of water had subsided and the rain had slowed down significantly. With the top layer of water out (by sweeping it out the door) the hardwood dried pretty fast. The couple hundred square feet worth of carpet, however, was (and is) still wet. We got towels and sopped up as much of the water as we could, but it is still pretty bad. Now I get to go home to a wet house and wonder what to do with it. Any suggestions or insurance inquiries or offers to help can be directed to my cell phone.
I don't know. I just was kinda sorta hoping I could get through the summer without any shit like this happening. I guess I was hoping for just a little too much :)
And yes, JS, there was a leak. The washing machine had a freak accident, because I can't find anything wrong with it (I won't ever trust it again, though...)
