So much has happened in the last few weeks that I thought I better get blogging before I forget details and lose them completely. Since all of the boys have been off of school, I have found it harder to find the time to sit down and start writing. Not that we have been outside enjoying the summer weather because here in our neck of the woods, it has been cold, rainy, cloudy, foggy, damp, windy….did I say rainy?
Ahh yes, the rain! I don’t keep track of weather statistics but I am sure this past weekend, SE Wisconsin has set a new record. It had rained most of the week off and on. I have not had to actually water my flowers but maybe once since we planted in mid May. We get so much rain, that I actually think some of my pots are getting too much water! Friday night was met with a cancelled baseball game (AGAIN! At this rate, the kids will be playing ball in October due to the many, many make up games that are in our future!) and a storm like no other storm.
I had long standing plans with one of my best friends for dinner that night. She was in town from Naperville and I had not seen her since Christmas. I had looked forward to it all week and could not wait to see her, catch up and have a drink. Julie was my maid of honor in my wedding and I have been friends with her since, I think, kindergarten! As a matter of fact, I cannot ever remember my life without her in it!
We talked earlier in the day and the plan was to go out around 7:30 PM. At about 5:30, the clouds started to get darker. By 6:00, the tornado sirens started to go off, not once but twice. If you knew me and my kids, you would know that the sound of a tornado siren puts all three of us right over the edge. There were tears and some quick gathering of pillows and blankets and we trodded off to the basement after I very quickly shut windows and doors. We pleaded with Mr. T. to come with us to the basement. He looked at us like we were nuts and said he was not about to leave the living room where the Cubs were in extra innings with a tie score. I had visions of a tornado touching down and the kids and I being safe and the rescue crews finding my husband strewn somewhere in a Cubs hat and t-shirt clinging to the remote.
Once the sirens quieted, the rain came. I have never in my forty years of life seen anything like it. The tree tops seemed to bend in two and the rain came down not in drops, not in buckets but more like sheets. It was a wall of water. The street was flooded in a matter of minutes, the lights flickered off and on a few times and I had a TV (not the one with the Cubs game on!) tuned to my favorite weather man, John Malan. By 6:30, the tornado warning had been cancelled and once we heard that, my sweet little Collin announced that suddenly his stomach did not hurt anymore and he felt really, really happy!
My friend John Malan announced that SE Wisconsin had severe flooding and there were cars stranded and the interstate was shut down. I tinkered with the idea of canceling my plans for the night, just for the fact that the street was swimming in water, it was still pouring and my kiddies, although not crying and huddled in the basement, were still a little unsettled. I knew I could not count on Mr. T. to be of any source of comfort to the boys, after all the Cubs at that point were in the 12th inning!
The rain had slowed, everyone seemed OK with the idea of me going out, so Julie and I agreed that we would keep our plan and head out, just a little later than the original plan. I went to the bathroom to wash my face, fix my hair and put some makeup on and Mr. T. went to the basement to grab some frozen pizza from the freezer for boys night! The kids love it when I go out because, as they say, Daddy lets them watch movies that Mommy thinks might be inappropriate. They were excited that they were going to be sitting on the living room floor eating pizza, drinking soda and watching Pirates of the Caribbean : At Worlds End. If I were going to be home, we would have watched a rated G Disney movie!
I was in the bathroom with suds all over my face when I hear ” UHH, HONEY!! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!” The tone in Mr. T.’s voice was not that we were out of pepperoni pizza and he would have to settle for just cheese, not that the Cubs lost in 13 innings, ( they actually won that night in 13 innings!) but something a little more serious. I dried my face, walked to the basement steps and I did not even have to look. I could hear. I could hear the sound of Mr. T’s flip flops wading through water. At that point, I was not too panicked. We usually get a little water in the basement with heavy rain. A small puddle from slight seepage near the west basement wall that is easily taken care of.
When I got to the bottom of the steps, I think I stopped breathing for a minute or two. There was not a puddle. There was a small lake. And this was not a crystal clear lake, it was a murky, STINKY lake. And the water was not trickling from the wall on the west side, it was coming up from the sewer. I immediately pulled up my pant legs and waded through to get some irreplaceable items like baby pictures, scrap books, gifts that the kids made for me in preschool for Mothers Day. All of those things that can never be replaced were down in my basement. In cardboard boxes. Most of our precious things were safe as they were stored against walls and the water was coming from the center drain. I grabbed what I could, handed things off to the kids who were perched on the steps and we formed our own bucket brigade. I quickly called Julie and told her I had to cancel our plans. Her Dad chirped some advice in the backround and I immediately heeded his words. I called the city right away, not knowing what they could possibly do. The city worker assured me I called the right place, he would put me on the list and dispatch a truck to our house. Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. After several calls to the city water and sewer department and being told the same thing each time I called, ‘We will get there as soon as we can” Mr. T. and I put the kids to bed, sat on the couch and watched TV in silence. At about 1:00AM we decided to call it a night. At that point, we didn’t care, we were so exhausted. I thought it might be morning before the city showed up. At 3:00 AM, I heard the truck pull up. I woke Mr. T. up, he quickly got dressed and by the time he made it to the front door, the city workers were gone! I was furious because we were under the impression that they would come into the house, go to the basement and make everything all better. I was wrong. Apparently, they survey the sewer in the street before coming into the home. If it is determined that the city sewer system is over worked, then there is nothing they can do in the basement. I only wish someone would have told me that at 9:00PM so I didn’t waste so much time waiting!
So on Saturday, our work began. I called a few plumbers that specialized in sewer backup problems and each and every one was overbooked. Most had been working since Friday late afternoon, with no sleep. We got a few price quotes over the phone and one actually showed up in a reasonable amount of time. He quoted a price that Mr. T. thought was a little too much, so he sent him packing. Now, I am all for getting a deal, but when you have the plumber right in your basement and he has all of the equipment to get the job done and says he can be done in an hour, I say you start writing the check. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for, and sometimes you have to pay a little more for top notch service. Not Mr. T. Nope. Too expensive for his taste so he sent Mr. Plumber man on his way and thanked him for his time.
It was now in Mr. T.’s hands and he made a few more phone calls. He found another guy that quoted him about half the price of the first guy and he asked how quickly he could get to our home. It was about 10:00 AM, and ”Mike” the plumber said he could get here by 1:00 PM. Sounded like a plan, except that did not happen. Ol’ Mike the plumber apparently ran into a few snags in his day, and didn’t show up until 5:45 PM. We wasted the whole day AGAIN waiting on someone to come and help us. When Mike and his partner finally showed, I took one look out the window and I think I said, “you have got to be f***ing kidding me.” If you have ever seen the Sanford and Son van, you will get an idea of what I was witnessing. Mike the plumber was about 400 lbs, short, dirty and sweaty. He had a ripped up sweatshirt on and many, many gold chains around his neck. He also was sporting an ID bracelet with some of the gold flaking off and his name spelled out in rhinestones. Nice touch for a plumber! I could not believe Mr. T. sent away Johnny on the Spot plumber at 10:00 that morning, and now I get Mike with his buddy he picked up along the way in their beat up van, only to save a few bucks. I think I choked back some more tears and shot Mr. T. a look of disgust.
We showed Mikey boy the way to the basement, the whole way down he loudly told us he was so sorry he was late, the last job was a nightmare and he had not been to bed yet from the night before. He didn’t need to tell me that, I could smell how long it had been since he had been home to shower. I was still really angry at this point, and in my head was ready to tell Mikey, his partner AND Mr. T. right where to go!
Mike opened the sewer, assessed the situation ( “hell, she’s blocked all right! Damn!) and told Mr. T. and I that he needed to go the van to get the “400 lb. monster and bring “her” down.” Mr. T. then whispered to me “He means the other 400 lb. monster” as Mikey the plumber was not necessarily svelte. That broke the tension a little and I lightened up. Mikey brought down the beast and got to work. He was sweaty, stinky, short and dirty, but he did the job and did it well. He was very knowledgeable about sewers and gave me more information than I probably needed. I ended up really liking ol’ Mikey and offered him and his buddy a bottle of water. They were so appreciative and I was grateful to be able to run my water and start the disgusting task of cleaning up the mess. On the way out, I handed them each a sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap. I certainly thought that they would eat them after cleaning up a bit, but then I witnessed Mikey washing up in the van with a bottle of Clorox wipes. He unwrapped the sandwich and started munching away. It was the least I could do. I was happy to have the problem fixed. All in all, we ended up saving about $100.00. Was it worth it? Probably not, but at least I had the opportunity to meet such a colorful character. He made an impression on me for sure and I know that if I ever need sewer or drain work again, Mikey is the man I will call, gladly! I guess it is true when someone says that you cannot judge a book by it’s cover. Mikey boy and his buddy, although a little harsh in appearance, did the job they came to do and we did not feel like we were being taken advantage of either. As a matter of fact, Mikey talked about other plumbers and how storms like this were their meal ticket. Most people are so desperate for help, they will pay anything quoted just to get the job done. Not Mikey. He informed us that we would pay the same exact price whether it were an emergency or a random Thursday. Always the same price, no matter what. And all I have to say to that is “Hey Mikey, we like it!”
![honest_award[1]](http://whatsupwiththejoneses.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/honest_award1.jpg?w=300&h=290&h=290 "honest_award[1]")
