The Weekend

This past weekend, Shaunn and I met up with the family in Chicago for the ABTA fundraising 5k run/walk which was held on Saturday morning along the lakefront.

The weather on Friday was too good to be true, so that wasn’t going to hold up. The 80 degrees and sunshine gave way Friday night to tornado watches and strong storms. Saturday it was dry, but temps were in the 40s and the wind was howling, even for Chicago.

When we got out of the car at the park where the walk was being organized, we were greeted by the sight of the wind blowing over 3 port-a-johns that had been set up for the crowd. I resolved then and there to hold everything until we got home.

The run/walk attracted the largest crowd ever for the event, and almost all teams had made their own shirts commemorating the person or people they were walking for. We got several compliments on ours, and naturally we thought they were the best.

My 2 sisters, Beef’s husband Richard, my neice Lindsay’s boyfriend Scott, and my mom all took part in the run. The rest of us, Lindsay, Don, little Geo, and me resolved to walk instead, as we had nothing to prove. It was a nice walk in spite of the cold wind, and the vistas along the lakefront are beautiful enough to take your mind off anything.

After a couple hours, we headed home to rest and get some food in us. It was a great experience, and we’re already talking about when to start raising money for next year. Later that day we stopped off to visit grandma for a bit and had a great-but too brief- visit.

On the way back from Chicago, Shaunn and I stopped off in Yellow Springs to visit my friend Jennifer, who I haven’t seen in a few years. It was great to see her and get caught up on our so called lives.

Visitors

We were a temporary home for a couple of critters over the weekend. I thought I heard something rustling around on the back porch Friday night, but didn't think anything of it. Saturday we were clearing off the porch and heard it again, coming form the basement window well. I pulled away the well cover, not knowing what I'd find...
Two baby rabbits! We don't know if they intended to go in there, or once they got in realized they couldn't get out. I put some alfalfa in the well, and lowered a dish of water down to them. I also placed a wooden shelf inside as a ramp to the top- they were trying to hop out occasionally without much success.
By late sunday, they had managed to climb out and they were gone, we haven't seen them since. Hey, at least it wasn't raccoons.

Damn Spam

I had to turn on the word verification for comments...I seemed to suddenly be attracting toner salesmen from Brazil this weekend, which isn't as glamourous as it sounds.

Weekend Plans

A friend of ours passed away this week, so my plans for a rib fest this weekend were dashed - Shaunn thought we could use some down time instead. So, I thought I can get some outside work done - mow the grass, maybe get a couple of garden beds ready. But now they're calling for rain all weekend. So, no ribs, no gardening. Where's that remote?

Dry Basement

Storms last night, storms off and on all day today, and not a drop of water in the basement. Wow. Is it fixed?

The True Story of the Enterprise

I've been a fan of Star Trek since I was a kid...over the last several years that interest has waned, partly due to the same story being rehashed over and over, and mostly due to other sci fi shows finally coming along that illustrate how bad it really is...but now I've fallen in love with the Enterprise all over again.
The History Channel is in the middle of a weekly series called Battle 360. It's the story of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in WW2. It's an extremely well produced program, with first hand accounts, incredible cgi effects, and a riveting story to tell.
Most people know that there were other ships called Enterprise besides the one in Gene Rodenberry's imagination. But the WW2-vintage Enterprise was absolutely vital in the Pacific fleet...for several months, it was the only operational US carrier in that theater, all her sisters being put out of commission. It went on to become the most decorated and revered US ship of the war.
No wonder "Enterprise" was the name chosen, to honor the memory of the real crew that served.
The series will apparently be 10 episodes long...ending early in May. It's worth a look.

No Water

Well, I may have fixed part of the problem…we had plenty of rain thursday night and friday. Not a ton, but more than we had earlier in the week, when water came in yet again.
The basement – in all areas, was completely, utterly bone dry. Not even a hint of moisture along the floor/wall seams.
In recent weeks, after all the snow melt, and the constant rains, we could expect some basement water if we had over say a half inch or so. Instead of seeping in all around the foundation, it’s now being pumped into the back yard.
But this was the first time I can really remember not seeing any water, anywhere after a decent rain. and the ground is still pretty soaked from all the fucked weather we had in March - 20 inches of snow, then almost half a foot of rain over the next 2 weeks? Gah.
I still have to take care of the grading problems, but I can probably scale that back a bit from the 7 cubic yards of dirt I was ready to order.
At this point, yeah, it’s a big difference, but it wasn’t a real heavy soaking rain. If we get 3 inches of rain, and the basement remains dry, I can call it a victory. This being springtime in the Midwest, I’m sure I won’t have to wait very long.

Litmus Test

Well, cautious optimism is the word of the day…

You may recall that I replaced the sump pump a few weeks back. Since then, whenever it runs, as the water goes into the underground pipe, it finishes off with a gurgling, and the excess water comes up out of the former downspout connection. So that pipe is blocked. I knew I had to fix that.

In my head, I finally put it together over the weekend. Some water is gurgling out, but not all. That means the pipe is broken at some point, but I wasn’t sure if that could be the only source, it had to be the major one, as none of the ground in the problem area gets very wet during a rain.

Well, we were having another round of rain Tuesday. I decided the sooner I got to work the better, now that I had a plan. I disconnected the sump discharge line from the underground connection (unplugging the pump first!), and ran to Lowe’s to get some pvc to run it out into the yard, just like the gutter downspout. 15 feet of pvc and a connector It cost me all of $6.98. (btw, I learned that a 10 foot section of pipe will fit in the car, with the trunk closed. Cool)

I was racing the clock, as the pump was unplugged, and it was raining, and I had no idea how quickly that water could fill the sump pit. Naturally, it seemed everyone in front of me was driving 29mph.

Once I got home, it took me a couple of minutes to get it all connected up and pointed where I wanted it.

I went down to the basement, plugged it in, and the pump kicked on immediately. I went outside to watch, and the water was flowing leak-free out into the yard well outside the foundation area.

The pump ran for a good 30 seconds to drain the pit, after being off for an hour. The pump will take 40 gallons per minute out of the well. Assuming it was nearly empty when it started, it pumped 20 gallons of water that previously had been leaking out around the house. In a full day of rain, that could easily explain the basement water we were seeing.

Now, as soon as the little demo was done, the clouds broke and the sun came out. Kind of the opposite of when you wash the car, so I must be onto something.

The test will be tomorrow, when we’re supposed to see some heavy rain. Will it make a difference, or are we just pissing in the wind?