Flooded kitchen & dream fragments

Comment each from 6/29, 7/1, 7/6..

So, I woke up sometime around 0915, poked around online, heard water running later in the hour, assumed Nathan was running late for work. A bit before 10, I went downstairs to fetch my cell, and discovered that, no, Nathan had left already, but a burst pipe or fitting in the kitchen ceiling was spraying into the kitchen, and had already distributed 1/4-1/2" of water throughout the kitchen and front hall, steadily soaking into the carpet. I hurried out back to cut off the water, which worked, and then moved a few of Nathan's boxes out of the front hall before leaving Nathan a cell message, and knocking on a few doors to ask if anyone had a ShopVac. Nope. I also left messages at his parents' house and with his mom's email, and potentially at his email if I got it right, but not at his work phone because I don't have it and can't find it. (Note that it's now 1130 and I still haven't heard back from him, and I even resorted to calling one of the local LM offices to see if they could track down his #, but the one -they- have isn't correct.)

Anyhow, drove out to Advance Auto Parts, who doesn't have any ShopVacs--wouldn't you want one, if you had a dirty garage?--and by the time I got home, most of the water had leached into the carpet or baseboards or wherever. Wish Nathan would call or come home to deal with this.

On the plus side, if I'd been employed already, it would've been showering the kitchen from mid-morning until late afternoon..

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In other news, I had an interesting series of dream fragments last night.
( Blueberry vintners and mob hits, coin-op water fountains, and cookies for sale to a motorcyclist )

Flooding followup, little ironies

a) Nathan says he was out his office door within 30 seconds of checking his voice mail. He also says he tried to call me more than once in the 9 o'clock hour to inform me of a cleaned-up-dog-pee spot on the carpet, but I never heard a ring.
b) It is, in fact, almost impossible to get ahold of him by office phone, intentionally, particularly internally.
c) This is not the first time a pipe has failed, resulting in flooding and carpet damage. However, last time it was the main out back in the water closet, and the water managed to make it up through the deck and into the house anyway. (That time, Nathan was at rehearsal, and the neighbor called the water company rather than brave the dog in strange circumstances.)
d) Fortunately, his homeowner's insurance should cover most of the damage--carpet, plumbing, and kitchen ceiling, possibly stove and ceiling fan.
e) Also fortunately, I think all of my cookbooks are salvageable--I leafed through them all to unstick the wet pages, and put them out in the sun.
f) Had either of us actually put the new roll of paper towels in the holder, they'd be soaked. However, a foot away on the counter, bone dry.
g) The pipe/fitting must have broken within a few minutes after Nathan left this morning--late, shortly after 9, after dealing with dog pee on the carpet--the carpet that will now likely be replaced. On the one hand, it was wasted effort to clean the carpet; on the other hand, if he'd stayed a bit later, perhaps another half-hour, he would've been home to shut off the water immediately.

Heh.

Updates

Kitchen cabinets/walls have been dried off, floor has been swept/mopped.
Furniture and lots of loose stuff have been moved to the dry side of the living room.
ServiceMaster guy is here, tearing up carpet/padding and drying things out, including a fan that pumps air under the carpet. Moonbounce!
Plumber from My Plumber is on the way.

No call from ADIC yet--perhaps I'll give them a call shortly.
I'll also head over to Christine's as soon as I can get away with it. ;)

Final house fix update o' the day

Pipe fixed, hole in the ceiling that'll remain for a few days.

This means I can take a shower! And Nathan can do laundry. And both toilets work again! (You know, for more than one flush.)

Big blower fan turning the living room into a moonbounce--which Molly is afraid to walk across, though Waif has no problem with it-.

Big dehumidifier sitting in the living room.

Yeah, that just about covers it.

Addenda: The leak was a very small slit in a 3/4" "Quest" (?) pipe--apparently a higher failure rate than polybutylene. 3/4" means high pressure, and in this case, high enough to punch a hole through the drywall after first spreading across the ceiling to drip out of the A/C vent and possibly damage the ceiling fan/light. That section of pipe has been replaced with copper. (Also, apparently the house has no Pressure Regulation Valve at the supply, which could contribute to further failures. In fact, there have been leaks twice before Nathan owned the house, and now twice while he's owned it, because the previous owner declined to pay to have the piping replaced.)

Also: Called ADIC HR, left messages, since I was supposed to hear back "within a week" of last Tuesday's interviews.

Riding into DC, evening entertainment, and weekend plans

After deciding that the brief storm that sprung up from a blue, white-clouded sky as I was gearing up for a motorcycle ride was just that--brief--I rode north to Christine's. (I was right--the forecast of "cloudy" was accurate. The forecast of nighttime temp around 70 was also blissfully accurate, later.) Ran into traffic from the Pentagon/City to the 14th St. bridge, but not actually -on- the bridge. (However, I did pass a yellow Lamborghini Countach on the side of the road with a door up as I drove through that area, and saw a pair of traffic text signs both suggesting taking "ALTERNET" routes near the Capitol. I doubt the average driver really needs indie news in that area, but what do I know? ;)

Caught half an episode of CSI (toddler accidentally kills infant, mother willing to take the fall to cover it up), then shared more KaPop! kettle corn while watching The Magdalene Sisters. Very dramatic, very well done (and based on a true story), but not light entertainment. I then read her Twain's "A Mysterious Visit," and she read me O. Henry's "The Last Leaf," before I rode off into the night. :)

Oh, I don't believe I've mentioned that I'll be taking a weekend trip (Friday-Sunday) to Ocean City, MD with Christine and Erika. :) (Kate was originally planning to come as well, but she can't make it.)

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Best Spammer Name ever: Prevaricate C. Spamming! So accurate! (Though Revolutionized A. Font is pretty entertaining, as is Virtuosos O. Mackinac. :)