Day 186 through 194: Where to Begin ?

 

Today is day 194 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and I haven't taken the time to write for over a week !

My last day of vacation (Sunday - day 186) was uneventful. I pretty much chilled on the couch watching tv and playing a slot game on FB. 

Day 187 (Monday) was the day to end all days. We had torrential rain all day and historic flooding was everywhere. Shortly before noon I noticed my yard was turning into a stream, although most of the water ended up in my neighbors yard thanks to the grading Doug did in my yard. I literally had a waterfall on the steps that run along the garage. I discovered that the runoff from the parking lot behind me is all directed into my yard. I plan to fix that by digging a trench to redirect the water. It will still go out into my yard (and the neighbors) but it won't run along the garage. My sump pump got the workout of it's life and it did not disappoint ! At first it was able to keep up but eventually I had several inches of water in the basement and the pump was running non-stop. I'm glad I don't have any utilities that sit on the floor ! Around the corner from me at least 4 houses were flooded and had to call the fire department. Their utilities had to be shut off. There was also a fire in the area and local roads flooded. I read that water was actually passing over a bridge on Scenic Ave, which is incredible ! 911 actually set up a storm command center in our fire department because of the number of calls coming in. At one point the water draining from my yard into my neighbors yard was draining across the street (through another yard, towards a stream) to the point that the road was slightly flooded. Water was still pouring into my yard late Monday night ! This was unlike anything I've ever seen and I've lived here 18 years. In spite of the rain and the flooding I never lost power. If the power had gone out I can't even imagine how deep the water in my basement would have gotten. I really need to invest in a battery powered back up pump. My sump pump ran non-stop for hours and then almost non-stop all night. Tuesday (Day 188) it continued to run pretty frequently and by Wednesday morning (Day 189) it was running about every 7 minutes. By Wednesday night water coming into the basement had pretty much stopped, so the pump got a well deserved break !

So Monday was spent going back and forth to check the water pouring into my yard and basement and listening to the frantic calls on the scanner. The fire department (all volunteer) reported they took 54 calls on Monday, which is huge ! I took a video during the storm because it was clear this was something historic ! The rest of the week was unremarkable. I put in some OT and Friday night I went to the ball game with Rich and Barb. The weather was perfect and we had a good time. The Mets lost but the fireworks after the game were amazing ! This past weekend was unremarkable. Saturday was very hot - near 90 - so I stayed home and relaxed on the couch ! Sunday I grocery shopped and stopped at the farm for a orange/vanilla dole whip. It was just like a creamsicle ! I also got gas since my tank was near empty.

That brings me to today - Day 194. Today was a great day as my siding project started ! The crew arrived just before 8 am and by noon the workshop was gone, all debris had been cleaned up and they had started replacing all the rotted wood along the bottom of the house. They even trimmed the giant maple tree and offered to trim more so that it's not overhanging the garage roof. At the store yesterday I bought a bunch of snacks, candy bars, a case of water and some bottled iced tea. They were really happy to have the snacks ! For me, this was a great incentive to finally get this house cleaned up ! It had gotten embarrassingly messy and I have no excuse other than pure laziness ! Work stopped just before 5 and I walked around with the contractor to review the work. I mentioned I wanted to put an exterior door on the back wall of the garage since it's now exposed to the elements and the existing door is in rough shape. He offered to find one and will install it for free ! I just have to pay for the door and hardware. I jumped at that ! I went to Home Depot after work to pick up a new light fixture for over the garage door and I happened to see an LED garage light that you just screw into the existing socket. It has a bunch of wings and promised to light up the whole garage. I installed it as soon as I got home and wow - it definitely does ! I needed more interior lighting because I had them board up all the garage windows since they were all rotting and several were broken. This fixture was $50 but it is well worth the price ! I went out in the garage once it was dark and wow - that light is just amazing !

Funny story .. well, funny now. In my eagerness to get to Home Depot I locked myself out of the house with no car keys ! I have never done that before and I have no spare key hidden outside. Needless to say I need to take care of that ! Fortunately for me, I hadn't closed the windows so I grabbed a lawn chair and managed to hoist my fat a$$ in the dining room window. I'm glad no one lives across the street anymore as I'm hoping no one saw me ! I managed to go to Home Depot and back without giving in to the temptation to stop at DQ for a burger or the farm for ice cream. That's because I knew I had half a pepperoni pizza waiting at home. I also have a couple of Twix ice cream bars, if I'm desperate for ice cream. I got home just after 6:30, installed the light, walked around and took some pictures of today's work, went in the basement and put the cover back on the boiler (it's been off since November), threw my pizza in the oven and sat down to relax just after 7 pm. I am SO happy to have the siding project underway ! The house is going to look amazing when it is done. The only exterior item I haven't addressed is the wood door in the breezeway. I'm going to ask the contractor about options to replace that one too.