Sewage and Angels.

Last Friday, everything seemed to be settling in for one last relaxing weekend before school starts.  On Friday afternoon, I was looking forward to coffee out and dinner with friends.  I had about an hour to relax before leaving home, so I decided to start my first load of weekend laundry while I watched some TV.  Both the washer and the TV are in my basement, in separate but adjoining rooms.  Normally, I can hear the washer while watching TV, but it's not so loud and to interfere with the show.  However, this time, when the washer was draining its wash water, I heard the water much more loudly than normal, so I went to investigate.  Sure enough, it was overflowing.  I stopped the washer, but decided to not worry about it further that evening, as I did not want to sacrifice my evening out.  So, like Scarlette O'Hara, I decided to think about it tomorrow.

The next day, I called my favorite plumber.  He came over and declared it a sewer line problem, and said he did not have the equipment to clean out sewer lines, but recommended someone named George.  He did locate my sewer access, which was also in the basement, in a small room next to the laundry room that also has my furnace.  He expressed doubts that George could get his equipment around to the back of the furnace.  But he said "Call George today so you can get on his list."  None of this sounded encouraging. In the meantime, I was to not let any water go down any drain in the house.  He also pointed out that the water that overflowed had probably been contaminated with sewage, and the laundry room carpet should be ripped out and disposed of.

Evidently, the sewer had been partially clogged for some time... not enough to interfere with small amounts of water draining, but when the tub or the washer drained, some water would spill over.  Some noodle-brain had put shag carpeting in the laundry room, with a thick pad, which had acted like a giant sponge. So, the carpet behind the washer had gotten wetter and wetter, but I had not noticed it.  Normally, I am not in the basement when the washer is running, so I had not heard it until last Friday.  Now, when investigating further, I can feel that a large area of the carpet in front of the washer is also damp. 

I called George, and got an answering machine, so I left my name and number.  In the meantime, there was work to do.

I purchased a small plastic basin to do my dishes in so that I could dump the water out the back door.  I rigged up a way to use the toilet without actually using the toilet (which I won't go into because it's probably not legal). I used a friend's shower.  That left the laundry. 

The partially washed load from Friday was squeezed out and put in the dryer.  When it was dry, I loaded it into the car with the rest of my laundry for transport to the local coin laundry.  I pulled into the parking lot and realized I had forgotten my soap.  Drove back home, got the soap, went back to the laundry.  I sorted and loaded my clothes, added the soap, and discovered I did not have nearly enough quarters.  The place did have a change machine, but it was broken.  So, I left my clothes, got in my car, and went to a local car wash that did have a working change machine, obtained a bunch of quarters, and went back to the laundry.  My clothes were still there!  I started the machines, and tried to settle down with a good book.  But, the laundry is small, and there were two small children, about 9 and 10, chasing each other around the place, screaming, and hitting each other, and complaining loudly to Mom that "He hit me!" or "She hit me!".  Mom would scream back that they should settle down and shut up, but of course she was ignored.  However, I was able to wash and dry my clothes. 

On Sunday after church, I went into the office and did more course prep, as I was not sure how the week would unfold.  Then I decided that I really needed to tackle removing the carpet from the laundry room.  The room is not big, about 8 by 10 I would guess.  But the carpet had been glued in, not tacked, as if it were a giant floor tile.  I had to use a box knife and some clippers to get the thing into pieces small enough for me to actually lift.  Also, a putty knife was needed to scrape it off of the concrete.  I worked for hours.  By about 9:30, I had managed to remove about 3/4 of it.  The rest was in a strip on the north wall, most of which was actually under the washer and dryer.  But I was exhausted and decided to finish it another day. 

Monday morning, my luck changed!  George called early, and said he could be there before noon.  Classes had started, but on that particular Monday my first obligation was not untill the afternoon, so that sounded great.  At about 10 am, George and his assistant arrived and went right to work.  With some wiggling and lifting, they were able to get their equipment around the furnace, and started working.  They were in and out of the laundry room, also, using the washer to drain large amounts of warm water down the sewer as part of the process.  It turned out the problem was tree roots, but they were soon dispatched.

 As they were doing the final water drainage test, one of them said "Would you like us to rip out the rest of this carpet for you?"  Wow!  Would I ever!  I had been dreading that, especially moving the washer, as they are not light.  So these guys moved out the washer and dryer like they were toys, borrowed my box knife, cut up and ripped out the carpet in very short order, and hauled it out to the trash.  They whole process took about 10 minutes, max. 

I have seen pictures of angels, but I have discovered they don't all look like that.  Sometimes they come in the form of skinny, dirty men that smell like sewage.