Cleanup in Aisle Zero

Had a little bit of water in the basement* - not all of it, as it turns out, from the rain. The furnace, which had been discharging about six gallons of water a day for the last few months, suddenly went-a-gusher, and I simultaneously figured out that the reason that the ceiling light fixture next to it wasn't working was that it was on the same line as the outlet that the closer sump pump was plugged into - and, as it turns out, the sump was the thing that was shorting and throwing the breaker.

Got all that? Furnace leaking and sump pump broken are the only things you need to register in order to continue.

So I took a long lunch yesterday and bought a new sump and a new dehumidifier (both basement dehumidifiers went tits up over the last year). The dehumidifier set up like a charm - out of the box to running in about a minute. The sump was another story - and I'll spare you the long, torturous process of figuring out what the problem was and cut to the chase - because it turned out that there was an adaptor missing. So my dad (who I called in for emergency backup, but who mostly just served as a delaying tactic) went back to Lowe's armed with my receipt and dug through another box to steal that adaptor. Which is how I imagine my adaptor went AWOL in the first place.

As soon as the adaptor was in place and the sump had a hose attached, it got rid of all the water in about five minutes. It's always so satisfying to see that happen, can I say? A whole 1/6th of a horse can do a lot of pumping.

Now it's just a matter of drying out the corners, and I'm taking this as an opportunity to really give the basement the thorough cleaning I've been meaning too. Just in time to go with the new furnace, I guess. Actually, we'll probably wait until August to get a new furnace put in - we've had a lot of small and not-so-small expenses in the last few weeks, and out diminished earning is letting itself be known in this as well.

Besides: April 1st seems like as good a point as any to turn off the heat, doesn't it?

D.

*No need to freak out, bandmates: it was dealt with long before we got to anything worse than just an inconvenience - a few puddles at most. Although the drum mats, as usual, got soggy.