Once I discovered water in the basement, there was no time for photos.  There are no images to go with this post.  Okay, I’ll relent.  Here’s how I felt.

Oops!

Brad K broke his ankle in this one.  He went on to win the championship.  Perhaps a good omen for me?

I spent Saturday rescuing items from the water.  I pulled smaller chunks of carpet outdoors and draped them over bushes.  When I only had some larger carpet chunks to go, I realized I couldn’t handle it.  They were water logged and were far too heavy.

That night Sylvia suggested using the shop vac to pick up excess water.  That was the key, but not for Saturday.  I was sore, tired and my back was hurting very bad. :frustrate:

At church on Sunday a couple of friends offered to help me.  I gratefully accepted.

As I was about to sit down to a bowl of Raisin Bran for lunch, by son, Bryant, called.  He said, “I heard you might need some help.”  His mother had called and he would arrive about the same time as Larry and Ron from church.

Larry brought his shop vac and with two vacs and four of us working we had cleared things out in a couple of hours.  While I mounted the front-end loader on the tractor, the guys carried out the carpet.  I carried them on the loader to the front deck, where they draped the carpets over the rails.

Larry went to the church and came back a short while later with some floor fans.  We set them up and the basement began to dry.

Bryant stayed on for a couple more hours and helped me clean up some other storm damage.  He also pruned a low hanging tree in front of the garage door.

Monday, rain threatened and I had to close basement windows and retrieve some items drying in the sun.  Finished just before the rain began.  The forecast said less than 0.1 inches.  That was WRONG.  The rain gauge had 1.4 inches of rain.

Monday about five PM, I saw Larry’s truck coming up the driveway.  I met him at the garage door.  He and his wife, Carmen, had taken dinner to a neighbor and her family.  The neighbor just had knee replacement surgery.  Carmen prepare another generous portion, which they delivered to my door.  Yes, a beautiful boiled dinner with cabbage, potato, onion, carrot and a large chunk of ham from one of their hogs.  Wow!

So hats off to Ron, Bryant, Larry and Carmen.  Nothing makes a man wealthier than having friends and family like that.