Well, last night was supposed to be my good--night--sleep sleep. I was in bed by 945 and half asleep come 1015. Then, my Dad knocks on the door and says, "Sorry to wake you, but I need some help. The basement is getting water in it." Now, I really hate it when people overstay their welcome. But I really hate it when its storms by the name of Francis. Yeah yeah, I know was all welcoming for it yesterday, but this was NOT fun. I threw on some pants and stumbled downstairs. Now, our basement has only taken on water two times before and it was really just a trickle. A few water marks on the carpet, etc. And the one time was because we lost power and the sump pump wouldn't work. But this was different. By the time I got down there there were already a few water marks, but they were growing, and fast! Suddenly I realized how much stuff I had on the floor from building my arcade and what-not. So my dad and I frantically put stuff up on the furniture so it wouldn't get wet.

Well, That was all fine and dandy until we could watch the water steadily flowing into the sump pump hole and then suddenly just continue to back up. Yeah, we just stood there dumbfounded as the water rather quickly began to swell outside the hole. I could tell the pump was still working, but it just wasn't keeping up. Now, all the while it is raining outside like it's going out of style. I grab a flashlight and take off outside to where the water is pumped into the grass. There is a small grill over the discharge pipe to keep the mice from running up in it. But, the grill was clogged and the water was being forced out as high as 3 feet into the air. I get down on my hands and knees and unscrew the grill while water steadily flows around me and besieges my face. Suddenly the water is once again flowing, but it was too late. 30 minutes after the water had begun to come in, the basement looked like this:


I asked my dad, "So, how high can it get?" My father just shook his head in complete frustration and defeat and slowly looked at the ceiling. He didn't need to say anything at that point. I understood what was meant. We began hauling all the furniture from the basement upstairs. The 4x4's we put the arcade on was slowly drowning so we placed it on top of a 3 feet high desk. We brought up couches, TV's, computers, recliners, the bar was packed with stuff and our upstairs foyer filled. Keep in mind my dad and I are doing all of this in our boxes with water up to our ankles. Finally, 5 1/2 inches of rain and 2 hours later the rains slowed and the pump began to get a head of the rain. The water stopped flowing over the baseboard and began to slowly drain out. Tired, and utterly defeated by nature far out of our control, my dad and I made our way upstairs to bed.

The thing that really irked me was the fact that last night was my night for a good night sleep. Now I won't have another until next week sometime. I'll tell you what, if God didn't create irony, this world would sure be a dull place.