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next to godliness 1/28/2010
completism 1/27/2010
snap crackle & bop 1/26/2010
a conflict of allegiances 1/25/2010
turn it off, man, turn it off 1/22/2010
here comes the rain again 1/20/2010
in from the cold 1/19/2010

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here comes the rain again 2:54pm 1/20/2010  

Three or four years ago i had a perfect storm of sorts during the winter holiday. During a rather severe December storm our toilet and tub backed up, prompting a six week series of drain snakings, negotiations with Roto-Rooter, calls to the Redwood City sewage office, and destruction and renovation of our front sidewalk. While we've had intermittent drainage problems thereafter, this issue hasn't weighed on my mind nearly as much as the other effect of the winter storm: the formation of a variety of ponds in our back driveway. Depending on the intensity of the rain, we acquire a puddle in the middle of our driveway, equidistant from the edge of the house and the garage. If the rain keeps up, i can worryingly watch this lagoon expand until it begins to approach the buildings. In addition, thanks to an errant gutter spout that empties too close to the house and walkways that over time no longer slant away from the building, some water also drains into the crawl space and forms puddles down there. Over time there've been a handful of storms that have caused this to happen, and each time i've sat inside chewing on my fingernails fearing the impending collapse of our humble home from a little water. Right now California is in the midst of perhaps the most fierce winter storm in recent memory, with the rain having begun early Monday morning and expected to continue into next week with only minimal breaks. Monday morning i went to work in the rain and came home in the afternoon to find the rain had ceased and the puddles had abated. Same thing Tuesday. By the time V and i left this morning the puddles had reached their usual perch maybe six feet from the buildings, but on the way to drop V at Caltrain the rain continued to come in sheets and i wondered if Tara was floating on her ottoman back at home. It let up a bit at lunch, but walking by the lobby just now i see the gray descending again and know the next squall is on its way.

Now, when this first happened i was in the back yard in the rain with a bucket bailing water from the crawl space and driveway into the bushes. V and her mom laughed at me, saying that our 75 year old house had survived rain before and would again. Somehow in the four years since i've taken this to heart, to the point today that when V mentioned the idea of sandbags i basically blew it off. Que sera, sera. Perhaps i'm secretly pining to see Tara get her sea legs. This "who cares?" attitude is even more inexplicable given that recently i've taken a renewed interest in developing our abode, mounting our flat panel TV on the wall and renovating our sideboard into an entertainment center through the addition of some internal shelves.

I'll survey the damage in a few hours when i get home. Until then, i hope Tara is good at bailing water.

last edited 2:54pm 1/20/2010 back to top

 

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