#50 Boston - Stuck in a Basement

I was honestly convinced last Saturday that I would have nothing to write to you. Nothing. It had been raining steadily for a week or two, or God knows how long, and it showed no sign of letting up. My plan for the weekly write-up was to send you guys a summary of the three dozen movies I was going to watch, while the grim skies settled comfortably over Boston and kept everyone indoors. Hah! That was not how things panned out.

Saturday was indeed a day for the movies, a little shopping, a comfy visit from Elaine, that kinda stuff. Come Sunday morning I was stir-crazy as can be, Cambridge Cabin Fever had consumed my sorry little self and so, in an act of sheer desperation I decided to pull myself off the couch and head for the Museum of Fine Arts. As you might have guessed by now, Mother Nature had other plans. After chatting with my friend Rick and learning about a leak in his basement, and a worried phone call from Camille, who is the owner of the upstairs part of the house, I casually decided that I mayyyybe should check things out in the basement. I can't believe how naive I was - it would have never occurred to me to even check down there!! What was I thinking ? And guess what, a nice little lake had formed in our cellar, which threw me into an immediate fit of panic, I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, and had no idea what I should do next. I was staring at this big mess, and it was mine to clean up. How fun is that!

First thing was to call my friend Rick, who told me to unplug the appliances down there pronto, which I managed to do, not though before accidentally hanging up the phone, making the poor guy believe that I really did electrocute myself and now he would have to call 911. I was ok though, and in general pretty lucky, as I had put all my stored belongings down there on wooden palettes and nothing got damaged. Phew!

Now that leaves us still with tons of water - right? After conferring briefly with Camille, I was chosen to be the designated Home Depot shopper and pick up a sump pump. Yeah right. Did I honestly think that there was any pump for purchase anywhere in the state of Massachusetts after two solid weeks of rain? The place was an absolute zoo! A nuthouse! First I joined a cluster of desperate housewives and househusbands who stood in utter disbelief in Isle 10 staring at a sign that said "WE ARE OUT OF PUMPS". The more determined among us headed for the customer service desk, where we were told that if we could manage to drive to Leominster, about 40 miles northwest of Boston, we might be able to snag one, but only maybe. No guarantees. Sheeesh! Not giving up, I grabbed one of the orange-clad Home Depot boys and headed for Isle 8 where the fights for the shop vacs was already in full swing, and only after threatening to tackle a 6 ft 5 guy, who wanted to run off with at least two of them, I ended up the proud new owner of said gadget.

A short while later, back at the ranch, Camille and I embarked on the post-disaster cleanup. You should have been there, really - we could have used your help. 7 hours of bloody bone-breaking labor and the darn water kept creeping back in. Camille was working the shop vac, I had the very ingenious idea to shovel up water with a dust pan and hoist it with record speed into a garbage can. Once I had the technique down, there was no stopping me, my friends! Who needs a sump pump! At about 7 PM that night, I was unable to move in any coordinated fashion, felt like a 200-year old woman, so I headed upstairs, slapped a Ben Gay patch on my back, grabbed yet another beer, and sunk into my sofa and stayed there for the rest of the evening. Most of the water was gone, and we were promised by the weather forecasters that the worst of the deluge was over. They were right, and come Tuesday morning my basement showed signs of dryness and it has stayed so since. With a little dehumidifier action we should get this all straightened out in no time! Aaah, the joys of being a homeowner.....

I got off easy though, some of the communities north of Boston were pummeled with rain, I am enclosing a couple of pictures that I loaded off the net - the town of Peabody had three feet of water and people were seen rowing down Main Street in boats. A lot of damage was sustained - it was the worst flooding in 70 years, and the financial repercussions are expected to amount to tens of millions of dollars in Massachusetts alone.

So, after all this excitement the week went by in a jiffy - quality time with friends, some nice classes at the gym (functional training - don't do it, it hurts!), and a quickie trip to Livingston, New Jersey, a little spot about 30 minutes away from New York. I don't know much about Livingston, and did not learn anything while I was there either - thanks to a 2-hour delay on the incoming flight the trip was pretty much one big blur. Arrive at the hotel, have dinner, go to bed, get up early, have a database training all day, dinner again, get up at 5 AM (today), head back to Newark airport, fly to Boston and head straight for work. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Well, the weekend is here, I am planning to join my friends at the AMC for a hike tomorrow and for Sunday I opted for some volunteer work. We were promised that the weather would be improving steadily and for the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend, which will be spent with hiking in New Hampshire, sunshine is on the agenda.

My friends, stay dry and enjoy the spring!

Until next time.

Petra