Three AM

It is 3AM. The rain is steady now, and has been off and on for several days.

So, we shop vac the closet by the laundry room, my personal dungeon. 24/7, we have the timer going. We empty the shop vac regularly, and vacuum up water that seeps into the house between times as well.

This is what we have had to do after big rain storms for years now. No matter how we have tried to remediate the situation, it has come down to this. Vacuum out the water as it makes its way in.

Yet again the engineer and the landscaper have a plan. This time it involves busting up concrete slab in the house and using a sump pump, as well as changing the drainage outside again.

Meanwhile, we sleep in shifts, and vacuum water. Still the rains come.

The leaking will usually continue until 24 to 72 hours after the rain stops, depending on how much rain we get.

3AM, and living in the desert instead of a swamp is starting to look mighty good to me.


Today is:

Alcyone -- Ancient Greek Calendar (kingfisher goddess)

Bill of Rights Day

Cat Herders Day (Talk about a frustrating job! Almost as frustrating as vacuuming water, probably.)

Centipede Boot-Making and Shoe-Repair Season begins -- Fairy Calendar

Constitution Day, Nepal

Firefighter's Day

Kingdom Day, Netherlands, Netherland Antilles

National Lemon Cupcake Day

Navidades begin, Puerto Rico (traditional Christmas celebrations that

lasts through Three Kings Day)

St. Eusebius' Day


Birthdays Today:

Nick Beggs, 1961
Don Johnson, 1949
Dave Clark, 1942
Tim Conway, 1933
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, 1928
Jeff Chandler, 1918
Stan Kenton, 1911
J. Paul Getty, 1892


Today in History:

Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron, 533
Hulagu Khan captures and destroys the Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut in present-day Iran as part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia, 1265
Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape of Good Hope, 1488
The State of Holland grants patent on a windmill with crankshaft, 1593
The first US law school is established at University of Pennsylvania, 1791
The first Irish magazine in US, Shamrock, is published, 1810
The first street-cleaning machine in US is used in Philadelphia, 1854
The King of Hawaii becomes the first reigning king to visit the Us, and is received by President Grant, 1874
Bandleader, Major Glenn Miller, is lost over English Channel, 1944