My FB posts from the end of July

Following the stress of the events of the prior (FB) post, I couldn't sit down and write for nearly three weeks. Not here. Not Facebook. The explanation I gave below wasn't a lie - we did lose the services I listed - but I could have stopped and used a public computer to check in with folks. I just didn't have it in me at the time.

July 22nd

For everyone kind enough to ask about my absence from FB - - I couldn't afford to keep TimeWarner so I returned their equipment. For the last two wks we had no TV or internet. Now we have broadcast TV (shudder) & AT&T DSL. The next inevitable step down as my finances plummet: public radio and snail mail. I may just cry.

July 23rd

2:40 am - Wicked storms today. The kids day at camp was ruined, and here at home we have 1/2 an inch of water in our basement, which is a vast improvement over the flooding of '08 & '09. I guess that drainage trench did some good after all. Meanwhile a friend texted to say she had more than a foot of H20 in her basement. This city floods a heck of a lot more often than it did 20 years ago.

08:02 am - Miraculously, most of the water in the basement vanished down the drain w/out my help - another welcome change from prior years. Now all I have to do is get rid of the rest, mop up, wash ~10 loads of clothing that got wet, replace the litter boxes that were soaked, run some errands, and go to work. Easy Peezy Lemon Squeezy.

11:11 am - OK, most of the water that was left has been removed and I'm the second load of laundry. I'm loaning my shop vac out to help a friend, but if anyone in striking distance has a good dehumidifer they can loan *us* for the weekend, please holler.

2:54 pm - Hey, get this: MKE rainfall Thurs was 2nd-most on record - 5.79 in. But the *Highest* 1-day total was 6.81 on Aug. 6, 1986. That would be the day I had my tonsils out, a day when St. Francis Hospital's elevator shafts flooded & they lost power during my surgery. A memorable day all around.

July 25th

Great Dad Moment of The Day: after Ginger fell 3x in an hour & sought my attention - "Are you OK? Good. Now be more careful, 'cuz real soon I'm going to just stop caring & call you a f*ing klutz".

This evening Ginger put the stopper in the bathroom sink, left the water running & shut the door. Eventually it leaked into the basement, and the result was worse than the storm flooding. Whole areas of my basement, including the furnace, some storage, and clothes, were soaked. She's still damn cute tho'.

July 26th

Weird request: 1 - if anyone has an old but new-ish Cricket phone for sale, let me know. 2. If anyone has a copy of the 1997 documentary "Ending Welfare as We know it", hosted by Meredith Vieria, kindly drop me a line. A friend of ours is featured in the film.

July 27th

Lisa and I took a, ahem, 'nap', and when we ventured back downstairs the house was destroyed. It's not like the kids were a hurricane; more like a hurricane that broke the levees, and the Army decided the city wasn't worth saving and razed it all. It's amazing how much damage the kids can do when you're gone for three and a half minutes.

{this post led to several insulting - and funny - comments such as " Soo... you took 3 and a half naps??}

July 28th

{re: France declaring war on al Qaida} No snark - my respect for the French has increased tenfold in the last year. It really has.

I spent the morning ripping out door frames and windows for a friend who's renovating her house. I will note that *contrary to the vocal opinions of my wife* I not only made it through in one piece, but removed the windows w/out damaging the surrounding tile. I've even been asked by the contractor to return and rip out flooring. So to Lisa I say, with love: pbbbbt. ;)

July 29th

An afternoon trip to the zoo was aborted when we were stuck in a traffic jam on 894. We detoured to the pool at my in-law's apartment complex & the kids had a blast. Meanwhile an anonymous Good Samaritan left two + boxes of toys & games on our porch. The clear favorite so far? The Lincoln logs, which were spread out over my dininig room most of the evening.

{the Good Samaritan turned out to be a neighbor two houses down, looking to forge an alliance w/ us against a shared neighbor, a longtime friend turned recent enemy. We wisely kept out of the disagreement}

Being limited to broadcast TV sucks in every possible way (ok, maybe not when 'America's Test Kitchen; is on), but it *was* bearable. Sort of. Then I saw a FB ad announcing that the new season of Project Runway starts tonight . . . plus no Doctor Who, no ESPN, no HGTV . . what's the point of even waking up in the morning?

July 30th

Ellen Degeneres has quit American Idol after one season