Dreams Really Do Come True

We came home from Kalahari late Wednesday night, not knowing our house would soon be a water adventure!

Bill woke me up before 8 a.m. Saturday.  "I don't have time for this.  The sump pump pipe came apart, filled the chicks, and half of them are dead."  What a way to start your day!!  William and I spent the next hours tending to both the living and the dead.  I gave the 9 survivors a blow-dry on my lap.  Amazingly, they don't struggle much; a little at first, then they close their eyes and accept their fate.  They remained in a stunned state all day, huddled under the heat light. 

We quickly realized the sump pump pipe was in crisis.  It continued to pop off and shoot water-like-you-wouldn't-believe out.  This is not sewage water, just water it had pumped off the floor.  It was a cycle--pump it up, shoot it out, pump it up, shoot it out.  Oh, and then the kitchen sink got in the act...and the toilet, too.  The water wouldn't go down, William would plunge it, it would go down, but shoot out of the sump pump pipe onto the basement floor.  Ugh. (Yes, we finally had sense enough to unplug the sump pump.) Not knowing if the problem was with the septic tank or the pipes, I told Bill we'd better get a septic tank guy out here, STAT.  No problem, how about TUESDAY morning?  Fine, we'll just be in waterworld for four days!! 

So, we've been very gentle with our water usage.  Dirty dishes fill the dishwater, and my laundry pile isn't going anywhere.  I flush the toilet and stand back.  We showered at our friends' house. Bill ran a hose from the sump pump out to the backyard, so our basement wouldn't fill up any more.  This morning Bill tells me he dreamed last night that water was pouring through the ceilings.  Oh, thank the Lord that was just a dream!!  (Hint: foreshadowing) 

Well, the other day I was listening to a call-in home repair show on the radio.  Someone had gurgling toilets/sinks whenever the washer ran.  Our sinks have done that since we moved in, and the sump pump would occasionally back up in the bathroom sink.  The solution offered--check the venting; just run a snake down the vent pipe on the roof and look for clogs. 

Today as an attempt to do ANYTHING to help the situation, Bill climbs on the roof with his snake and puts it down the two vent pipes.  One is clear, but the kitchen one is totally blocked and the snake won't go through.  At this time, I am taking a Pentecostal nap in my bed.  I hear some water hitting the floor, and think, "Great, the toilet is overflowing again."  But it is strange how loud it is.  Then William is yelling at Sarah over the roar of the wet/dry vac.  I go down to investigate and find water pouring through the kitchen ceiling around the light fixture.  We scramble for buckets to put under four streams.  Oh, thank you internet for all your useful information, but curse you for telling my beloved husband to run a hose down the vent pipe to wash the blockage out!!!  The blockage remains, and 15 minutes of hose running went all over my kitchen floor! 

Dreams really do come true!!  Even nightmares!  WAH!