(video at bottom to summarize this string of letters numbers and dots)
on october 6th, 2010, free and i woke up to the sound of the rain so subtly on our roofs. it was free's birthday. his favorite weather was rain. perfect.
i went to my art class that morning, happy about the rain, happy about art. i get a text that the floor flooded. what? well, it can't be too bad. i came home, and the living room was empty. the walls were closed off with large sheets of plastic, and the floor seemed mopped-ish. nothing else seemed the be fixed.
the next 8 days were spent upstairs. i could have been downstairs, but even the kitchen was ear-shattering to spend time in. there was no way to hear yourself speak while in the living room. drying devices were installed. i wish i had gotten a picture. there were about (4) 3'x3' plastic squares that were taped down on the floor, connected to a large vacuum. every day, or every other day, random men would come into my living room (while i was asleep, mind you!) to move the squares until all of the floor was covered.
okay, well... i guess we can hope for no mold. and that this won't happen again. i guess i'll let the professionals do what they think is good enough.
our latest stress was about getting enough money to pay for the HOA fees. a roommate, of course! i've been setting up craigslist ads, and had planned to post up flyers in nearby colleges. we still had to paint the walls some, but it's okay. everything was basically where it was supposed to be. one of the responses was from a contractor. maybe they could help out with a few things.
december 22nd, 2010. 3 days before christmas. yet another flood. i don't remember how many times it would flood in the following week, but it was constant. during the day, in the middle of the night, during important events... you name it.
our lovely neighbors helped us bucket. we gave them some gingerbread cookies in thanks. they left for the holidays while the floods were happening. one time, i noticed their yard was flooding as well. it wasn't as bad, as the water was coming from a hole in a drainpipe, which free fixed with some rags. it was sad though, as they had such a lovely lovely yard. we tried contacting the neighbors. they said they left earlier that morning and were on their way to sacramento for a family-thing. i hope they still had a nice time. i think after that, they went to arizona. don't quote me on that...
lots of equipment started coming in and out this week. more drying things in the living room (without the plastic squares... not as loud), a sump pump, large metal and plastic boxes and tubes and things. i have no idea what they were trying to do, but it only really worked half the time.
floods still kept coming. the beautiful hardwood floor was finally removed. it was the third best thing of this house when free bought it (1. lots of space, 2. high wooden ceilings). the floor was weirdly glued to the cement floor. it took two days. although, the workers didn't seem to be trying so hard. but, it was gone.
side note of me complaining about myself: i hurt my back a bunch of times while this was happening. my body is not meant to bucket water. on the plus side, i've been focusing on my back while playing Wii Fit. here's to hoping for good posture.... cheers (what?)
the largest and hopefully last flood happened later that week. drywall was removed, about a foot up from the ground along the entire living room. beams were showing. later, we find out the the waterproof sheets were also torn out. these sheets only come in wall-sized (or, thats how they're supposed to be installed). this means that our entire drywall has to come out to re-install these sheets. special inspector types came a few weeks later and found so many more problems than we could. the walls were still moist. one corner of the room, which includes a wet bar, measured 100% in how soaked it was (humidity? i'm not sure what was measured, exactly... but 100% sounds bad). they're fancy people. one guy was wearing a suit. another guy had great eyebrows. they all seemed to know what they were talking about. i think it was the most amount of people we've had in our house at once. our first party!
so, right now, i'm in the living room. the floor is still dirty concrete, and the furniture is still taking up space in the kitchen and dining room. our reptiles and other objects are in the spare room that we planned to rent out.
al is doing fine. he's a wonderful dog. he's a hassle at times, but he knew when he couldn't help out during the flood. when we were working, he retreated to the bedroom. he could have just been a coward, though. he isn't when it comes to other dogs... i wonder what he would've done if he had fingers.
