Oh, oh -- never say "worst ever"!

'Cause as I was typing that -- the door bell rang. Our neighbor Jim was there and said that there was water coming out of our house or Lewis'. I ran to the basement and the carpet was all wet and I could hear water running. The water was REALLY cold. I ran up and got Mark to have a look while I tried to find emergency services.

Mark could not figure out how to turn off the outside water (which seemed to be the culprit -- though I also suspected the water heater since several neighbors have had water heater problems recently). So I called Jim's house and Melissa sent him over. Jim knew what to do and shut off the valve to the outside. Luckily the water heater seems intact. The water damage 24 hour emergency service place that was gonna call in 10 minutes never did. Jim loaned us a water vacuum and I spent two and a half hours sucking up water. It was just a 3 gallon model so had to stop a lot and ditch the water. Mark took on the job of emptying while I did the pick up. Sydney was funny -- whenever he heard the vacuum stop -- he would alert Mark.

At first the assembly line was very rapid but then it took a while and my back got really sore. Somewhere along the way I noticed the furnace was not running and the house temperature had really dropped. Great -- no heat and flooded. But Jim had just turned off the furnace while the water was seeping in. It is still somewhat wet -- but not as bad. Gave up for the night -- will see how it looks in the AM. Hope we don't get mold.

Jim is such a nice guy -- always willing to help (and solves all the stuff we mess up). He's been to Guantanamo and Afghanistan with reserves -- guess he can handle stuff. Gotta get him some wine to thank him.

Hope no other house disasters occur 'cause I don't think you can get any help in the DC area through inauguration! Thought this pix of Sydney -- the victim of static electricity -- captured the end of the evening. I had ambitions of finishing two work jobs -- but was not to be ..... In the morning. After we see Defiance!