A Series of Fortunate Events

Sometime Last Summer:

Steve and I discuss getting new carpet in the basement. We decide to wait until the bathroom is done. I win.

Monday 5:00 pm:

Steve gets home and randomly mentions that our neighbor just bought a brand new, contractor quality, fully automated, extra long, pipe snake this afternoon.

9:00 pm:

Steve starts a load of laundry.

11:00 pm:

Natalie comes upstairs complaining that she cannot sleep. We let her stay...she's hard to say no to.

Tuesday 12:30 am:

Steve decides to take a shower, but opts to take a sleeping Natalie downstairs first.

12:31 am:

Steve notices water all over the basement TV room, back rooms, and utility room. It hasn't yet reached the girls room. Good thing Natalie came upstairs so we noticed now and not the next morning!

12:40 am:

Steve goes over to neighbors garage (fortunately good enough friends to raid his garage w/out permission in the middle of the night) and there finds a carpet cleaner we can use to suck the water out of the carpet. That along with the shop vac, we have the tools to get most of the water out. Good thing we can clean it ourselves! Good thing it's not new carpet!

12:45 am:

We determine it is not the water heater that has exploded, but the sewer that is backed up. We have all the water from the laundry in our basement. Good thing Steve didn't take that shower!

12:50 am:

Steve is able to contact our neighbor who is still awake and comes over with all his equipment, including his new plumbing snake. Good thing we moved next door to a super nice neighbor, who is also a plumber, who bought the very tool we needed for this very job this very afternoon!!!

1:00 am - 2:30 am:

Steve, Jeff, and I spend the wee hours of the morning cleaning carpets, concrete, and sewer pipes. It begins to drain properly again. We are able to get the carpets mostly dry. Good thing!

In all, it was a bad thing that couldn't have happened at a better time, amongst the most fortunate of circumstances. Unfortunately, I still had orders to fill so I was still up until 4:30am (and still didn't finish them all), but I guess you can't have it all.