The 24-Hour Whirlwind - The Taming of the Dew - Part II

*BEFORE READING THIS, PLEASE SEE "THE 24-HOUR WHIRLWIND - THE TAMING OF THE DEW - PART I" - IT WON'T MAKE SENSE WITHOUT IT*

So, the Friday craziness continues. Quick Recap: Brad the Plumber snaked my sewer line - $550 and Tim & Israel started cleaning up the aftermath once I paid $2500 up front....they gotta have payment up front because they aren't offering a product that can be re-possessed....and it's not like they can shoot your crap back into your house.

So, the next one to arrive was Troy. Troy is a Sewer Technician with myPlumber. He brought the camera to snake down the sewer line to confirm it was all cleared out and see if there were any tree roots or blockage. He fed the camera down the line and had a portable screen. Tim (from Servpro) and I couldn't help ourselves....we had to watch. I mean, how often do you get to see the inner bowels of your house. With fascination, Tim and I looked at the screen as it made it's way through the pipe. It was just a pipe, nothing interesting ...then.....EWWWWWW....... we both looked away as the camera came upon some messy stuff. Tim suggested that we stop watching, I agreed :).

Tim & Israel continued to soak up and sanitize my basement. Troy came up to announce there were tree roots in my line and that it was 90% blocked.... the roots were like fingers just waiting to catch anything that came by. The camera has a beacon on the end of it which was left at the roots while he took a machine outside to pick up the signal. He did this so they would know where to dig to get to the pipe to replace it.....GREAT! That won't be expensive or anything!!!

Remember that I originally stayed home on Friday for my A/C to be repaired? Well, while Troy was outside and Tim was going in and out of the house as he disposed of items, Alan from BGE Home arrived. When I explained that the A/C was tripping the breakers whenever it turned on, he expressed his hope that it was just a short somewhere and not the compressor. Thanks....I really need to worry about THIS worst-case scenario, too! Whatever!

Within the first 5 minutes, Alan was able to tell that it was the compressor which led me to share my sob story with HIM! Wow....he said....yes...Wow... The compressor would be a few thousand to repair. Because I have the service contract with them, labor would be free and I would get a discount on parts which could drop it closer to a couple thousand....great, thanks! Alan asked if I had the warranty information on it because most systems come standard with a 5-year warranty. No, I don't have that information and I've lived here for 7 years and how do I find out how old the system is and if an extended warranty was purchased? (Because I needed one more thing to research and make calls about right now). Alan told me that he would call the service department, find out any warranty information, and get the repair quote...might take about 15 mins....Okay......great.....I'll miss you while you're gone....... *sigh*

While Alan was in his truck racking up my next bill, Troy asked me to come out front to talk about my tree roots and his findings. Along the walkway to my house are 2 dogwood trees. There's some sort of water main type thingie to the left of them. Troy told me the beacon was responding just under the dogwoods...... that would mean the pipe is coming from my basement out the front of my house which is not a walk-out. That means the pipe is about 10-15 feet down and to get to it, I would lose 1, maybe both dogwoods...... this would be a 5-digit job....ummmm...that means $10,000 or more....... GREAT!!!! I had just spent over $3000 on the snaking and the clean-up and I was informed of my layoff less than 24 hours prior to this...... what's another $10k......, along with the pending compressor estimate.......... THAT'S IT!!!!! I can't do this anymore....I just can't do it....I can't afford any of this.... I wish I lived somewhere else!!!!!

But, I don't! I live here, and it is mine to deal with. So, I shall deal....*breathe*

*TO BE CONTINUED*
Please....bear with me....the fun stuff is yet to come....really.... I promise....this IS a sitcom!

The 24-Hour Whirlwind - The Taming of the Dew - Part I

*BEFORE READING THIS, PLEASE SEE "THE 24-HOUR WHIRLWIND - THE MORNING DEW COMETH" - IT WON'T MAKE SENSE WITHOUT IT*

Friday, April 9, 2010 was quite the adventure! I had so many men rolling through my doors that it MUST have impressed my neighbors!.... either that or generated TONS of sympathy!

My first man of the day was Brad, the plumber. Brad arrived with scary, crazy-loud equipment to snake my line...... I really don't want to know too much about that! Upon hearing the story of my previous 24 hours, he knocked 10% off the price of the "sewer-line snaking". Thank you Brad!!!!
While Brad was here, Tim and Israel from Servpro arrived. Now I had TWO service vehicles out front of my house. They instructed me and my brother (okay, mainly my brother because my head was swimming in all of the crap...) to begin removing everything from the storage area.....EVERYTHING??!!?? Do you mean 7 years worth of storage and junk that I just kept dumping in there??? Time to clear out all the junk I'd dumped since my sewer line decided to take a "dump" on my stuff.. (actually, it didn't take so much as it gave!). Items from the damaged area which had not been in contact with the contaminated material would go into the finished area of the basement which had been spared. Sewage soaked items were escorted outside.
As I finish up and pay ($550 on credit card!) Brad's work, Tim was surveying the poopy damage with Israel and determining the course of action....and the cost!!! Brad left with the promise that a camera crew would be coming out to run a camera through my line to see exactly what/where the blockage was. GREAT!!! A whole-house colonoscopy! Pretty!

So, I call the insurance company to update the claim submitted the night before with the additional "crap".....BTW, in case you hadn't caught on, there were so many "crap" jokes flung around that day, it was a "stinkin' " riot!!! While I'm on the phone with the insurance company, Tim from Servpro tells me that he needs to speak to them so he can get approval to begin the work. No problem, I've got her on the phone so this would be the perfect time.....NOT!!! She tells me that she can't approve the clean-up because she doesn't know if the blockage was in my line or beyond mine and into the county. WHAT??!!?? My basement if full of water and sewage....visible sewage.....I'm supposed to wait for the whole-house colonoscopy??? That wasn't going to happen for about 4 more hours.........and my house STINKS!!!!! Sewage en masse in an enclosed area is not very pleasant....

Here's the deal with Servpro.......they won't begin the clean up until there is insurance approval or payment up-front....and my insurance wouldn't approve it...and I'm broke and have just been laid off.....Sometimes, life is priceless...thank you MasterCard.... Heck! What's another $2600? ...... Put that on the credit card since the insurance company won't fight for me as I put in a call to Brad - myPlumber..... He calls back and I tell him that I had to pay Servpro upfront so they could start the work and my insurance won't cover it unless the blockage was on my end, not the county.... "No problem" says Brad. "Have the adjuster call me and I will confirm the blockage is on your end"........... Again, Thank You, Brad!!!!

In the meantime, since I'd handed over the plastic and signed off my life - Tim & Israel put a plastic tarp down across the floor of the basement's finished area from interior door to exterior door. Love them!!! We could haul my "crap" outside without dropping it in the "clean" area!

*TO BE CONTINUED*

The 24-Hour Whirlwind - The Morning Dew Cometh

*BEFORE READING THIS, PLEASE SEE "THE 24-HOUR WHIRLWIND - THE DAY OF" - IT WON'T MAKE SENSE WITHOUT IT*

So, after cleaning up the sewage spew of the previous evening, I was first on the list for the plumber on Friday morning. Before Drew left for the day, I asked him to take a peek at the basement to see if there had been any further sewage flooding. Ummmm..........................

*MORE BAD NEWS*

The landing, powder room, and ENTIRE laundry/storage area was a puddle of water & sewage....ah Poop! The toilet had erupted a sewage volcano. How did I get SO lucky!!!
My A/C broke, I got laid off, and there was Lake Poopy in my basement.
Work from home/Air repair day had turned into mourning the loss of my job and wallowing in crap. I had more men coming through my door than a sorority house on a Friday night, only none of them were drunk.
The day began with a 7:00am call to myPlumber as I was already first on the list. When I explained the situation had gotten worse, they were VERY sympathetic and helpful. They asked if it was something I could clean up myself or would I need a water mitigation company.....a what?? They work with Servpro and would call them and get the ticket started for me. THANK YOU!!! Nice! One less call I had to make.
The best call I made that day was to my brother. I asked for help.....I'm not so good at that. When I first called him he asked me what I needed him to do. I couldn't tell him....all I could say was that I had no A/C, was losing my job, and had a basement full of crap. I didn't know what I needed except to call the plumber. After calling them and realizing that Servpro would be coming out to rip up and clean out my basement, I knew what I needed. I called Charles back and asked if he could come over and help me move my belongings out and go through damaged items. My brother took the day off work to come over and slosh through my basement, help with the physical moving of my belongings, but mainly.... I needed him for me, to be the stability, the person unattached to the possessions, the person who could answer questions when my mind had enough. He was all that and more. It was as though he picked me up and carried me around in his arms that day......and we had a really great time together! I know that sounds crazy considering all that was going on; but, because we were together, I was able to laugh through the tears, stress, and the crap that was consuming my day.

*PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER IN "THE 24-HOUR WHIRLWIND"*

The 24-Hour Whirlwind - The Day Of

*BEFORE READING THIS, PLEASE SEE "THE 24-HOUR WHIRLWIND - THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM" - IT WON'T MAKE SENSE WITHOUT IT*

Thank goodness for my service contract with BGE Home, they told me they could come out on Friday, and it would not cost me a thing to have the problem diagnosed. They would do the annual inspection and cleaning at the same time which might fix the problem. *Awesome!* Wouldn't that be great! Thanks!!!!

I put in the request to work from home on Friday so I could wait my turn for the tech who would arrive at some point between 8:00 & 5:00....way to narrow it down! A rather sympathetic understanding of the need to address the situation led to the approval of working from home. See, I work with people that have also had the pleasure of "home-ownership drama". It just sucks, and we all know it! I went to work knowing that I didn't have to worry about the A/C for the day. I could put it aside, and know that it would be waiting for me to deal with on Friday.

At least I could focus on work.......not so much! The afternoon of Thursday, April 8, I was told that my grant ended in November 2009 (which I knew), and there is no further funding for me (which I didn't know, but was scared of). My contract that goes through June 30, 2010 will not be renewed. My skills, and the things I do are not a fit for the work needed to be done. There aren't enough full-time, project-manager level tasks to justify my employment during times of budget cuts and lost grant funding.
I DO NOT HAVE A JOB PAST JUNE 30, 2010. Well, that sucks!

Sucks though it may, I didn't feel the need to throw myself on the floor and cry, panic, scream. That was a bit more energy than I felt needed to be expended. Good thing I held back.....

When I got home, the kids told me that the downstairs toilet had backed up which led to a water/sewage flood. When you walk downstairs, there is a landing/foyer area, with a powder room straight ahead. To the right, behind a closed door is the finished basement. When you go down the stairs, to the left, there is another door which leads to the laundry room and storage area. Sooooooooooo............ the sewage back-up was in the powder room, foyer, and a portion of the laundry/storage area.

WOW!!!!!!!! My A/C busted, I got laid off, and came home to shit in my basement in less than 24 hours...........now that's a bummer of a day!!!!

*PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER IN "THE 24-HOUR WHIRLWIND"*

The 24-Hour Whirlwind - The Calm Before the Storm

In our lives, there are certain events, or series of events which suck. They are upsetting, stressful, ridiculous, etc. Some of these incidents cause friends to say, "well, you'll look back at this in 5 years and laugh". But, have you ever had a series of events occur in a 24 hour period that would be too much to handle over the course of a year?

Well, let me tell you about a 24 hour period that was so full of shit that you won't believe me. You literally will not believe me! You will think I'm exaggerating, embellishing the truth, or flat out lying. I assure you, my friends, the following is all true. No creative license has be taken to embellish the truth.

After being pounded with chains of blizzards and feet of snow, the Mid-Atlantic region broke yet another weather record. We broke the high temperatures last week by getting into the 90s in early April. It became ghastly hot on Tuesday, April 6th. I had not used my heat in a month and wasn't even CLOSE to ready for the air conditioning, so I refused to turn it on. I put on a fan and peeled off outer layers. I made it through the night, and toddled off to work the next morning feeling proud of my success. Wednesday was another ghastly hot day. When I got home from work, it was 80 degrees in my house, and the afternoon sun was beating through the windows. On Tuesday, it had been just me, but the kids were home on Wednesday.

When the temperature got up to 84, I broke and turned on the air conditioning (henceforth, to be referred to as the A/C). A cool-down was forecast for Thursday evening and Friday so I knew we would be able to head back toward saving electricity for the good of the planet, and my big-ass electric bill.

About an hour after turning on the A/C, I noticed that it didn't feel much warmer. Checking the temperature revealed that it was still 84 degrees. My wonderful son, Drew, checked the fuse box and reset the breakers for me. Thank God that was an easy one.....But, Wait!!!! No, the breakers tripped every time the A/C went on. That was one HOT night! Fans and light clothing wasn't really enough.....little did I know this would be the least interesting, stressful, or difficult thing that would happen to me in 24 hours.

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*PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER IN "THE 24-HOUR WHIRLWIND"*

Travelling can be tough!

No matter the circumstances, getting to the airport, checking luggage, going through security, all of it can be tedious and nerve-wracking for those who do not like flying anyway. This can either be made easier or exacerbated by those with whom you are travelling.
You get to decide which scenario this is:

To get to my former father-in-law's funeral, I would need to fly down to northern Florida. My ex made flight arrangements for our children and his fiancee. He forwarded the flight information to me so that I could fly down with my children. His fiancee, who keeps wanting to play house with my children, called me earlier in the week to tell me she had bought clothing for them for the funeral and that she would pack their bags and pack Ginny's medicine. (Normally, I would be bothered by her continued efforts to take over my role. She is constantly wanting to pick them up from school or keep them overnight when my ex is unavailable. Considering the custody agreement is between me & him, not me & him+her, I have told him that I need to be the next person in line to be with our children when he is unable to be there for them.....Excuse me for wanting to spend all the time that I can with my children....). Sorry, I digress.....However, in this case, my thought was "You want to pack for the kids? pack their medicine?........go ahead! It's one less thing I have to do.....can ya come pack my crap, too?"

On to the travel!!!

I arrive at the airport and the fiancee has checked the kids in with her so they were in a higher number bracket than me due to their business select tickets. I asked the kids to make sure they saved a seat for me. When I boarded the plane, she was in 1 row, and the kids were in a row behind her with an empty seat between them, saved for me. Now, this happened to be the row before the emergency exit over the wing so the seats didn't recline........passive aggressive or coincidence? Don't know! Because the 3 tickets were business select, they each got drink tickets. Since the kids weren't drinking, the fiancee gave one to me. NICE! Score a point on the good side for the fiancee.

Once the flight ended, the next phase of the journey took place. My ex came to the airport to pick up his ex-wife (me), 2 kids, and fiancee. We all loaded into 1 car for the one hour drive to the hotel at which my parents were staying and where me and the kids would also spend the night.

Well, wasn't that a fun trip! Each of us has our own opinions of how weird that was, and who had it worst. However, since this is my blog...........It's All About Me!!! And, why are my problems so much bigger than everyone else's????? DUHHHHH!!!!! Because they are MINE!

Hey, Big Spender!

The minute I walked in the joint....
I received a JCPenney's bill on my card under my previously married name. I haven't used that card in over 2 years. It was paid off and I really should have closed it, but I put it in my desk planning to shred it later which I failed to do.
The bill contained a dozen transactions at 3 different locations between 11/30/2007 & 12/16/2007 totalling $1,755.24. Since I had not used the card in over 2 years, I knew they were not my charges. The other telling point was that there were toddler purchases as well as men's shirts & neckwear. "Considering I no longer have toddlers and have rid myself of the men in my life, that was another strong indication that the charges were not mine", I explained to the voice on the other end of the phone at the JCPenney service dept. The explanation produced laughter which was what I needed in order not to scream, cry, throw things, or fall on the floor and throw a tantrum.
Anyway, they will gather the signatures, send them to me, and I will send them a copy of my driver's license to prove it was not me. Shouldn't be too hard considering my driver's license is a different name. The account has been cancelled.
THE FUNNIEST PART is that they spent so much, that I was automatically upgraded to platinum level and received my new card today which was sent out before I got the bill and made the call.

Hence, I am a woman of distinction, a real big spender!

HERSTORY: Teaching Hospitals

HELEN QUOTE: "This is a teaching hospital, so I shall teach!"
This is long, but really worth it and is a lesson that we MUST be advocates for ourselves, our children and any in our care!!!

As a 3 month old, Ginny was hospitalized with a Nasal-Gastric (NG) feeding tube. Yes, it's just what it sounds like, a tube which goes up the nose and into the stomach and dumps nutrients into the stomach. And, yes, this was something which I learned to insert. That's something they taught me, Lesson #1.

While we were in the hospital, a Physical Therapist (PT) came in to teach me how to perform Chest PhysioTherapy (Chest PT) on a small baby by thumping the crap out of her.....okay, actually, cupping the hand and patting each lobe of the lungs. Lesson #2 for Helen. As I was learning this, an Attending Physician came into the room with his entourage. Said entourage consisted of a 3rd year Resident, 1st year Resident, and a Medical Student. It was the start of the new medical year so they all had new roles (never, EVER get hospitalized on July 1!!!!....Lesson #3).

The Attending was trying to be impressive to his latest set of groupies and thought he'd impress me with big words. His favorite was the word "sphincter". He told me that the tube was irritating the sphincter (the one between the esophegus and the stomach) and that it would continue to do so causing irritation of the sphincter, thus acid reflux and the sphincter wouldn't heal.....sphincter, sphincter, sphincter.....at the time, I had a 3 year old son who was not doing well with toilet training. Sphincter was not an impressive word to me!

Anyway, he continued running in circles telling me that the tube couldn’t stay in, but she probably couldn’t tolerate oral feed, taking a bottle by mouth. He wouldn’t listen to me, or explain what he really meant, or what his solution to this problem would be although I was pretty sure I knew. He wanted to put a feeding tube into her stomach directly. That way, we’d plug the food into a port in her stomach. Wouldn’t that be a really cool procedure to take his entourage through??? My, my what a great experience for them since they ARE in a teaching hospital.

LESSON FROM HELEN: I finally stopped the Attending and told him that he needed to leave the room. He tried to continue speaking, but I looked at him and said, “There are 4 of you looking at me and talking at me, but you are not listening to me. You say she can’t continue with the NG feeds, but you don’t think she can tolerate the oral feeds, but we haven’t even tried them. You are not listening to me and you need to leave.” When he tried to speak again, I told him he must leave and I turned my back on him to focus my full attention on the PT working with me.

They all left and I collapsed, handing Ginny over to the PT who told me I did the right thing. She told me that I need to be an advocate for my child and do what I believe is right.

A bit later, the 3rd year Resident came into the room. I’m pretty sure she was the one who drew the short straw. In a very intelligent (condescending) tone, she said, “Fine. We are going to try it your way.” She pulled out the NG tube and told me that a nurse would be in later with a bottle and they would try it “my way”.

END RESULT: That was the last time Ginny was on a feeding tube. Guess she could handle those oral feeds, and I’m sure her sphincter appreciated the break, I know mine did!