We watched helplessly as water/sewage came gushing out of the basement toilet for roughly an hour yesterday evening, eventually reaching a depth of nearly a foot. Early on, the power went out - which was perhaps good in one respect, as it saved me from seeing what I was slogging around in trying to get various items to higher ground.
Today I have been packing up dry books and papers and carrying them up two floors to a spare room upstairs. It's excellent exercise. ... I am relieved that my computer and hard drives are all right and that I was able to rescue all of my 2004 manuscript folders and files.
Our house was merely one blip on the map, as the entire Greater Toronto Area experienced serious flooding.
So sorry to hear about this, Allan. I hope that you and Laura are able to get your lives back in order quickly! :-(
ReplyDeleteAh man, what a hassle. Sorry to hear it.
ReplyDeleteAlso sorry to see your copy of The Talisman underwater!
Also sorry to see your copy of The Talisman underwater!
ReplyDeleteGood eyes! That was actually a second used copy floating by! In my haunting of thrift shops for the currently-paused King Reading Project, I had accumulated some doubles, which were in a bag on the floor. No real loss there, though several dozen other books did get ruined.
So I found out something last night that was totally waterlogged - my Boston and New York newspapers from October 2004. Why they were where they were, I cannot say, but fucking christ ...
ReplyDeleteI haven't looked at them more than once in 8 years, but still ... so I lugged them out to the garage last night and went to bed. Thankfully, most of my other 2004 stuff was high up on shelves.
It was a sunny hot day today and I suddenly had the idea to lay them out on the grass in the back yard in the sun -- and they are actually drying!!!! No longer in mint condition, certainly, but dry and readable. I think I did maybe five days this afternoon - ALCS games! loved those NY tabloids! - and I hope for another sunny day tomorrow. If it stays sunny, I should be able to get through most of them this weekend - maybe.
Meanwhile, the house smells like mold and we still have no hot water. Fuck you, feet-dragging landlord.
Three sunny days! Done drying out maybe 2/3 to 3/4 of the newspapers.
ReplyDelete