So, that title is a little misleading and also somewhat unfair to the blizzard that wreaked havoc on us last week and hasn’t really let us forget it. But it is the milestone marker for the insanity we’ve dealt with since he came round.
As a professional nerd who lavishes in the luxury of working from home, I maintain an office in my basement. Friday, just as the snow ramped up and settled into the first phase of dumping crystallized water on our house, I noticed that we’d sprung a leak. Under my desk. Inches from my fancy damn gaming computer that’s less than six months old. In our plushly finished basement. UGH.
Speculation on the causes of the leak ran the gamut of our washer leaking to the hose connection just on the other side of the wall fouling up to sorcery and curses simply not wanting us to experience a historic storm that didn’t include water in walls moistening drywall somehow (Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy was another similar experience). Whatever the source, the weather guaranteed that no one would be able to come round and help us diagnose it any time before the weekend was over and the snowfall had stopped. Grand plans of cozying up and watching the snow come down while playing video games, reading comic books, and learning any of the dozen board games we have were obliterated. It was rough.
Long story short, our incredibly skilled friend dropped in on us Monday to set us right and figure out what the hell our major malfunction was. Short answer: Iceberg in the wall. A pink iceberg, no less as it fused with the pink insulation there and also formed up in the cinder block at the base. A bad hose hookup and a not completely tight water shut off combined to form a persistent drip that froze which then cracked the copper pipe. Turning up the heat due to the winter weather caused the berg to melt. Water, following the path of least resistance, pooled into my office.
While the carpet dries and all my office-like belongings reside in boxes in my dining room, I’ve struggled to find a comfortable place to squat during the work day. Living room couch was a bust, basement couch was a worse bust but both for the same poorly ergonomic reasons. I’m testing out a standing desk-ish setup at my counter-height kitchen table that probably only works for me because I am 5’4″. Initial feedback is when I get uncomfortable and need to move around and loosen up from the odd and different positioning, it’s tons easier to get up to do so.
37 inches of snow on the ground and the thing that floods my basement is a leaky, busted pipe, kicking me out of my office for at least two weeks. Because of course it would.
Next up: hilarious stories of the cats experiencing snow and hoping the hell away from it all!
