Primordial ooze

I'm done for the night.

Tomorrow I have more to do but for tonight, I'm finished.

Tomorrow I'll need rubber gloves and bleach.  I have the bleach.  Some kill everything known to man stuff has been applied to the basement.  Once everything is cleaned out, Servicemaster will come back and clean the floors.  Everything, and I mean everything that was in contact with the floor in my basement has to come out.  By the time I'm done, the only thing left will be the ceiling and the studs.

Honestly, the best thing the Servicemaster man could say is "Tear out everything.  Keep the sinks but that's it."

That sounds like a bigger chore than it really is.  The only room in the basement that's done with drywall is the little bathroom.  The rest of it is wood paneling and only around the exterior of the basement.  Taking it out is going to be easy.

I'm just going to need a big dumpster.  A really big dumpster.  Fortunately, there's a four day weekend to get a lot of it done.  I had to take tonight off, but what else could I do with an inch of brackish water on half of the basement floor?  The water is all cleaned up and the last thing to be piled into the dumpster will be my venerable shop vac.  It had a good run and did a good job, but with what's left to do, I'm not sure I want it anymore.

The conversation piece of dual toilets will be just a memory in a few short days.  Believe it or not, they actually acted as a catch-all for the solid goop.  Without those toilets, it would have been so much worse, I think.

But they're gone.  I don't wanna clean them.  I just wanna throw them out.  The man from Servicemaster says they sell toilet vent caps at Home Depot.  I'll take two, please.

I'm covered for this because I have a great insurance agent.  She thought ahead for me when I bought the house in 2004.   Had my basement been finished with drywall and carpet to modern standards, I would have not had enough coverage.  Fortunately, I have enough to pay for removing the damage, but that's going to be about it.  I'm handy, though, and maybe there will be enough left over to buy some materials and start the process.  Probably not, but one can hope.  My basement will have enough coverage once I start finishing it again.  First things first though!

Let me tell you that God is so GOOD!  God provided the things I needed to deal with this today.  I don't say that lightly.  I paid $400 to have a kitchen sink drain snaked out.  The guy that still small voice told me "Call this one", charged me $175, and that was charging me $30 extra because he didn't want to deal with the gunky mess downstairs.  Believe me, you'll thank me for not being descriptive.  I'm able to swing this financially without my mommy having to bail me out.  God bless her, she was willing to sacrifice, but it looks like I might be OK.  

My insurance company is great.  They can't come until Friday, so they sent in the Marines.  The guy they sent to assess the damage for cleanup used to be a Marine.  He was such a help and a blessing.  They'll be back to clean the floor.  I'll call tomorrow and make the appointment.  The adjustor called and walked me through some things, told me that if it's just a clog they'll pay for the plumber.  Yay!  Only out of pocket until Friday for the plumber.

Picture this:  There's a man on the roof snaking out the drain.  Me and clean up guy, who has just inspected the damage first hand are in the driveway.  The old lady has just talked to him about what he needs to do because she's got five pussycats ratholed in a forgotten bedroom in the basement.  I look like I've been through the mud puddle and my eyes are a little red.  There were tears today but I'll get to that in a minute.  All this is going on and somehow, the wondermutt found freedom.  That dog has never come back to me when he's been on a tear for freedom and I've called after him.  Until today.  Came right back, came right to me, and let me put him in the house.  Praise God for that.

In the midst of standing in a puddle of water in my basement, after surveying the damage, after realizing that the mess is so big I'm going to need the insurance company, and all of this on top of the news I received on Saturday night about the Mrs, I just looked up and said "God, I praise You in this storm."

I was down.  No insurance man until Friday.  I called my mom and asked for prayer.  Then the insurance adjuster called and explained to me about needing a plumber.  I can't afford it.  I thought we'd be out of here until the middle of September.  But, God said, "I've got this!"  Mom prayed and then was willing to find a way to help.  I didn't want her money, just her advice and prayer.  The insurance will take care of the damage.  And God was right there with me in the storm.  There were tears, friends.  If you'd lived my life, you'd cry a time or two.  But I didn't break down.  I didn't yell.  i just praised God and got to doing what I had to.  And God did the rest.  In ten minutes, not only did I have a plumber I could afford on the way, but someone to help advise me on the best way to clean it up.  Had I had more coverage on my policy, they'd be here finishing the cleanup job and I'd be sitting in my easy chair.  

God provides!  There will be blessings in this.  There already have been because when I didn't know what to do, I knew enough to ask for prayer and turn to the Lord.  He took it from there and in the middle of my storm, I found myself crying for the joy of knowing everything was going to be all right.  He sent the right people to me today to help me in my hour of need.  You cannot know the joy I feel in my heart tonight!  God richly blessed me today and used a gooey, slimy, stinky mess to do it.

There's some hard work ahead, but we're able.  We have running water, plenty of bleach and soap, and the right attitude to get us through.  The big thing we need now is for Friday to come so I can get a dumpster coming!

Praise God!  He's there, even in the storms!