We recently had an escape well added to our home. It’s a 5′ wide window in our basement so that in case of fire we could escape from the basement, and it adds in a ton of light to what was once gloom.

Next we’re having the contractor put in ceramic tile in the basement bedroom (currently empty) and the basement living room (crammed full of everything from the bedroom plus my comic collection), so Sunday night we pulled up the old carpet and took it out, and I pulled up the pad and prepared to take it out Monday. Under the pad is some old vinyl tile that also has to come up. The contractor asked me to clear out the living room as best I can, so I told Melinda that I would stack the comic long boxes in our shop. I hate to put them on the floor, but I don’t have a pallet. That’s okay, it’s only for 2 or 3 weeks.

The excavation of the window well left a huge mound of dirt right by it, which I plan to distribute appropriately…but the month of July has been beastly hot. I haven’t mowed the lawn…I’ve barely been outside…and I certainly didn’t have the energy for shoveling dirt around.

SO! Monday, we have a horrible rainstorm. The dirt pile that I didn’t move yet turns out to be blocking the drainage from the side of the house and from the gutter downspout. Since the water can’t go into the yard, it diverts into … the window well. When Melinda notices this, the water is FOUR INCHES HIGH against the window well and there is a half-inch of water on that bedroom floor! The puddle has spread through the wall to the shop area where I had, the day before, said I was going to put the comic collection.

Had we not taken the carpet out just the day before, we’d have had a godawful mess. Had I put the comic collection in the shop…well, I’d have ruined a couple boxes and needed to clean off all the polybags. I think I’ll put down a bed of two by fours wherever I decide to put the collection.