Brian Kent
12-01-2007, 10:50 PM
Yesterday I got a call from my wife about a heavy rain starting to flood the workshop / garage. Lot’s of benches and tools that don’t like water, not to mention storage boxes and washer / dryer. :eek:
I rushed over to a big hardware store that used to have a lot of helpful people in Orange Aprons. Yup, that “Depot” used to be like my second “Home”.
I went to the Sump-Pump aisle. Two other guys arrived at the same time with the same problem, except one of them had a carpeted house that was flooding. We grabbed the most useful pumps and loaded up his cart and he went wheeling off to save his family room. There were a few more pumps, but only the kind that needed to be in a box below ground level. I needed some help to see what would work.
There was a silence in the aisles. A deafening silence. Everywhere I looked there was an emptiness. Customers, yes, but no Orange Aprons. I ran to Customer “Service” and they said they would page someone. I ran back and waited. I read every box. The other guy and I talked about our wet garages. I ran back again to Customer “Service” and they said they would page someone.
I started getting just a wee bit cynical. We had been waiting for 23 minutes. Then a whole lot cynical. :mad:
I yelled…
“PLUMBING!”
“WE NEED HELP IN PLUMBING!”
“PLUMBING EMERGENCY!”
“FLOOD!”
I felt better.
At least I didn’t get in any trouble for yelling because there weren’t any employees in the aisles to get mad at me.
So I went to Customer “Service” and said I was going to run over to Lowes and see if they had any customer service.
On the way I bought a Sump Pump at Harbor Freight. I brought it home tried to hook it up - except the Universal Adapter didn’t adapt to anything like a hose or vinyl tubing. I tried it anyway and it lasted almost a minute before blowing a gasket and spraying out of it’s orifices. I decided I didn’t want to walk through water where a 3/4 HP electric motor was submerged and breaking. :confused:
So I drove to Lowes and bought a Sump Pump. I drove it home – a much longer drive – hooked it up and found out that it was missing its Universal Adapter.
So I drove to the local mom-and-pop hardware store and they couldn’t figure out anything to attach the hose to the pump, even with a steel pipe, aluminum adapter, and PVC adapter all screwed together.
So I drove to Lowes again. They very kindly grabbed another box and got the missing parts.
I got home almost four hours after the first phone call. I found that the LOML had used massive amounts of rolled-up bath towels to divert the water away from my workbenches and flood the washer / dryer instead. I’m in love.
The Sump Pump cleared away all the water in about 5-10 minutes. All is well.
I learned:
1) There’s a Depot that doesn’t have nearly as many people in Orange Aprons as they used to. :(
2) Sometimes Harbor Freight bargains aren’t bargains. :o
3) Lowes came through pretty well, with one forgivable error.
4) Southern Californians like me are absolute wimps when it comes to weather.
We have forgotten the meaning of the word. This was only 2 inches of rain. No hurricanes. No snow. No rivers overflowing. No tornadoes. Just a little water.
5) I really, really, really appreciate my wife for keeping my tools and benches dry. :D
I rushed over to a big hardware store that used to have a lot of helpful people in Orange Aprons. Yup, that “Depot” used to be like my second “Home”.
I went to the Sump-Pump aisle. Two other guys arrived at the same time with the same problem, except one of them had a carpeted house that was flooding. We grabbed the most useful pumps and loaded up his cart and he went wheeling off to save his family room. There were a few more pumps, but only the kind that needed to be in a box below ground level. I needed some help to see what would work.
There was a silence in the aisles. A deafening silence. Everywhere I looked there was an emptiness. Customers, yes, but no Orange Aprons. I ran to Customer “Service” and they said they would page someone. I ran back and waited. I read every box. The other guy and I talked about our wet garages. I ran back again to Customer “Service” and they said they would page someone.
I started getting just a wee bit cynical. We had been waiting for 23 minutes. Then a whole lot cynical. :mad:
I yelled…
“PLUMBING!”
“WE NEED HELP IN PLUMBING!”
“PLUMBING EMERGENCY!”
“FLOOD!”
I felt better.
At least I didn’t get in any trouble for yelling because there weren’t any employees in the aisles to get mad at me.
So I went to Customer “Service” and said I was going to run over to Lowes and see if they had any customer service.
On the way I bought a Sump Pump at Harbor Freight. I brought it home tried to hook it up - except the Universal Adapter didn’t adapt to anything like a hose or vinyl tubing. I tried it anyway and it lasted almost a minute before blowing a gasket and spraying out of it’s orifices. I decided I didn’t want to walk through water where a 3/4 HP electric motor was submerged and breaking. :confused:
So I drove to Lowes and bought a Sump Pump. I drove it home – a much longer drive – hooked it up and found out that it was missing its Universal Adapter.
So I drove to the local mom-and-pop hardware store and they couldn’t figure out anything to attach the hose to the pump, even with a steel pipe, aluminum adapter, and PVC adapter all screwed together.
So I drove to Lowes again. They very kindly grabbed another box and got the missing parts.
I got home almost four hours after the first phone call. I found that the LOML had used massive amounts of rolled-up bath towels to divert the water away from my workbenches and flood the washer / dryer instead. I’m in love.
The Sump Pump cleared away all the water in about 5-10 minutes. All is well.
I learned:
1) There’s a Depot that doesn’t have nearly as many people in Orange Aprons as they used to. :(
2) Sometimes Harbor Freight bargains aren’t bargains. :o
3) Lowes came through pretty well, with one forgivable error.
4) Southern Californians like me are absolute wimps when it comes to weather.
We have forgotten the meaning of the word. This was only 2 inches of rain. No hurricanes. No snow. No rivers overflowing. No tornadoes. Just a little water.
5) I really, really, really appreciate my wife for keeping my tools and benches dry. :D