Friday, October 13, 2006

fatigue: fighting through

Its been a very busy few weeks in the land of ack/nak. A week ago this last Monday, storms-a-plenty swept through the Chicago area, dumping multiple inches of rain, knocking down trees and knocking out the power.

Dear reader, this is a combination designed to create misery, and misery visited our home in the form of two inches of water in our basement. Yes, we had a back-up battery for our sump pump. No, it did not function correctly, as the contact had corroded over time leaving the sump pump deliciously free of power. At exactly the wrong time, no less.

When the power came back on, we scrambled to move dry boxes to higher ground, wet-dry vacuumed as much water as I could get to, and the next day cleaned the concrete floors with a powerwasher and bleach (as the water that made its way in was dirty, naturally).

Two dehumidifiers were installed and have been running for almost two weeks now; the ambient humidity is now down to under 50%, but for days I was pulling multiple gallons of water out them. Concrete, you see, is actually a sponge.

No carpet of any value was destroyed, but a fragment downstairs that the kids had used to play on in the cold weather was pulled up and cut down into 4' x 4' squares for disposal. Approximately 100 pounds of sodden cardboard, and multiple bags of sodden books were dumped at the curb. An old tower computer that got its feet wet was relieved of its hard drive also met its fate.

Last weekend we visited Ikea and made an investment in bookshelves - about 100 square feet of BILLY shelving now lives in an upstairs closet, into which I've been moving boxes of (dry) books, (dry) boardgames, (dry) magazines and other (dry) oddments I've been carrying around with me for years. All of which were spared from the flood, thank G-d.

In the course of the last two weeks, I've lost sleep, caught a sinus infection, and saw my waist size shrink by two inches from the insane amount of stair work I've been doing.

And now I'm dead tired - and getting ready for a whole week of our annual conference in California.

If you have hints on how to fight through fatigue, let me know. I need the help.

BTW - I replaced the sump battery, a frightening exercise involving dispensing battery acid. Needless to say, I now vow to never let my sump pump backup battery fail Every Again.

3 comments:

You Mon Tsang said...

what a nightmare. sorry to hear. In your case, I would battle fatigue by knowing there is an end date where sleep can happen. Doesn't get you any more sleep in the short term, but it does give you hope.

Camie Vog said...

I am sorry to hear this has happened. Fatigue? More sleep, sitting quietly for at least 15 minutes a day, by yourself, and keep climbing the stairs. Your body is most likely in shock over the physical work you have been putting it through. Climbing the stairs really is good for you in the long run.

word veri: spyzel

Ron said...

Get some rest as Camie suggests; she's a trained professional!

Maybe California will be relaxing?