I prefer a waterbed.
Years ago, before this blog existed, Luke and I used to write blog-like stories. After an event or “happening”, we’d get on the computer, write out what happened, then add pictures and print them out. You know, for historical purposes.
Anywho, being that it’s Labor Day ‘n all, my mind couldn’t help but be summoned back to 2003’s Labor Day, our most laborous Labor Day in a while. Fortunately, I had written a story about it, so we can get a generally-accurate account of what happened! So, let’s take a journey back in time! (2003 may not seem like that long ago, but keep in mind that we were using WordPerfect then, so it felt longer.)
Around 8:00am on Labor Day day, we finished Tai Chi (or Tai Qi) and headed for breakfast. While we were eating and practicing Chinese with the Pimsleur Chinese tapes, Luke left to go to the bathroom. Next thing I heard was . . . well, something like “OMYGOSH! COME QUICK!” I saw that the rug in the living room was soaked with water. It turns out a pipe in the bathtub (or at least near it) burst and in five minutes the water reached the livingroom. Just imagine if we were at a Bluegrass festival or something for three days.
Luke ran to the sidewalk and turned off the water. By the time he got back inside, the water had reached the hallway. The water was about an inch deep. We went downstairs and spread out pots and pans (mostly pans . . . Actually all pans) on the floor downstairs. There were about six leaks leaking through the ceiling. I got a dustpan and scooped up water and poured it in the tub. Jorge came and we all took out the Persian rug in the livingroom which was drenched with water so lifting it was very hard. We rolled it out on Gemas roof to dry. Papa said we should wash it. (The last time the rug was washed was twenty years ago.)
We rolled up the downstairs rug and carried it out to the greenhouse roof to dry. It was much lighter than the Persian rug. I didn’t want to replace the wet rug with another for the livingroom. I thought it would be pretty nice to have the hard(er) floor for a change but Mama and Luke wanted the floor to be smothered in a rug. They need to harden their “captain’s quarters” with a linoleum floor for a change.
Mama went down to Longs or Ace hardware or somewhere like that and got some carpet cleaner. We put a mess of cartons underneath the rug to keep it supported and “airified.” I didn’t want to get my shirt wet when we hosed down the rug so I took it off (very big mistake). After we hosed down the rug, we whipped out the carpet cleaning soap stuff and the five gallon buckets. We poured the syrupy fluid in the buckets and mixed it with water. After we blended the components for the carpet mixture, we got our brushes and scrubbed the soap into the rug. I had to be careful when cleaning the side of the rug ‘cause the edge of the rug was about a foot from the edge of the roof.
After scrubbing the Persian rug, we got our lunch and ate on the rug that was on top of the greenhouse. It was nice and warm. After eating, we sprawled out on the carpet. Our stomachs didn’t feel too good ‘cause the roof was semi-slightly slanted.
Nothing like a mid-work siesta.
We took our dishes back to the house and got to work. I spent most of the day climbing up and down the ladder. I first had to get soap: down the ladder. I got the soap: up the ladder. I have to get the brushes: down the ladder. I got the brushes: up the ladder. I have to go to the bathroom: down the ladder. I left the crapper: up the ladder. Whew! After we hosed down the rug, we slathered the soapy fluid on the rug. After it was lathered and scrubbed I decided to make some rug drawings with the hose set to the fine high powered stream setting. I first wrote “Check out Kyle Abbott’s Web Pit Stop.” [My old blog-like thing] I tried to “erase” the letters but it was hard to “erase.” In fact, I couldn’t “erase” it. It was unerasable. I got the brush and tried to scrub it out. No dice.
Ooh. . . Those ain't comin' out . . .
I was horrified. (Well… OK, not really.) Luke wrote “What’s Billy’s True Hair Color.” [A wholesome game Luke made on his old site.] The letters went into the carpet. VERY DEEP. We brought up the vacuum cleaner so we could suck up the water (and the parts of the rug that got pressed down to form letters). The vacuum cleaner was full of flaws:
- The label read Quiet Wet/Dry Super Vacuum. What a load of bilge water. It was louder than a Cuisinart! A chain gun! A V-8 ENGINE!
- When I sucked up the water, it spurted out the vacuum cleaner.
There was almost no way to get out the letters when it was wet. We had to wait for it to dry. (Which didn’t take long ‘cause after a few minutes, the rug went from soaked to moist) In total, we had written and drawn: What’s Billy’s Hair Color, a poorly drawn Yin-Yang and the Unio symbol. We cringed at the sight of all the unerasable doodles.
At the end of the day, we made hotdogs and “celebrated” Labor Day. I got a huge sunburn (remember, my shirt was off when I cleaned the rug). First it moderately burned. I thought of putting on ice when it started to really hurt and at the end of the next day it really hurt! I finally put ice on my shoulders. It felt very good (especially since I waited).
Well… that’s enough.
