Rain Delay: Kansas City Missouri

When my mother lived in Barranquilla Colombia (yes, South America, not the college town in Missouri) I remember her telling me about big rainstorms that would create such powerful surges along the curb that they would knock her to her feet.  Imagining a mouthful of untreated sewage made me gag as she told the story.  “Just one more reason I would never want to live THERE” I told myself.  Disgusting, uncivilized.

But today as I drove from 31st to 47th along Gillham Road, I see a similar problem filling the streets of my hometown.  Another rainstorm has overloaded the sewer system and our streets have become temporary streams.  Luckily I am driving a friend’s truck as I plow through the standing water.  Yeah yeah.  Don’t EVER drive through standing water.  But here’s the problem: sometimes you can’t tell that it’s standing water until you’re in the middle of it.  My friends call me “Captain Safety”, but even I was caught in the middle of streets filled with water from edge to edge.  Before I knew it I was earning safety demerits one by one.

While I realize that it is impossible to prevent occasional flash flooding, and certain areas will always be prone to trouble, it seems that this has been happening EVERY time it rains.  Also, this part of town is not some underpopulated part of dog patch.  This is the center of our city.  When the streets are icy I pride myself in knowing alternate routes that provide the flattest surface.  Today I was racking my brain to think of a safe path to travel.  Everywhere I turned there was more standing, running, or rushing water.

I turned back, called my client and cancelled our appointment.  I felt like my home town was slipping in civility just a little.  It’s becoming the kind of place in which the weather dictates profit.  For the first time in memory, rain kept me away from work.

Trust your plumber

I am lucky to know people who know people. In talking with a plumber I only recently came to know and trust as a result of the people who referred me to him, he shared with me these pearls of wisdom “trust your plumber”. The fact is, you don’t go to sea and try to captain the ship alone with no experience. You need to have an expert you trust. The plumber’s job is to know the laws, regulations, and how to get things done. The trick is to develop a rapport with this expert BEFORE you are in a pickle. I found mine in the eleventh hour, and I feel I lucked out. I would recommend that people find a good plumber as soon as they buy their house. Just like developing a relationship with a doctor, you don’t want to wait until you’re in serious trouble to do your research.

In my imaginary world, your new home shower includes a book that is akin to a baby book. A big fatty, in which you keep track of the dates of major repairs, color formulae from new paint jobs, materials used in repairs, and at the back are your emergency numbers. Friends get together to throw you a shower and bring business cards of their trusted plumber, mason, electrician and fill up your fun little scrapbook with these pearls. After all, it takes a village, right?

One option for alleviating sewer repair burden

Here is what one city did to help it’s homeowners deal with the devastating cost of sewer repair: http://www.mishawakacity.com/sewerinsurance.asp

Prevention of sanitary sewer disasters

The best thing I’ve heard all day is “video inspection service”. This service, in which a camera is put through your sewer drain pipe costs around $200 and can be done BEFORE you buy your home. It can tell you if your drain is clear all the way to the city main. If not, you’ll learn where there is an obstruction, and what the obstruction is (gravel, mud, broken pipe). Tell all your friends, this money is well worth the knowledge it provides.

How deep is your love?

I had to work, so I missed all the action. I am told that the sewer connection was 18-24 feet deep. If I have time later this week I want to go to the fifth floor of city hall to track down the microfiche record of the city sewer system. I’m curious to see when it was built and what sort of records exist for my 101 year old house. I hope the new pipe lasts another 100 years with no trouble! The super great news is that they added a cleanout! Now THAT is smart! In future, if there is trouble with the city sewer, there will be access much closer to their line. Also, the catalpa tree looks like it avoided any damage. So sad I missed the dig, glad the job is mostly done!

The new sewer pipe has a cleanout!

Work on new sewer tap begins Monday

The giant excavator arrives tomorrow, and I am told that I won’t believe the size of the machine needed to dig 24 feet down.  I spoke with the neighbors to let them know they won’t have access to their driveways off the alley.  They were all so nice, reaffirming my love of North East Kansas City.

I look forward to the cake shaped like stacked toilet rolls, served with chocolate ice cream that we shall serve at the completion of this project.  I am pretty sure one of the bakeries on the avenue can take care of that for me.  Pray for the giant catalpa tree, that it may be spared.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!