could you move out of your house in 6 hours? [day 172]

My initial answer to that question would be no, but not anymore, after seeing what happened to my friend yesterday.  I’m sure this question had never crossed her mind, nor did she ever think she would have to move in a matter of hours.  I got the 911 text message early.  Her house had flooded and she needed help moving things out.

I headed over, not having any idea what to expect other than some water on the floor.  And just for the record, why do these things happen only at night while you’re sleeping?  Just about every story I’ve heard like this is someone waking up to a disaster.  Is this what Santa does on the off season to help employ the elf plumbers or do evil demons travel through the water pipes at night?  I don’t know, but I find it interesting.   

Turns out the water supply line to the toilet burst open and flooded the entire house.  I expected a few rooms to be wet, not the whole house.  Water was pouring out the doors, and not a dry spot anywhere.  Wow.  I didn’t think to bring my water key, as it was still coming out even with the water valve shut off.

The carpet was the same all over the house, even in the closets… water-logged.  After calling the insurance company, we needed to get everything out as quickly as possible, even though much of the damage was already done.

One of her friends brought over a shop-vac and we got the tile dry in order to have a place to move stuff.  It wasn’t all going to fit in the garage.  Thinking quickly, we moved a lot onto the counters and into the bathtubs.  Her sister went out and bought some plastic tubs and another friend brought some she had in storage.  Time to move?  Yep.  Here we go…

Move it all, dry stuff in tubs, wet stuff and trash in plastic bags.  Teams of friends and family, each taking a room to clear out, working quickly to get everything out so the water extraction people can get in.  Luckily, Susan was available.  She’s like the most organized person any of us know and she can not only organize, but is also a good voice of reason in this chaotic mess.  Just to help illustrate just how awesome Susan is at organizing, I happen to have a photo of the inside of her closet.  (I’m in so much trouble here) 😉  We cleared out most of the house quickly, the kids rooms taking most of the time.  Like my kids, hers put most of their clothes on the floor, and that, along with all of the other stuff, created many loads of laundry.  I loaded it all into my car and started the social media process… friend in need!  Help with laundry!  I had so many people respond to help that we could have probably taken care of 40+ loads had we needed to.  The people I know are absolutely amazing in these crises.  Today, all of her laundry is done, folded and ready for her to take home when she can.

The water extraction people got started as we were still clearing everything out.  So you might be asking, why are you blogging this on trash society?  What does this have to do with no retail shopping?  In my mind, it has a lot to do with it.  Yesterday’s situation, although not my own, got me thinking about a few things…

‘Stuff’ to ponder

Here’s some stuff to ponder about your stuff.

Insurance. Do you have the proper coverage?  Do you know how much your deductible is?  I realized I have no idea.  I know how much it is for my car, but not my house.

What if… If this were to happen to you, how many people would it take to get you moved?  Would you change your habits of what you leave on the floor?  This could happen to anyone.

Unused stuff. We all have things we need to purge.  I know it’s been a while since I went through the closets.  Clothes my kids have outgrown, stuff I don’t use anymore and things shoved so far back that it would be considered treasure hunting if I dug them out.  These are things that others can use, sell them or take them to a resale place.  If you want less hassle, list them on freecycle.

What’s your icon? Okay, we all have something we’ve been hanging on to for years, but we really don’t like it, need it or use it.  If you had to choose this one item in your house, what would it be?

In efforts to clean out Shannon’s garage to make room for her house stuff, she was ready to get rid of a plastic sheep Christmas decoration that she has always hated.  Since the little guy was kinda creepy, I decided to take him for a while.  I asked her, “What’s his name?”   Now there’s a story behind her answer that I’ll not share here, but out of the conversation we decided to name him Dumas.  I suppose Dumas thinks he’s a house pet, since he immediately sat on the sofa.  This morning, he’s sitting on the coffee table, glowing from the sunlight pouring in the window.  I was really glad I didn’t wake up and see him laying in my bed or something.

The challenge

We all have a Dumas.  Here’s the challenge.  Find your Dumas (icon of stuff-you-don’t-need) and email it to me.  I’ll post them in a future blog.  Shannon, you’re exempt since I’ve posted your Dumas for everyone to see.  I have to go find my Dumas now.