I'm trying to remember if I heard my sump pump before I left for work. Pretty sure I did.

I just replaced mine 2 weeks ago. happened to be IN the basement when I heard it kick on, then not turn off, smelled smoke and unplugged it in time. mew one purring like a kitten, non-stop last 2 days, it seems.

Want to see a sinkhole in Chicago eat a car? (Not inserting video here because apparently it autoplays)

So, its definitely that time of the month for Mother Nature.

And Steve needs a new roof.

I'm trying to remember if I heard my sump pump before I left for work. Pretty sure I did.

My entire childhood was spent fighting our sump pump until eventually the basement flooded. Since then my parents dug two new ones, have two pumps and 2 backups, a natural gas generator and a backup gas generator for the NG one. Needless to say they didnt have a drop of water in the basement.

And Steve needs a new roof.

I think you can pick that up at Target on the drive home.

What happens when you wring out a wet rag in 0 g?

 

I've been watching the graph for the Kishwaukee river in Belvidere. That's the river that runs through the campground we go to. Our camper was literally 50 feet away from the river itself. It got up over 7.5 feet yesterday and it's currently over 12'. Anything over 6' is cause for concern.

 

We had to move our camper to the parking lot on other side of the campground to save it.

 

So I got incredibly lucky. My wife went into our basement yesterday morning about 6:30 to get some laundry. I asked her if the basement was dry and she said yes. 20 minutes later she just happened to go downstairs again to get something she forgot (i.e., not part of the morning routine) and our floor drain had water coming up. Within that 20 minute time period our sump burned out. Had she not gone downstairs, our basement, including my 1.5 year long basement remodel with custom wainscoting/paneling would have been flooded. But luckily she did and I got to spend 3 hours with my shop vac constantly pouring 12 gallons of water into my laundry sink that has an ejector pump to get the water out of the house. Eventually my father in law came over with a few replacement pumps and I was able to stay ahead of it. I'm debating whether to buy a whole system with a back up pump and a battery.

So I got incredibly lucky. My wife went into our basement yesterday morning about 6:30 to get some laundry. I asked her if the basement was dry and she said yes. 20 minutes later she just happened to go downstairs again to get something she forgot (i.e., not part of the morning routine) and our floor drain had water coming up. Within that 20 minute time period our sump burned out. Had she not gone downstairs, our basement, including my 1.5 year long basement remodel with custom wainscoting/paneling would have been flooded. But luckily she did and I got to spend 3 hours with my shop vac constantly pouring 12 gallons of water into my laundry sink that has an ejector pump to get the water out of the house. Eventually my father in law came over with a few replacement pumps and I was able to stay ahead of it. I'm debating whether to buy a whole system with a back up pump and a battery.

If you live in an area where you need a sump pump, then you should have the best one you can and always have a backup.

The rains that fell in a 24-hour period ending at 7 am EDT Thursday, April 18, 2013 over Northern Illinois were the type of rains one would expect see fall only once every 40 years (yellow colors), according to METSTAT, Inc. (http://www.metstat.com.) METSTAT computed the recurrence interval statistics based on gauge-adjusted radar precipitation and frequency estimates from NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 2, published in 2004 (http://dipper.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/.) METSTAT does not supply their precipitation recurrence interval forecasts or premium analysis products for free, but anyone can monitor the real-time analysis (observed) at: http://metstat.com/solutions/extreme-preci...index-analysis/

 

Damages from the April 2013 Midwest U.S. flood in Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri are likely to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Link

If you are looking for sump pumps, these guys make some pretty good ones http://www.nexpump.com/

 

They have features where you can check online, etc.

If you are looking for sump pumps, these guys make some pretty good ones http://www.nexpump.com/

 

They have features where you can check online, etc.

I need to build them a website. What a piece of s***.

I need to build them a website. What a piece of s***.

 

"Copyright © 2005-2012 NexPump, Inc"

 

b****es don't even know what year it is

lol

 

Dont judge a book by its cover?

lol

 

Dont judge a book by its cover?

I was judging their website by the fact that it's a bad website. The product may be fine, but the website is a pile of feces.

It seems like you can rig up a back up system on your own pretty easily. Every one of these kits I've seen requires a marine battery purchased separately anyway.

Jake Peavy in this month's GQ as part of a fashion spread with other MLB players.

NO idea where else to put this, but Al Michaels picked up a DUI Friday night.

NO idea where else to put this, but Al Michaels picked up a DUI Friday night.

 

You could probably have an entire thread for celebrity/athlete DUIs.

 

You could probably have an entire thread for celebrity/athlete DUIs.

Reese Witherspoon's police report from the same night was kinda funny, but I'm more disappointed to find that out about someone like Al.

This may eventually need its own thread, but for now:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-...0,2762839.story

 

Canadian security forces thwarted a plot to blow up a rail line between Canada and the United States and will announce arrests on Monday afternoon, police and intelligence agencies said.

 

U.S. security and law enforcement sources also said the suspects had sought to attack the railroad between Toronto and New York City. Canadian media said two men had been arrested after raids in Toronto and Montreal, Canada's two biggest cities.

 

There was also a shooting incident at the Watts Bar nuclear plant yesterday

 

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/22038818/shoot...nt-in-watts-bar

This may eventually need its own thread, but for now:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-...0,2762839.story

 

Probably Quebecois separatists

Probably Quebecois separatists

CNN has called it "Al Qaeda linked" for whatever that's worth.

 

(keeps reminding me that I need to change the news alerts app on my phone after their fail last week).