Ooops and, well, you'll see...

Well, speaking of ups and downs, have we got a doozy:

Last Thursday, after experiencing unseasonably wet weather, M was on her way into town for work, the roads were a mess and the traffic was crazy (both related, of course). She was caught in an unfortunate situation, the car in front of her stopped short and thud, she rear-ended the lady. Without even checking for damages or getting out of the car, the other driver called 911 and police were "on the way". The damage was minimal, some small scuffing on both cars: if the cars were clean there would have been no dirt to even make the scratches. While she waited, M called her friend, me, and the doctor. Doc McD told her that, as a safety precaution, she needed to come to the birthing center for monitoring. Much ado. After continuing to wait for the cops for over 30 minutes, I convinced her to talk to the lady and exchange information. Discovering M was pregnant, the other driver was more than ready to let M on her way so she was off. Luckily everything seemed fine and after a couple of hours on the machine they let her/us go home. M and I enjoyed a nice lunch together and I was back to work.

Meanwhile, the rain and wind were finishing-off what was left of our telephone service line...

Over the weekend M visited some family for a baby shower (not for her). As fun as that must have been, she had the added pleasure of exposure to some sort of stomach bug or the flu. How nice. Monday she called me at work reporting of lotsa vomiting, etc. No fun but still no fever. She called out sick and spent the day in and out of the bathroom. She finally started running a fever about the time I was on my way home from work, this helped but did not drive home the severity of her predicament until she started "producing" some of the most eerie, fluorescent/acid green vomit I had ever seen...she hit rock bottom, I called the on-call doctor. Being pregnant, they could take no chances (not to mention, internal injuries are sometimes overlooked and can rear interesting side effects 48+ hours down the road). Dr. K sent us back to the birthing center...we were there for 5 hours while M was re-hydrated, medicated, and sedated.

Back home, deep in the bowels of our sewer system, a plug had formed...

I went in to work Tuesday to get some stuff taken care of to come home and help M feel a little better and try to figure out why the phone/DSL was not working well/at all. After lunch with a friend, I did just that. I started some laundry and was working on the network interface when I heard some gurgling from the floor drain in our utility room, oh boy. Luck would have it that running the washing machine was "the last straw" and the sewer main backed-up. I am glad for the chain of events that had me home, down stairs, and quiet enough to catch it right away. Well, needless to say, my afternoon plans had just changed. I called a company, too much, I called the rental company, just right...headed down there, picked up the roto-rooter, cleaned-'er out, called the phone company, returned the rooter to the rental company and threw in the towel...I needed a gym visit.

The plaster guy came later that evening to look at our bedroom situation. He told me to save my money and do the work myself. He even told me what to buy and showed me how to make it happen. Good guy, he wouldn't even let me give him some gas money. Home Depot, here I come.

Well, the phone line is fixed, sewer flows, M is feeling better (oh, did I mention the $1000 prescription drugs...), and I am on my way to fixing the walls. Now, what's next?