Oh Crap!

There's never a good time for the sewer to back up and flood one's basement, but four days after installing new carpet has got to be at the top of the list of Really Bad Timing.

Here's what happened: After dinner on Tuesday, I walked down to the basement to change the kitty litter. Instead, I was met with sights and smells which I will not describe out of deference to your gentle sensitivites, dear reader. Also, I personally don't want to relive that moment (or any of the moments in the hours that followed). 

The next three hours were spent cleaning, going to the store to buy more cleaning supplies and to rent a Rug Doctor (tm), calling Roto Rooter, and doing more cleaning. After that, I washed my hands a dozen times or two.

The good new is it looks like our cleaning efforts were effective and the new carpet is going to survive. That's a relief. The other good news is that the Roto Rooter guy (named Adam) was able to come out within an hour of our call, and since they were just here in June, the work was covered under their 12 month guarantee. Also a relief!

But what I want to know is what kind of person designs a system such that, when it fails, you end up with a basement full of poo? Was that really necessary? I'm not a civil engineer or an architect, but I've got to think it's possible to design a waste removal system that does not involve that particular feature.