A Sleepless Night

Good Morning, Everyone, from the shores of Lake Ontario.

I am a little tired today.  As you may know, we had quite a bit of snow last week along with very cold temperatures.  Over the weekend the temperatures rose to near 40⁰ (F), and yesterday it rained most of the day and into the night. 

Well, in the middle of the night a very loud buzzing rudely awakened me.  This horrible noise sounded much like an alarm clock, and since I rarely set an alarm to wake up (and when I do set one, it’s set to music), I knew it wasn’t a clock making the noise.  After checking the security alarm and the smoke alarms, it finally dawned on me that the alarm was coming from the crawl space basement. I knew I would have to descend into the crawl space to find the cause of the irritating noise.

After clearing all the things stored in the closet over the trap door to the crawl space (a card table, chairs, a ladder, and the elliptical runner) I opened up the trap door. The alarm was definitely coming from the dark cavern below and I could smell the musty odor of the basement seeping up to greet me.  Mustering up my courage, I found the drop light with the long cord and a flashlight for back up, and climbed down the short distance into the close, black space beneath the house.

I followed the sound to a back corner to discover that the sump-pump was over flowing and that it was the float alarm making all the racket.  I reset the alarm, which was quite a relief to my ears, and checked to make sure nothing was blocking the water in the basin.  Finding nothing, I proceeded to give the sump-pump a stern lecture about its purpose and explained that I do not have the money to replace it.  Then I waited.  Nothing happened and I began to realize how eerily quiet it was under the house in the dark space under the house.  I decided to get out of there and wait in the comfort of the house proper upstairs.

I made some coffee and sat down to wait for the sound of the pump to start working and do its job.  Twenty minutes later, I heard the motor kick in and the rush of water as the pump regurgitated the contents of the basin.  It was a long and loud noise.  Finally, it stopped after a good, long minute, and then ran again in about 30 second intervals.  Eventually, it slowed down.  I waited another half hour to make sure it didn’t overflow again and that continued its normal duties.  Feeling all was well; I closed the trap door and replaced all the things in the closet in an organized fashion.  The time was now five-thirty, and I was wide-awake.

Now usually, I don’t notice the sound of the sump-pump running.  Actually, it doesn’t run much except in the spring when there is plenty of rain and the ground frost is melting.  I think I grow used to the noise.  However, I heard it run for the next hour as I tried to fall back to sleep, which thankfully, I finally did for a couple of hours.  I am thankful it’s Monday and I don’t have any appointments today as I am not too alert.

I am not sure why the sump-pump stopped working.  Maybe it was over-whelmed, or maybe it had a bad dream.  Or, maybe it just wanted some reassurance that I appreciate its hard work, much the same as people need to know the same.  I think in the future I will visit it occasionally to make sure it’s okay and to let it know it’s needed.

Have a great week, Everyone!

Peace...