So, our house is in shambles lately (see Part 1: The Infestation).  Before the ants came, however, we had the great flood of oh-eight.  It all started when our basement dwelling roommate, Nick, decided to undertake his annual laundry festival.

Unlike most people, our roommate Nick lives below ground.  His habitat was actually meant to house computers, boxes and other inanimate objects but has been converted into a rudimentary burrow for sleep and hoarding junkmail.  It is dark for most of the day, and any sunrays that might penetrate the darkness are blocked by a flowered mini-curtain hanging in the window.  Nick emerges occasionally to forage for lunch meat or to drink from the faucet, and is completely house trained.  His mating rituals are largely unknown, but scientists presume that they are short, noisy and spectacular.

Part of Nick’s yearly behavior pattern is an annual clotheswashing.  After a year of wear and soil, Nick crams his entire wardrobe, consisting mainly of Old Navy khakis, socks, and zippered sweatshirts into the laundry machine, hits the start button, and runs for his life.  This year, the machine overloaded and flooded the entire finished basement.  We had to scurry to save his bare mattress and pile of stolen coat hangers.  What a nightmare.

Okay not really.  Our sump pump quit working and it was raining really hard, causing about an inch of water to flood the basement.  The landlord came over, nudged the pump with his foot, and it started working again.  Our basement really did flood, though–and Nick has to live upstairs with the rest of us now.  But don’t be fooled by the second picture.  Nick has no idea how to use a broom, and Jaren isn’t really a lifeguard.  We did feel safer down there in the water with that lifeguard sweatshirt around, however.