i think we're truly living in a golden age of music right now. never before has music been more accessible due to the rise of the internet and the proliferation of portable music players (anything from dedicated devices to gadgets that also happen to play tunes like cellphones). i woke up this morning and had a craving for the cure. i didn't even have to remember the song titles: just a few snippets of lyrics was enough to find it through search engines. in a matter of minutes, i had all my songs downloaded.

first thing i did this morning was to call my parents and ask them about the flood situation. my sister told me there's already an inch and a half of water in the basement and the water continues to rush in. my father went down to the local home depotbefore they opened to buy a pump. the parking lot was dotted with other like-minded folks in search of pumps as well. when they finally opened their doors at 7:00, it was to let everyone know that they were already sold out. so now the only thing left to do is to wait for the rain to stop and begin the slow process of drying out the basement.

in the afternoon i got a chance to witness the disaster in person when i went to belmont. along the way you could tell which homes have flooded basement by the hoses snaking out from the houses draining water onto the streets. we stopped at a burger king to get something to eat before continuing with the clean-up. it was still raining and now coming down as sleet. the rain wasn't forecasted to stop until later tonight.

my parents had two pumps operating: one that they rediscovered in their basement, another one from the cafe. one pump was pushing water out from flooded sump pit, while the other pump worked the overflowing basement stairwell drain. they actually needed a third, one that could draw the water that had already entered the basement. there wasn't that much water - about half an inch - but it covered the whole basement.

last night the water started seeping in from the basement stairwell, then the sump pit started to overflow. with only one pump working (the second pump was only put into service this morning when my father bought the necessary hose attachment), it was submerged in the sump pit while my parents and sister scooped up the incoming water from the basement entrance into pumps to be poured out onto the street. they were at it the whole night and into the morning.

now with two pumps working, the water seemed to have subsided. for the next few hours, we formed a convoy and brushed the water into the sump pit. it felt like we were washing the basement floor, just using a lot of water. we alternated the utility pump by the back entrance, bringing it inside to try and push some of the water out, before the stairwell flooded high enough again for the pump to be put back onto the drain.

all that work still seemed to be in vain. the basement can't dry until the water level in the main storm drain beneath the street is lower than the basement floor. although the pumps were keeping much of the water at bay, returning to the basement after a bit of rest revealed that the water level still continues to rise. maybe it's seeping in from somewhere else and we just can't see it. the good thing is almost everything is off the floor. once the rain stops, proper clean-up can begin.

my father asked if he could borrow my rubber boots, so i went back home wearing his pair of rubber crocs. along the way houses with lit basements revealed neighbors with flood issues. i brought home a whopper junior sandwich which i ate as a late dinner. i logged a few more okami hours (defeated nine-tails).