Pet Menu - Monroe's Cafe-Grill, Saugatuck, MI

Stressed? It Will Be Okay! (Part Three)

Now, back to the story…

Bob replied to Amy, “I’m sitting down.” Actually he was draped over the chaise lounge in our room at the Union League Club in Chicago and quite comfortable.

“You’re not going to like what I have to say,” Amy started. Savoy and its environs was experiencing what was being called the storm of the century. Somewhere between three and five inches of rain had fallen in a relatively short period of time, and sewer water (from our shower drain and a drain in the electrical storage area) was spreading throughout the basement…soaking over 1500 square feet of not very old carpet. Amy and David armed with a carpet cleaner and shop vacuum were valiantly trying to stem the tide, but it was a losing battle.

Clearly we were needed at home. We made arrangements with friends to ride back to Savoy with them after the dinner, toasts, and first dances at the wedding reception. We arrived around midnight to find Amy still doing laundry (many of their things had been on the floor downstairs), and the babies asleep in their pack and plays ensconced in Bob’s office. Bob sent out a call to ServPro, and we settled into bed. Poor Amy was relegated to a too short living room couch that night but was provided with a queen-sized blow-up mattress from then on. Let’s just say that the living conditions were not ideal for any of us in several ways. Read on.

Right before we left for the wedding, our cable service had been interrupted. Since we have a bundle package, it meant there was no phone land line (yes, we are ancient), no cable TV, and no Internet. Almost unbearable. Amy had been a trooper and called our cable provider each day trying to arrange an appointment. She’d been given promises, but no action. Bob put a call in on Sunday and was able to finally get on the schedule for Tuesday. (It makes me furious that it takes a man to resolve these things. Don’t tell me that there is equality for the sexes when women still have to suffer through this! Ah, but I digress.)

A ServPro crew arrived late Sunday. The company’s employees were working very long hours trying to provide service to many who needed help. (Our next door neighbors and our friends across the street had sewage back up, too, while others were coping with basements full of storm water.) They tore up and disposed of the carpet and padding and set up nine air movers and two large dehumidifiers. 

That was just the beginning...