Catastrophe, almost

About a month ago I was having a real rough week at work. Stress level was pretty high and looking back I can't even remember why. All I know was that I felt like I was at an emotional breaking point.

Fade in 2nd period PreCalculus class on a Friday.

My phone rings about 20 minutes into class. The principal's secretary tells me that a neighbor called and said a pipe burst and my house might be flooding, what should she do?

I had images of the pipes in the master bath broken and spewing water all over our new house and our cat trying to stay dry by moving to higher ground. That is the one sink that spits out white, cloudy water and we don't know why, other than that we have hard well water with high calcium.

I had a security guard come cover my class as I still stayed an extra 5 minutes to explain the assignment I needed my students to attempt to complete. Then I ran to the office grabbing my car/house keys and cell phone. I sprinted to my car, unlocked it, and opened the door.

Whoops! The handle to my car door broke off in my hand. Cursing, I threw the handle in the car (still not replaced), got in and drove the speed limit the entire way home. (They have been ticketing people on my route home, but I always drive the speed limit anyway). I wanted to floor it.

I pull into my drove and the whole front yard is soaked, but this was not surprising. My auto sprinklers should have shut off only about 20 minutes earlier. I open the garage and run in. I turn around to run back out to shut off the water first, hit my ratchet set and send about one hundred sockets skittering across the garage floor.

Get the water shut off and run into the house via the garage. I realize I left the door open and I have to go chase my cat who was in the garage (and is unfamiliar with the area since we had just moved). I coax her back into the house. Run inside and can't find water anywhere.

Scratching my head I go back outside, this time making sure to close the door with the cat inside. I turn the water back in and then resurvey the yards and the house. Nothing. So, I go turn the sprinklers on. Water is gushing out from a broken sprinkler head in the front yard near the street.

That's it?!! A broken sprinkler? All of this for a broken sprinkler?

I go to our neighbor's house to say "thank you" for being concerned enough to track me down. That was pretty considerate when you think about it. I had not even met this woman yet (85 year old East Indian woman. Extremely friendly and looks like she is 65). She knew I worked at the high school, that was it. So she called and gave my address and that was how they found me. Then she explained why she bothered me at work when she knew it was just a sprinkler.

Turns out that a few years ago another neighbor had a sprinkler break and they didn't contact them. But they also have auto sprinklers and they never shut off in the back, which eventually flooded their house. She said she would have hated for that to happen to us. We seemed nice to her and she sees how hard we have been working to get the yards and the house in shape. Very cool!

So... I was at my emotional breaking point. Call about my house comes in. Handle breaks off in my hand. A mess in my garage made up of sockets I will have to resort. Cat almost escaped. Etc. etc. Then, since it was not a "true" emergency, I was not allowed to take the rest of the day off of work. I had to go back or they would dock my pay. Lame.

The End.