04/14/2024
Got a call at 8:00pm last night from an elderly couple in Salem with a flooded basement. The ladies husband was laid up from his recent hospital visit and she was on her own to handle the chaos. Luckily I didn’t have Eli this weekend and was able to spring into action hop in my truck and head over to see what I could help with.
Thankful I brought my s**t kickers with me cause it was deep!!
I found the drain , under a stand alone shower that I had to remove to access the main drain. I then fabed up a stand for my machine to keep it out of the water. And began cabling the drain. With in minutes I opened the drain and the basement with over 2ft of water began to finally drain out. I then started the treacherous uphill battle, one step at a time, pulling my machine up and out of the basement and put it away the truck.
And return and asked her for a broom so I could Steer some of the toilet paper that came up to the drain as most of the water in the basement was from our recent rain .
What’s the water got low enough? I begin taking her water heater apart and removing the gas burner to suck out all the water because the water was high enough that it took out the water heater. she began using the broom to kind of rake the low water spots over towards the Drain while I worked on the water heater. The water heater cleaned and reassembled and relit. I then looked over at her, struggling to figure out an idea for the carpets that she had down there.. so I went over to the small ones and picked them up and hung them up on a clothesline that she had across the basement ceiling.
Asked her if she had a squeegee of course I forgot to bring mine !
She replied no, and I looked at the carpets, looked back at her. I could see the worry in her eyes. So I took the back of the broom, a push broom, and used it to rake the water out of the carpets worked fairly well, but they were also still holding quite a bit and I was worried about it smelling like mildew really bad before they could get dried out as her basement was very orderly and clean, clean prior to the flood.
So I stood there, scratching my head for a little bit, trying to think of the best way to get the majority of the water out of these carpets and I’ve gotten Milwaukee wet/dry vacs with wide attachments then I rarely use. I told her I would be right back and I ran out to the truck grabbed one opened it, emptied it and brought it down with a fresh battery. It did amazingly well for cleaning they were left Damp by the time I was done!
Then it came time for the bill bill for the cable bill for the water heater .
Did Bill clean up or removal of the installation of the shower because she had her on her plate!!
She insisted on tipping me and insisted on me charging her for the cleanup as she claims she would’ve been there for days trying to get that cleaned up .
I refused once again to charge her for that or to accept the tip and told her like I tell most people the best tip you can give me is to spread my name or leave me a recommendation / on my business page or even better in the community pages.
I ended This job at 12 midnight.. the actual clearing of the drain and restart of the water heater only took an hour and a half, the water cleanup, took a bit longer.
I didn’t do it for clout, I didn’t do it to gain another customer, I didn’t it to make myself feel good, I didn’t do it because I knew them “because I didn’t”.
I did it because if that was my grandmother and somebody could clearly see that she’s taking care of my grandpa and it’s all she has to do that, and she was left with this dilemma in the wee hours of the night would step up to the plate and show love to a complete stranger because that’s how they want somebody to treat somebody in their family and the same situation situation.
I didn’t think much about any of this until about five minutes ago. When I got a call from the step son who recommended her to call me… for nothing more than to thank me over and over! he fully expected to be over there Sunday to clean all day for his stepmom and dad. And he called over there to see if they were awake. He was blown away, took care of his step parents!!
Little Actions can mean the world to people! Little actions make differences and I have noticed that many times in life, whether they were actions towards or for me or vice versa actions that I have done for someone else that didn’t or break me I did it just because I could and was able!
The moral or reason for this post is for everyone to never underestimate the power of little actions .. what seem to us make a huge impact and someone else’s life❤️ enjoy your Sunday folks 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙏🏼
Manley Plumbing & Drain LLC
