The Flood of Aught-Eight

Among the things I haven't had the time to write about was last week's storm. Last Wednesday (I think), we had a very sudden, very heavy rainfall which dumped about 5 inches of rain in an hour.

The sky went from sunny to overcast in about 30 minutes and you could see the storm front moving in from the west. When the rain started, it was like someone turned on a faucet full blast--no gentle summer rain, this.

It was a busy day and I just kept working (and saving frequently, in case we lost power) and listening to the rain pouring down. I started to hear a dripping sound, but couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from. I walked up toward the front door and couldn't see anything, so I walked back toward the back of the studio. As I walked into the back office the water was coming faster. I looked toward the back door and water was coming in beneath the door.

Mayday! Mayday! We're hit and we're taking water!

I ran to the bathroom and grabbed every hand towel in the studio (3) and a large bucket. I couldn't find anything else to soak up water, so I just started dropping the towels and wringing them out into the bucket. could. AAfter nearly an hour, the rain began to let up and I was able to take a minute to assess the damage. The carpet had a semi-circle of water surrounding the back door--it's radius was about 4 feet and other than a filing cabinet that I had already moved, didn't get close to anything vital. Water came in the front door, too, but it wasn't as serious. I peeked in the basement and that was a big mess. About 6 inches of water. All in all, not too serious.

I decided to run home to grab more towels to work on drying the carpet (and guarding against more flooding). On the way home, I come to a puddle which ran the width of my street. It looked to be about 12 inches or so, which wouldn't be a problem for my GMC Jimmy. And that would have held true if it had only been 12 inches. Even 18 inches wouldn't have been a big deal. Unbeknownst to me (in reality, I guess it was actually knownst to me, but I never really gave it a second thought), there is a big dip in that particular spot on the street. As I drove in, the water got really deep, really fast.

The truck died in the middle of the pond as water splashed over the hood and hit the windshield. I was irked but not really concerned until the water started coming in from beneath the passenger-door (this water-rushing-under-the-door thing is going to be a lifelong phobia, I fear). I needed a second to regroup and decide what to do. The only thing I could think to do was get out of the truck (through the driver-side window) and push. Michelle was in the truck with me so she got to pilot my new GMC U-Boat while I pushed in hip-deep water.

I actually managed to move it 5-6 feet by myself when we got to the other side of the dip and I was pushing uphill. If I didn't find some help quickly, this was not going to end well. Just as I'm about to summon that superhuman strength people get in emergency situations, two teenagers came running out from their house to help push. The two of them together probably weighed about as much as I weight, but the three of us were able to get the truck out of the water and up to high ground. I didn't have my wallet on me, so I couldn't give them anything, but I was more grateful than words could express. The kindness of strangers, man, that's something you can never count on, but it goes a long way toward restoring my faith in mankind.

Anyway, the truck was flooded and would not start. I did my best to use towels and whatever to soak up the water in the truck so that there isn't any standing water in it and leave it there. I tried to start it the next two days and it still wouldn't start.

After a trip to the mechanic (I kept picturing the scene in Risky Business with the Porsche 928), it started again, but the transmission was screwy.

After a trip to the transmission shop, all is well.

It was a whole lot of running around and more than a few dollars to get Jimmy up and running again, but I can't really be upset because it was my own fault. I guess I could be upset with myself, but that seems to be a waste of time. At least I learned a valuable lesson: If you are unsure about making it through safely, maybe it's time to look for an alternate route.

Bird Day.

My day started pretty early today. I had to get up early to put the finishing touches on an article I'm writing for Tri-City Magazine. I got the article done, then I made some coffee and took the dogs for a walk.

We left the house around 6:15 and it was absolutely beautiful out. Blue sky, sunshine, 55 degrees. Couldn't ask for better dog-walking weather. The dogs and I have a route that we usually walk, with slight variations along the way. We almost always, though, walk to the river and follow the river for a little bit, then head home.

This morning, when we got to the spot where we usually turn around, I saw something unusual in the water. There were two ducks swimming side by side and one of them had something in his mouth (they were both males, green heads). I was trying to figure out what was in his mouth. It looked like a fish, but that didn't make any sense. As I'm staring at the ducks I finally see what it is--it's another duck's head. This one duck is holding the other duck's head underwater. And he's got a buddy there to help him hold the duck under. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen.

I watch this real-life Mutual of Omaha segment unfold for a couple of minutes. The two ducks are really not letting the third duck up. I begin to feel really bad for the third duck. I mean, what the hell did he do to deserve this?

I whistle at them, not too loudly, but loud enough that it draws the two bullies' attention. While they are looking over at me, the third duck manages to slip out from under them and flies off.

Even though I just told Darwin to screw himself and probably ruined the process of natural selection, I still feel pretty good about myself.

When I got back to the studio, I googed something like, "ducks drowning other ducks" and sure enough I got a hit (I love the internet!). Apparently, that is how ducks mate--it's a pretty violent process. The males gang up on a single female. There is one male who is there to get what he wants and the others are just there as muscle.

Kind of like a party in Kobe Bryant's suite, I guess.

As if that wasn't aviary drama enough for the day, when I get to the studio this morning I see two mourning doves sitting outside the back door of the studio. They look like they were fighting, but Laurie noticed right away that it was a mother and baby bird. The mother bird was bringing food and kind of pecking at the baby bird to feed him. It was really cute.

I managed to get outside and snap a few photos. It's not the best photo because I couldn't get too close, but you can see them pretty well here.


They hung out for a little while, but I had to get to work so I lost track of them. It was a nice counterbalance to the waterfowl domestic violence I had witnessed earlier.

I know this had nothing to do with design, but that's just the way it is.

Visit our real-and-official blog at:
http://989Design.com

Studio News

It's been pretty busy at the studio the past couple of weeks, so I've been a little lazy about updating the blog. There is a little break in the action, though, so I can take a few minutes to report on some things at the studio.

First off, the new 989 Design website is up and running. We have had a lot of positive feedback on the site, so a big thanks goes out to Laurie (more about her in a minute) and Mike Weiss of MJ Media—they are the people who actually took Laurie's design and brought it to life. As part of the redesign project, the blog was integrated into the site, so you can read the blog without ever leaving the site. I am going to continue to post here, although from here on out all Blogger entries will be identical to the entires on 989design.com.

The second piece of news is actually the big news I have been promising. I was holding off to try to tie the announcement in with the announcement in the Bay City Times, but I can't wait anymore. Laurie Russell has joined 989 Design as a designer/art director. Laurie is a fine artist with around 20 years of experience in design/advertising and is a real asset to the studio. Having a second set of well-qualified hands in the studio has been a real help.

The third news item isn't as cool as adding a designer to the team, but it's pretty visible. We finally got around to putting up our permanent signage in the studio (as seen in the photo on the left). We chose to work with Klender Design and they did a fantastic job. The work was finished quickly and the guys who installed the graphics were great. I can't recommend them highly enough.

That's all the news I can think of at the moment. Have a great day and we'll see you soon.