Sep. 14th, 2008

Sep. 14th, 2008 04:56 pm

Washout!

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So almost as much as I get asked, "How are you?" these days, I get asked, "So how's your basement?" The answer to both questions is: Exceedingly fine. We have only one little spot of moisture in the problem area of the den, one you can't even distinguish from the other dark stains without touching it.

This seems to confirm the hypothesis of the masonry guy, who didn't like the way mulch was heaped up over the bottom of our sills. He showed us that the sills sit directly atop the fieldstone foundation, so having the earth banked that high invites water to seep into the joint. Of course, it would take a mighty downpour for enough water to pool there, so it's hose watering that is most likely the culprit--which would explain why the problem appeared on a weekend when there was no rain to speak of but our neighbour turned the hose full force into the front planting beds.

His recommendation was to dig out the joint and test the hypothesis by running the hose directly into it. We had planned to do that this weekend, but that was before it turned into the rainiest one in the history of Chicago. At least, I changed my plans, but [livejournal.com profile] monshu insisted on going outside today and scrabbling in the dirt. So, in order not to look like a skiver, I had little choice but to follow him out there, which is how I ended up hacking through tree roots with a shovel in the middle of a fucking downpour.

Needless to say, that spelled the death of any chance we'd make it to Celtic Fest. [livejournal.com profile] bunj and I had planned to try again this morning, but he predictably bagged when the remnants of Ike promised no let-up and there was no way in hell [livejournal.com profile] monshu was going to leave the house again after getting up at 5:30 to wet vac the basement common areas and, for his pains, slipping on the stoop and banging up his head and hand. So my compensation was spending a little time on www.daltai.com and reading from Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands. Bíonn an bhliain seo chúinn choiche ann!
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Lest y'all think we are total wimps, I'd like to point out that not only did we in fact leave the house on the rainiest day in Chicago history, but we travelled all the way to Chinatown and back by public transit and did our food shopping on the way. At one point I asked [livejournal.com profile] monshu if it wasn't a little crazy for us to be out at all and he said, "Yes, but we're on a mission."

Earlier on of his fellow commuters (a description which doesn't even begin to encapsulate the nature of the relationship) gave him $60 to buy mixed nut mooncakes from Feida Bakery in South Chinatown. These happen to be our favourites as well, which is why the original plan for Saturday had been Celtic Fest in the late morning (caber toss!) and early afternoon (pipers!) and Chinatown in the late afternoon and evening, culminating in dinner at Lao Bejing.

So only half the plan ended up being carried out. First we secured the mooncakes (and at a 15% discount!). Then we got me some herbal tea from Ten Ren; their ginger tea is great for sore throats, and I thought the Relaxing Tea would make a passable substitute for Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime. Around this time, the drizzle gave way to downpour, so we hid out in some galleries until it was time to head up to Saint's Alp for tea and snacks. (I had the matcha with black sesame, which immediately had me wondering why I hadn't ordered any matcha drinks there before.)

When we sauntered into Lao Beijing, we found that Nuphy, [livejournal.com profile] lhn, and [livejournal.com profile] prilicla had already secured us a table. Ordering took some time, since the Beijing-style specials were scattered throughout the lengthy menu instead of being segregated as at Lao Shanghai. ExpandMenu details, but alas no pics. )
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