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"His daughter said the worst thing about this situation, besides the fear of losing her Dad, is that fact that no one can go in to see him. All the family can do is talk to his ICU nurse on the phone a few times a day. This is a very sad situation....." I can relate. My sister-in-law passed last November. For about 6 months prior, she had been in and out of several hospitals and rehab centers - went from one to another and never made it home. It all started with surgery for a hiatal hernia, then infections, etc. Each time she was transferred, she was subjected to 2 weeks quarantine. My brother and their kids were unable to see her in person due to Covid and quarantines during much of her treatment and eventual demise - a horrible way to reach end-of-life. To add to the insult, my brother's insurance company rec'd billings over $11M (yes, eleven million) for her treatment.

Homer Simpson? Not to make light of the situation but that name just popped up when you mentioned the circumstance🙄

My sump drains onto the side of the house farther away from the basement. My grass in this part of the yard grows very quickly so I suspect the vegetation soaks up most of the water. Some people use sump water like well water to water plants, etc.

I have a short hose on the outside of my basement wall. It runs just pass my landscaping and drains into the yard. As it hardly runs I have it set up so I can cut my grass without having to move it.

Does anyone know about the Corvair name being considered for the first model of Corvette? @Barney Eaton Saw this prototype on facebook. Never heard about this before. I'm not sure if it might be a prototype or a modified Corvette.

No, not really other than the lumbar when my back acts up.

Only multiple time Darwin award winner.

I can relate. I know a former co-worker with a similar history: gasoline thrown on a fire, cut the top off a solvent drum with a stick welder, dropped a brand new refrigerator on the highway, stuck the ski of his snowmobile through the back window of his tow vehicle, etc… Colorful, but scary 😧

GMs answer was even easier - they remarked the dipstick.

My issue was when (1984) I had the house built, family wanted sidewalks and good schools. I needed close to work. Did have a large lot and offset house to keep a 12 foot passage on one side and room for "more" on the other. Was also an HOA and Covenants to consider. 37 years later have an empty nest (room for cats to stampede), and four garage doors (two doubles) most of which cannot be seen from the street. 8x20 pad in front and 10x25 pad in grotto in back. Did have to violate one personal rule: spare Allante is wedged between SLK and "nice" Allante. 7 cars under roof. Zillow does not know about most but all properly permitted and approved (being in county helps). Have cathedral ceiling in back garage so bit more room but went with a mid-rise (40") portable scissors lift with 4" high ramps when down and 6600lb capacity (used to have an RV that fit inside but could not lift very far. Have a hoist in one bay to remove Allante hardtop). Most of what I do involves removing tires and wheels but easy to work on engine or transmission or gas tank. Computers are on second floor and not in living area. Have waaay too many tires and wheels. Have also been collecting tools for almost 60 years and if something is missing, Amazon is a day away. eBay takes a bit longer.

My best friend is hospitalized with Covid. In my first post in this topic I said Covid was off limits for discussion but I have changed it to say "Covid vaccine". The reason I changed that is because I got a call last night from the daughter of my best friend telling me Gary and his wife have Covid. I realize most of you won't care about this story. Feel free to stop reading here if you like. I'm writing this in hopes it might keep someone else from finding themselves in the same situation. Gary was taken to a large hospital in Knoxville yesterday, bypassing the local hospital, so he must be in pretty bad shape. Gary and his wife both went to the doctor at the same time but they waited about a week before they went. The doctor said that was a big mistake. His wife, who I understand caught it a little later from Gary, was able to take the monoclonal antibodies treatment and return home if she agreed to stay in bed and rest. Her daughter is a nurse and is taking care of her. The doctors said it was too late for that treatment to help Gary. The last time I talked to Gary at the drag strip we were sitting in the back of his enclosed trailer and the subject of Covid came up. He told me he hadn't had the shot because he didn't think he needed it. He said he had never had a flu shot and had never had the flu. He said he thought he was strong enough to fight Covid off if he got it. He said he thought the news had blown this Covid thing all out of proportion. Gary told his daughter to call me and let me know he was in the hospital with Covid and tell me "if he had known it was going to be this rough he would have taken the shot." His daughter said the worst thing about this situation, besides the fear of losing her Dad, is that fact that no one can go in to see him. All the family can do is talk to his ICU nurse on the phone a few times a day. This is a very sad situation that could have been avoided. I'm afraid of losing my best friend. I hope it turns out good for him.

Ship, I hope you didn't have any damage. This has been a strange year for weather for in TN to. Areas to the East and West of us have seen tornadoes and flooding but so far nothing but rain for us.

I agree with you. I don't mind spending the money. I'm just particular and think the best way to get a job done right is to do it myself. As I get older I know I'm going to have to change my attitude about that but it's hard to do after being a mechanic all my life. As soon as I have the new fuel pump in hand I'm going to see if I can get a friend of mine to install it for me. If he will do it, it might be a while before he can do. He has a contract to service a fleet of county police cars at his garage that keeps him really busy. Normally he doesn't take in jobs for individuals but he might do it for me... or recommend someone who will do a good job. I'm not in a big hurry as long as I can get it done one way or the other before cool Fall weather. That's my favorite time of year for driving my Reatta. Put me in my Reatta on a cool Fall day with the windows down and I'm in heaven. 🙂

Unfortunately the small river that caused all the damage in Waverly wasn't part of the TVA system. As far as I know it has no dams to regulate the flow. TVA does a great job of regulating the water levels. They have a flood prediction center that monitors the weather constantly and when they think a flood is inevitable they will lower the water level in advance by running the generators in the dam wide open to try to offset the effects of a lot of rain. When that isn't enough they will open the spill (flood) gates in stages and start letting water out. When they have all the spill gates open it is an awesome sight to see and hear. You just have to be there to appreciate the amount of water coming out of the dam and the power it has. It is so loud you can hardly talk to anyone if you are near it. The concrete building you see on the right is the powerhouse where the turbines and generators are that generate electricity. At the bottom of that building is where water would come out during normal operation of the dam.

I talked to Gary's wife last night. She sounded awful. She said she was the sickest she had ever been in her life. Pounding headaches and constant nausea without being able to throw up and muscle aches that made here feel like she had been beat up. She said Gary has pneumonia. The ICU nurse allowed her to talk to him just for a few minutes since he might have to go on a ventilator if he doesn't improve. The nurse told Debbie she should be prepared for Gary to be in the hospital for an extended period of time.

A record amount of rain fell, 15-17 inches, in Humphreys County, TN that caused flash flooding. You probably saw it in the news. When you see this kind of damage in TN you think tornado, not flood. It happened so fast people didn't even have time to get out of the water's path. Homes were destroyed and some people were swept away with the water. I know people who lived in Waverly, TN but luckily they had moved away a couple of months ago. I talked to them on the phone tonight. They knew 2 of the people who died in the flood. Sad...