Thanksgiving and Plumbing

I had planned on posting yesterday, but other circumstances intervened.  And if today's blog seems a little disconnected, it's because I'm eating breakfast and trying to watch the Florida versus Florida State football game while I'm writing. The weather has been wonderful - temperatures in the 50s, an occasional breeze, sunny skies - and it's supposed to stay that way until Wednesday when the weather people say the high will be 25 and the high on Thursday will be 15.  Yuck.
    Thursday was a very good day - we had 25 of the family gathered - that's the Snow family, my sister's husband.  Ages ranged from Evie, at 18 weeks, to Bob, a father-in-law, in his early 80s.  Grandma Anne spent Thanksgiving in Berthoud with her son and daughter, saying that such a large group was a little too much for her.  Fran and Corky were vacationing in Hawaii; and the South Dakota Snows stayed at home due to health issues; we were missing more than 15 this year.  But we had a fantastic feast at the Niwot Grange and everyone took extra helpings home.  In no particular order, there was:  deviled eggs, stuffed celery, fresh fruit, nuts, two turkeys, a smoked ham, gravy, mashed potatoes, candied yams, Szchewan stir-fry veggies, steamed veggies, a green bean casserole, cranberry-orange relish, three kinds of stuffing, pickles, olives, figs, a chocolate trifle, the Snow family orange rolls, five kinds of home-made pie, and Mike's cocoa-date-nut balls.  Believe me, we all ate way too much, except for Evie...
   After cleaning the Grange, we headed home - which, for me meant Lucy's house.  After I fed and walked her, I went over to Tugger and Sasquatch's and fed and loved them.  Then I went back to Lucy's and collapsed.  Friday morning started with an hour's walk and jog with Lucy, then her breakfast; then over to Tugger and Sasquatch's for their care.  Rosie's walk was next, and a stop by the Snow house to visit with Boo (for Rosie).  Back at Lucy's, I read for an hour or so, and then took her out for her noon walk.  Then I came home to Lovey and Nedi.
  As I stepped inside the apartment, I thought the air smelled damp - like I had just stepped out of the shower - but I hadn't been home for 30 hours...  I closed the door, and stepped onto the hall rug.  It squished under my foot.  I turned on the hall light, and it burnt out as it lit up.  I turned on the closet light, and it burnt out as it lit up.  I stepped into the walk-through closet, and the closet rug squished.  I turned on the bathroom light, and said a few dirty words - the bathroom had more than one inch of water on the floor, covering both rugs in there.  I looked at the tub, which was dry, and switched my eyes to the other side and saw the bathroom sink had backed up and overflowed, and was still at full capacity, with water dripping into the floor and also into the kitty litter boxes.  Super yuck.
  I set my stuff that I had with me at Lucy's on my bed, opened the back door so the kits could go outside and relieve themselves, and walked right over the the apartment manager's office.  I was completely amazed, because, for the first time in 9 months, the office door was open, and JC was at his desk.  I briefly told him what I found, and he followed me back down, bringing a wet vacuum.  I learned very quickly how to wet-vac  and managed to get all the water sucked out of the sink first; after a quick empty run, I had my floor dry.  (I had taken my rugs out onto my patio.)  We put Draino and waited for 45 minutes; then I poured hot water down the drain.  It flowed perfectly - away, down, out of sight.  I was relieved.
  Twenty minutes later, the people who live above me used their garbage disposal.  I walked into my bathroom and watched the water rise in my sink.  So I called JC, since his office was closed, and left a message about what I had just observed; then I sent him an e-mail doing the same.  Then I called our emergency maintenance man - who, it turns out, was out of town.  JC stopped by, looked at my sink, and called the plumber.  Then he relayed the message that the plumber would be here somewhere between 2 and 5 hours from the time of the call.....  At least he came last night, and I didn't have to wait until today to be able to use water again.  (And Martin said that he was getting rice, noodles, celery, potatoes, and peas out of the drain.  He said the folks who live above me must not realize that our units and pipes are over 50 years old, and our disposals are not made like new ones....)
   So I'm going to watch football today and tomorrow, and walk dogs until it gets too cold for us to stir outside (not to mention the snow)...  And I'm going to thoroughly enjoy myself - and not worry about plumbing!