Needless to say, I did the ZOOM meetings from 9 until 12, and then I yelled up to Edem. "Are you up? Do you want to come downstairs?"
He did. He explained that he got up to pee at 4:45 a.m. and heard a downpour outside. He looked out the window and didn't see any rain, so he ran down the stairs and said the gushing noise was under the sink, so he reached in and turned off the water valve. It stopped the sound. He then used towels to clean the water and pull the few soaked rugs outside. He then went to bed, because he was exhausted.
Long story short, the plumber said, "You're so lucky the kid thought about turning off the hot water line. It saved you from so much more damage."
The cold water worked all day and, truth be told, the hot water worked in all portions of my house but the kitchen. It was the pipe under my kitchen sink to the dishwasher that sprung a leak, which eventually turned into gushing water. I'm lucky Edem heard it and caught it before it could be much worse.
What's interesting is that the water came through the heating vents in the kitchen and soaked the ventilation wrapped around the heat vents in the basement. The water traveled along the ventilation and leaked at it's lowest point, flooding the basement in a single location. Weird. I should note that eventually the water weight was too much and the vents and installation just fell off.
Needless to say, I called Mike. Who else would I call? He's like the Yoda to my Luke Skywalker stupidity. "Let me see. Um huh. Um huh. Shine the light over there. Um huh. Um huh." He then coached me for what I needed to do.
I am lucky. I know these things can be so much worse. I faired well. Home ownership can be for the birds at times. I'm thankful for Mike for coaching me and Edem for being smart enough for putting an end to what might have been a disaster.
Check written. Plumbers deserve what they're paid. Water and piping are central to a home. Ah, humans and their habitations. We work, I suppose, to afford tragedy as it arrives.