Sump Pump.

Looks like we'll be getting a little more rain than predicted as this ice storm slides on past to our north -- maybe an inch over the next couple of days. Maybe not, too, friends and fans of precip, so if we don't go all Noah's Ark out there, don't freak out on me. We just do the forecasting over here. We don't do the knowing. What we can tell you is that it's raining here at 709 Fairmont, and cold, and the birds are noisy about the whole thing out there, and just putting one foot out the door tells you we missed ice and snow by not that much. Porch thermometer pegged right around 38. Low, low sky. Radar says more rain coming. So does the dog, who's already gone back to bed.

Last time we got good rain the basement filled up with several inches of water, and ANYLF paid $89 for the privilege of having a plumber come out and shake the sump pump and have the thing kick right on. Then there was yes of course the sly $89 grin. Sumbitch, said ANYLF. There, there, little boy, said the plumber.

I have each and every intention of, ah, shaking my own sump pump from here on out. Cheers, friends and fans of weather, to learning the creaks and groans of a different house.