Kirkepiscatoid

This is a sump pump.

Eventually, every building in NE Missouri that has a basement needs one of these, no matter how well the building is built, if it stands . That's because NE Missouri has clay that can hold moisture like you would not believe. Eventually all this water finds a way into basements.

I could write a sitcom about the various things that have gone wrong with our 92 year old church building since I have been Junior Warden. Now let me state for the record, she's a pretty sturdy old girl for a senior citizen. But like a lot of 92 year olds, she has problems with her water!

Also, like a lot of the issues with "seniors", the "collective parish memory" of how old things are in her is a little spotty. It's kind of like sitting with the relatives of a senior citizen getting them to remember when Mom's surgery was; you get a lot of different answers. I remember when the air conditioner went out two years ago; every one was concerned because "we just bought that a few years ago." I found the bills. We had bought it EIGHTEEN years ago.

Likewise, our sump pump. I have always been told the sump pump was about 15 years old. Well, it was always getting stuck, so T. and I decided to replace it. In looking down the hole at the rusted pump, I was pretty sure this was more like a 1970's sump pump! Oh well.

Anyway, a little planning and a little elbow grease, and we now have a new sump pump! At least I will remember when I changed it!