The saga of the lake behind work
I'm sure I've mentioned the lake behind my job before. That is, that the parking area between the sets of buildings is meant as a retention area, so that when it rains heavily, the water goes there instead of somebody's basement. Well, we've had a fair amount of water recently. Our weather gauge read four ticky marks on Sunday, five on Monday, and six yesterday. I don't know what one ticky mark stands for, but the most I've seen is eight; that was back on the day of the Fairdale tornado. And yes, they're ticky marks, so stop trying to correct them, spellcheck. It's the technical term.
So, yes, at six ticky marks, we got a fair amount of rain at my house yesterday; it's hard to say that we got the same amount at work, but I do know at one point it was *really* coming down. And, well, the lake formed. We have one guy who works way in the back of the back building, so we don't see him much, except he's a coffee fiend and when he runs out of the java from home, he wanders up to the coffee pot. When he came up yesterday, he was in a mood after having to go around the big-ass puddle (another technical term). Considering this happens *every* time it rains heavily, it gets super frustrating. Especially now that we've adjusted parking spaces; this same coworker has taken to parking in what had been my space, but he backs in and is able to drive out even if I'm there because rarely does anyone park to the one side of us, and I leave him a little room. (We have to park two to a space to fit everyone in. The spaces are meant for two cars.) The only issue is that this now brings my car closer to the lake, and I about panicked at one point yesterday worrying about my car--he came up and said that our loading dock, which is shared by four businesses, was almost entirely full of water, to the point where people were taking pictures of it. At least three of us get deliveries in that dock, and the fourth uses it to unload their equipment. They also have a second building in the complex and have to walk around the lake.
My coworker was fed up and asked for the phone number of the management company. They basically said we'd have to contact the city's department of public works. Why? It's private property, as far as I'm aware; it's not that the sewers are backed up, it's that the water can't reach the sewers to drain. I was there when he made the call and heard his end, and I could hear him trying not to entirely unleash on the person answering the phone, but he was really upset at the start of the call. He did calm down by the end, but it was a couple minutes at least. He got the name of someone at DPW and left a message but I'm not sure he heard back. He did say that he was going to take a few pictures, too. When I left, a good hour or so later, I noticed one of the management company's maintenance men was pumping water from the puddle into the dock, where there is a drain. It had stopped raining by that point and the dock didn't have that much water in it.
Come this morning, I arrive to find a different guy using a push broom to sweep the water out of the puddle and into the nearby sewers. I have never seen this happen before. Because I was early and nobody else was there, I sat in my car for a while, but when others finally arrived I got out and thanked him for doing that--it's so frustrating to deal with. I mentioned something about putting in a channel or what have you, since the reason the water can't drain is that the concrete goes up a little bit just before it gets to the sewers, instead of sloping down, which completely defeats the purpose. He said he was trying to come up with ideas while he was working, since it would save both us *and* him the hassle--he doesn't want to have to do that again. I don't blame you. But I'm sure he got to see just how many people are inconvenienced by the puddle purely in having to drive past it, because it can get to be so big there isn't any room to go around it. And those aren't even the people who work adjacent to the puddle, but elsewhere in the complex, since it's fairly close to one of the entrances to the parking area/buildings in the back. I'd say there are seven or eight businesses directly affected by it, either with the dock flooding or else having to deal with the puddle in order to get to where they park. We're the main ones, but not the only ones. Well, if this gets them to take action, great. Squeaky wheel, I've got some grease for you.
So, yes, at six ticky marks, we got a fair amount of rain at my house yesterday; it's hard to say that we got the same amount at work, but I do know at one point it was *really* coming down. And, well, the lake formed. We have one guy who works way in the back of the back building, so we don't see him much, except he's a coffee fiend and when he runs out of the java from home, he wanders up to the coffee pot. When he came up yesterday, he was in a mood after having to go around the big-ass puddle (another technical term). Considering this happens *every* time it rains heavily, it gets super frustrating. Especially now that we've adjusted parking spaces; this same coworker has taken to parking in what had been my space, but he backs in and is able to drive out even if I'm there because rarely does anyone park to the one side of us, and I leave him a little room. (We have to park two to a space to fit everyone in. The spaces are meant for two cars.) The only issue is that this now brings my car closer to the lake, and I about panicked at one point yesterday worrying about my car--he came up and said that our loading dock, which is shared by four businesses, was almost entirely full of water, to the point where people were taking pictures of it. At least three of us get deliveries in that dock, and the fourth uses it to unload their equipment. They also have a second building in the complex and have to walk around the lake.
My coworker was fed up and asked for the phone number of the management company. They basically said we'd have to contact the city's department of public works. Why? It's private property, as far as I'm aware; it's not that the sewers are backed up, it's that the water can't reach the sewers to drain. I was there when he made the call and heard his end, and I could hear him trying not to entirely unleash on the person answering the phone, but he was really upset at the start of the call. He did calm down by the end, but it was a couple minutes at least. He got the name of someone at DPW and left a message but I'm not sure he heard back. He did say that he was going to take a few pictures, too. When I left, a good hour or so later, I noticed one of the management company's maintenance men was pumping water from the puddle into the dock, where there is a drain. It had stopped raining by that point and the dock didn't have that much water in it.
Come this morning, I arrive to find a different guy using a push broom to sweep the water out of the puddle and into the nearby sewers. I have never seen this happen before. Because I was early and nobody else was there, I sat in my car for a while, but when others finally arrived I got out and thanked him for doing that--it's so frustrating to deal with. I mentioned something about putting in a channel or what have you, since the reason the water can't drain is that the concrete goes up a little bit just before it gets to the sewers, instead of sloping down, which completely defeats the purpose. He said he was trying to come up with ideas while he was working, since it would save both us *and* him the hassle--he doesn't want to have to do that again. I don't blame you. But I'm sure he got to see just how many people are inconvenienced by the puddle purely in having to drive past it, because it can get to be so big there isn't any room to go around it. And those aren't even the people who work adjacent to the puddle, but elsewhere in the complex, since it's fairly close to one of the entrances to the parking area/buildings in the back. I'd say there are seven or eight businesses directly affected by it, either with the dock flooding or else having to deal with the puddle in order to get to where they park. We're the main ones, but not the only ones. Well, if this gets them to take action, great. Squeaky wheel, I've got some grease for you.