Aftermath
I'll post about the race later, but I will say that I was happy with my time and had a great experience.
The post-race was not quite as much fun.
First: As I was recovering with my family, my father in law took Riley to use the port-o-lets. Riley emerged, but didn't immediately seen 'Papa'. Papa didn't see Riley. So Riley went to the end of port-o-lets and waited. This induced a slightly paniced call from Papa to us asking if Riley had come back. Suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore. The idea of my son lost in a see of 20,000 spectators and runners got my adrenaline flowing quite nicely. I ran to the port-o-lets. We found Riley quickly. He was only about 20 yards from Papa, but there was no way either of them could see each other. Phew.
Second: We returned home to prep for the party and take a shower (ok, a nap). Jessie emerged from the basement and said there was a bit of water near the computer. Uh-oh. Amy went down to investigate. I heard her reaction and knew we had a problem. Mother nature won. The water table on our street had finally reached our basement. Others had been dealing with this for a couple of weeks, but we had managed to escape it. Not anymore. There is a small 1 sq ft hole in our basement floor where the drain leaves for the street. All homes have this. Well, now the water is coming up through that hole and into our basement! Not very fast... maybe a gallon every 5-10 minutes. This not a fast rate. It couldn't sustain a household. But it turns out that 1 gallon every 10 minutes is more than enough to be a huge pain in the ass.
So... instead of recovering today and strategizing our Kitchen demo (which was to take place tomorrow), Amy and I have been battling water and cleaning our basement ALL DAY. We've been at this since waking up this morning. Apparently cleaning a basement and going up and down stairs all day is good recovery for a marathon - who knew?
Luckily we have a shop vac with a pump attachment. We've cleared most of the standing water. We're pumping out the hole every 5-10 minutes to make sure that it does not overflow into the basement again. I'm taking the 11:30pm to 3 am shift. Amy will take the 3-7 shift. I'll get back up and take over so that she can get kiddos to school. I was taking this week off anyway to work on our kitchen, but that will have to wait.
Which brings me to....
Third: Our cabinets were scheduled for delivery tomorrow. This morning we got a call from the distribution center stating that our cabinets were ready for pickup. Pickup? No, no. D.E.L.I.V.E.R.Y. No, they assured Amy that Ikea wanted us to pick up our cabinets, preferably soon. I called Ikea man and he said that I had never paid for delivery. No, no. P.A.I.D for D.E.L.I.V.E.R.Y. No, Ikea man assured me that I had not paid and that the cabinets were ready for pickup. I explained to Ikea man that there are 2 receipts for my order - one for the cabinets and one for delivery (which is how Ikea made me do it Mass.). I gave Ikea man the receipt number.
Ikean Man: "Hmmm". (long pause).
IM: "Well." (pause). "I'm not sure what happened."
Jim: Me either since I called you Thursday and confirmed my delivery.
IM: "Let me give you a case number.... blaj, blah, %$^%, blah"
Jim: OK, got it. But you CAN SEE that I paid for delivery, right?
(pause)
Jim: You can see the payment, I gave you the receipt number. You can see the payment?
IM: "Um... yes."
IM: "We'll give you a call back in a couple of hours after we investigate".
Ikea man did not call back. At 4:30 I phoned Ikea woman. Ikea woman started the conversation by assuring me that I had not paid for devliery. (*insert deep breath and expletives*) I ASSURED Ikea woman that I had already been through this and that is why I was assigned a case number.
(pause)
Ikea woman: Let me verify that.
(pause)
IW: Let me call the distribution center.
(on hold)
IW: OK, you're all set. Distribution Kim will be calling you today to arrange delivery. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Jim: Wait. So you can see that I paid for delivery AND the distribution center has been notified of this AND they will deliver my cabinets?
IW: Yes.
Jim: When?
IW: Distribution Kim will call you.
Jim: When will Distribution Kim call me?
IW: Today.
As of this moment, it is no longer "today", but is "tomorrow" and no call from Distribution Kim.
So yeah... it's been a day.
The post-race was not quite as much fun.
First: As I was recovering with my family, my father in law took Riley to use the port-o-lets. Riley emerged, but didn't immediately seen 'Papa'. Papa didn't see Riley. So Riley went to the end of port-o-lets and waited. This induced a slightly paniced call from Papa to us asking if Riley had come back. Suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore. The idea of my son lost in a see of 20,000 spectators and runners got my adrenaline flowing quite nicely. I ran to the port-o-lets. We found Riley quickly. He was only about 20 yards from Papa, but there was no way either of them could see each other. Phew.
Second: We returned home to prep for the party and take a shower (ok, a nap). Jessie emerged from the basement and said there was a bit of water near the computer. Uh-oh. Amy went down to investigate. I heard her reaction and knew we had a problem. Mother nature won. The water table on our street had finally reached our basement. Others had been dealing with this for a couple of weeks, but we had managed to escape it. Not anymore. There is a small 1 sq ft hole in our basement floor where the drain leaves for the street. All homes have this. Well, now the water is coming up through that hole and into our basement! Not very fast... maybe a gallon every 5-10 minutes. This not a fast rate. It couldn't sustain a household. But it turns out that 1 gallon every 10 minutes is more than enough to be a huge pain in the ass.
So... instead of recovering today and strategizing our Kitchen demo (which was to take place tomorrow), Amy and I have been battling water and cleaning our basement ALL DAY. We've been at this since waking up this morning. Apparently cleaning a basement and going up and down stairs all day is good recovery for a marathon - who knew?
Luckily we have a shop vac with a pump attachment. We've cleared most of the standing water. We're pumping out the hole every 5-10 minutes to make sure that it does not overflow into the basement again. I'm taking the 11:30pm to 3 am shift. Amy will take the 3-7 shift. I'll get back up and take over so that she can get kiddos to school. I was taking this week off anyway to work on our kitchen, but that will have to wait.
Which brings me to....
Third: Our cabinets were scheduled for delivery tomorrow. This morning we got a call from the distribution center stating that our cabinets were ready for pickup. Pickup? No, no. D.E.L.I.V.E.R.Y. No, they assured Amy that Ikea wanted us to pick up our cabinets, preferably soon. I called Ikea man and he said that I had never paid for delivery. No, no. P.A.I.D for D.E.L.I.V.E.R.Y. No, Ikea man assured me that I had not paid and that the cabinets were ready for pickup. I explained to Ikea man that there are 2 receipts for my order - one for the cabinets and one for delivery (which is how Ikea made me do it Mass.). I gave Ikea man the receipt number.
Ikean Man: "Hmmm". (long pause).
IM: "Well." (pause). "I'm not sure what happened."
Jim: Me either since I called you Thursday and confirmed my delivery.
IM: "Let me give you a case number.... blaj, blah, %$^%, blah"
Jim: OK, got it. But you CAN SEE that I paid for delivery, right?
(pause)
Jim: You can see the payment, I gave you the receipt number. You can see the payment?
IM: "Um... yes."
IM: "We'll give you a call back in a couple of hours after we investigate".
Ikea man did not call back. At 4:30 I phoned Ikea woman. Ikea woman started the conversation by assuring me that I had not paid for devliery. (*insert deep breath and expletives*) I ASSURED Ikea woman that I had already been through this and that is why I was assigned a case number.
(pause)
Ikea woman: Let me verify that.
(pause)
IW: Let me call the distribution center.
(on hold)
IW: OK, you're all set. Distribution Kim will be calling you today to arrange delivery. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Jim: Wait. So you can see that I paid for delivery AND the distribution center has been notified of this AND they will deliver my cabinets?
IW: Yes.
Jim: When?
IW: Distribution Kim will call you.
Jim: When will Distribution Kim call me?
IW: Today.
As of this moment, it is no longer "today", but is "tomorrow" and no call from Distribution Kim.
So yeah... it's been a day.