Hurricane Diary 5 - My first one-one-one dance with Sandy

So as I wrote previously, the old window sill in the dining room was taking on water and had nowhere to put it. As a result, the water was pooling and then leaking through the moulding and dripping down the drywall in rivulets and through the base board to who knows where? And to who knows what end?

At first we tried putting a towel there. This was a great albeit temporary sandbagging treatment. However, it had the disadvantage on a day when the low will dip to 42 degrees Fahrenheit or so of making it impossible to close the window tightly. As a result, the dining room was getting colder by the minute.
Down in the dusty basement, there were several storm windows. I brought up several sizes and having ascertained which one was correct, tried putting it in. Something is wrong with the track into which it fits, so it wouldn't go down. No matter what I tried, that storm window just wouldn't go down.

Finally, I remembered my drill out in the newly opened garage (thanks Mr. Long Blong Haired Locksmith Guy). I got it out, got out a brand new drill bit that could cut through aluminum, and began drilling holes at the bottom of the sill.

Water began draining down, the window was closed, the room began to warm, and I was soaked because the only way to access the proper angle to do what I did was to attack the problem from outside the house. 'Would I get electrocuted?' I wondered more than once. I didn't think I had much freedom to worry about that at the moment, since when the rain began deluging the house, we could have a much bigger problem than rivulets. At the least, I hoped I was preventing future mold spores from growing in a house that was already more than musty in several places when we moved in.

For a while, I was worried: Would the drill bit go through? I was pressing on it and nothing but a lot of noise was happening. Finally, I realized less is more. I just gave it steady -- not hard -- pressure and ... voila ... the bit went through, the holes appeared, and the water drained. I was a hero to my wife. Yay!

Anyway, so far so good. Who knows what's next? I don't know. I don't care. All I know is I'm warm and dry, out of wet clothes. It's the simple things, the common sense things that not only get us through times of adversity but through life in general, things like warmth and dryness. I have that. What else do I need in the moment? Deo gratias.