The Pipe Bit: Flood

   By Chris Rentner 

     ”It’s trashed,”  my cohort told me through my cell.

     She called yesterday to inform me that the office of Uhle’s had–again–flooded.  On Saturday, some water was noticed trickling into the downstairs office; and soon there was, well, a lot more water.  By the time the situation was under control, all the computers were removed (undamaged) and critical materials were consolidated into a neighboring office…which is about half the size of the drowned office.  Almost an entire weekend–Saturday and Sunday, if you please–of labor went into saving what could be saved, so the flood could be dealt with again today.  And today, the carpet in the dampened office was torn up, down to the bare cement floor.  Uhle’s was able to continue due to the work of Jeff, Trish, Tamara and two Davids (one our IT person, one of The Help).

     This is not the first time Uhle’s has flooded.  Just a few weeks ago, during torrential rains, the warehouse took in water due to an, uh, ill-planned construction project.  A few years ago, the office and warehouse flooded due to a busted (water) pipe.  So the experience of soggy carpet and industrial fans and the sting of bleach is not unknown here; usually things are set right in quick order, with the help of Towne’s (the owners of the Empire building, in which Uhle’s is located) maintenence crews.

     The current problem stems from a PVC pipe in the back room; in fact, as of now, the water is still flowing (“like a garden hose,” as another of my cohorts put it).  I’ve been told that a camera-hose will have to snake in to locate where the water’s source may be.  But the source of it will be found, again, as it always has been; and the damage has been contained, due to many grueling hours put in by the people here.  Humble as this forum is, I want to recognize the effort put in by Jeff, Trish, Tamara and the two Davids at Uhle’s; the pros of Towne’s maintenence, like Mike; and the two gentlemen who tore out the carpet this morning.  Seems the work never ends; thanks to the above people, and more, the work at Uhle’s will continue.  This Pipe Bit’s for them; I can write about it, but they did the work.

Dottle:  Due to the flood, I almost had to post this from home on my snazzy modded Vectrex, what up Jealous…The Pipeman Calabashi app, for selecting pipe tobacco blends on the go, is almost ready for download, so all you iPhone owners, just wait a bit longer.