I often go down to the basement bedroom when I can't sleep. It's cooler and considerably quieter than upstairs, where the fridge hums a few steps from the bed, and random noises on the street. John could sleep though a major earthquake (more on that in a minute.)
Anyway, I listen to my sleep podcasts like "Get Sleepy" and "Lights Out Library" where a soothing voice tells a long boring story or reads a topic from Wiki. It usually works.
About 1 am last night, almost ready to drift off, I heard a sudden sound like 100 toilets flushing. Well, I know every little creak and groan this old house makes. I ran out of the bedroom and found water pouring down on the carpet from the recessed ceiling light fixtures.
Long story short, the plastic fitting on the upstairs toilet water supply line had suddenly burst (more like exploded) and water was gushing onto the bathroom floor and into the hall. Then right through the floor into the basement. We have good water pressure here (thank you very much.)
I woke John from a dead sleep. Could he have slept through the roaring noise until morning? What a gift.
Fortunately, he knew what to do and the toilet turn off valve worked. That's the type of thing that tends to break at the worst possible time in old houses. When the water stopped, there was much sopping up with every clean towel in the house. And little sleep.
Well, we truly dodged a bullet. As they say, never underestimate the power of water. If this had happened while we were away, it would have destroyed the entire house. The upstairs floor and downstairs ceiling might have collapsed and the basement filled up with water.
An early trip to Home Depot for a few inexpensive parts, and all is fixed now. Crisis averted, thanks to insomnia and John's skill with basic plumbing.
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