Okay, here's the scoop: we had an adventure over the holidays and still don't have a song or a shanty (sp?) to sing about it.

We were just finishing up eating Christmas dinner, and the 19yo went downstairs to play video games. He came running back upstairs and said there was a waterfall in the 15yo's bedroom.

Sure enough, my dad and I went downstairs and there was water falling from the door frame from her room. We looked upstairs, and the only thing directly above the doorframe is a radiator. So we turned off the supply at the boiler for that radiator, and the water slowly trickled to a stop.

We went back upstairs and started to do the dishes. My mom and my wife were rinsing dishes prior to putting them into the dishwasher. Suddenly the 19yo comes running back upstairs again and says, "Now it's a regular flood!"

We go back downstairs and indeed it's pouring in there. It has also started leaking from the light fixture.

My dad says we have to shut the furnace down and I note that it's not even on. We look at each other and scratch our heads (our own, not each others').

Then we realize what had changed -- the dishwashing! We run upstairs and ask the ladies to stop rinsing dishes. They do, and the water slows to a trickle.

I get everything red I can find and pour it down the sink. Red food color, beet juice -- everything. Sure enough, in about an hour the light fixture starts dripping red-tinted water.

The next day we call the insurance company and they say go ahead and call a plumber -- I'll pay for the plumber, and the insurance company will pay to put the walls back together. The plumber comes out later that afternoon, cuts a hole in the ceiling of the downstairs bedroom, and finds the kitchen drain pipe right where he cuts the hole (how do those guys do that?!) and indeed it has rusted through in several spots. He fixes the pipes and leaves the holes he cut in the ceiling and wall to be fixed by the contractor dude the insurance company sends out. Cost so far: $550.

The insurance guy and the contractor guy come the next day. The insurance guy says he'll send us a check for the electricity and water we used to wash the towels we used to mop up the mess (!) and for a couple of books that were ruined. The contractor says he can start work "next week" (that's this week now).

So surely our award-winning songwriters can turn this merry adventure into a rollicking tune that we can sing for our grandchildren, should we ever have grandchildren?

Coveted BMD's (bronze mouse droppings) as always for all participants. Golden Mouse Wheels with Alcoholic Crests (of varying worth) to be handed out when the entries trickle to a stop (so to speak).

Alex