A literally wet Thursday indoor and outdoor

I was woken from my sleep by my ringing cell. I checked my clock and the time was 2.48am. The call was from BJ, our lab manager. I was thinking it was strange for her to call me at such an odd hour.

I was shocked when I heard the bad news. "The laboratory is flooded and your new laptop is drenched," said she. She was informed by the night guard who noticed water flooding the ground level. My lab was located on the third level. You could imagine the amount of water flowing. Thinking that my experiment might be affected, she thus called me so that I would not be shocked when I reached the lab in the morning.

After our conversation, I could not get back to sleep as my mind was racing through the different possibilities of savaging the damages. I tried to get some sleep as I had been deprived of deep sleep by my persistent night cough which had kept me awake till 3am for the past few nights! Frustrated after tossing around, I read a chapter of The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow before sleep caught up with me again after 4am.

Before I left for the lab, I prayed from the prayer booklet which I got from joining the prayer group at Blessed Sacrament Church. What struck me was the aptness of the prayer, The Serenity Prayer with regards to my situation.

O God and Heavenly Father,

Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; the courage to change that which can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

I reached the lab before 9am and noticed puddles on staircase landings. Workers from house cleaning were busy drying the floor. I checked my work bench and was surprised to find that it was completely dry but not Vladimir's and Greg's.

The fire sprinkler at Greg's area had burst. Greg's new laptop (USD$2500) was spoilt. The irony was he would bring it home every night but yesterday he did not bring it back since he had social engagement. Also, the sprinkler was actually leaking a few weeks ago. Maintenance was informed but no action was followed up.

There were dark water marks on the walls, cupboards, etc. The damage ran up to more than $50 thousands. Fortunately, the departmental manager said the lab was insured. I helped Delores to throw away the heavy water-soaked stuffs. Vladimir had to pull out all the drawers to drain the water since it had seeped in.

The lab was running again by afternoon.

In the evening, the sky was overcast. So I checked with weather.com for the forecast. It stated 20% chance of precipitation. When I reached the bus stop, there was already a long line waiting for the shuttle bus heading towards Homewood campus. There was no way I could get on the first shuttle that arrived. Just as the late bus arrived, it started to rain and the front passengers were quickly loading up the bus. Since I could not get on this bus, I ran back to the lab to wait till the rain ceased. However, just as I was crossing the road, I heard the bus driver informing the passengers that the bus had broken down.

Today was like Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.