Down the Drain

They've been replacing the sewer system at work this weekend... which in the long run, will be a very good thing. In the short term, though, it's a serious pain in the arse.

First of all, after shooting the Catfish game this afternoon in a 105-degree heat index, Cory and I stopped at Sonic to get a couple Route 44 Vanilla Diet Cokes. Yum! However, I would have opted for a less-than-44 ounce beverage had I realized that I wouldn't be able to use the bathroom at work. It took some serious willpower to keep from doing the peepee dance while anchoring the sports segment.

We also weren't allowed to run any water in the sinks. Not a good thing when you're coming back from three hours in the sun in this weather. Let's just say a little soap and water would have done me a world of good. Instead I had to make do with "wet ones" and baby powder. I smelled like a sweaty baby's bottom all afternoon. Good thing we don't have Smellovision.

The second sewer related stress relates to our already unsatisfactory parking situation at work. If you arrive in the middle of the day, as I do, then you're relegated to parking in what we affectionately call the "rape lot." It's an un-lit gravel parking lot around the corner from the station. I wouldn't mind parking in the "rape lot" if I arrived at work during daylight hours and left while it was still light out. Unfortunately, those people get to park in the normal parking lot, because they get to work first. I, on the other hand, tend to leave work during the prime rape hours.

Well, because they're digging up the sewer lines (which happen to run through our parking lot) our already-small parking lot has a grand total of about 15 useable spaces... ten of which are being used by news vans, live trucks, and other company cars. Several of us had to park in the "rape lot" tonight.

As I was leaving work, I went out the back door, cut behind the building next door to the station (because it's the lighted path to the rape lot), got to the lot, and CRAP!!! My car's not there! After standing in the "rape lot," dumbfounded in the dark, I remembered that I had moved my car at dinner time to grab one of the "good" parking spots in the regular parking lot.

(A side note, Cory sometimes is a nice guy and moves my car from the "rape lot" to the normal parking lot after the 9-to-5ers have gone home for the night. Usually he tells me. Sometimes he forgets. And the same thing happens. I walk to the "rape lot," clutching my keys tightly between my fingers like brass knuckles... just in case... only to discover that my car's been moved.)

So, I walked back to the regular parking lot, around the 50-foot trench dug for the sewer line, under the caution tape, back to my car... Feeling pretty stupid the whole time.

I have to admit, though, one great thing will come out of the new sewer line. It will be very nice to keep my on-air clothes in the powder room at work again. Several months ago, we had a nasty sewage backup in the bathrooms at work, and all of my blazers got... well... stinky. I moved as many as I could to the sports office, where they sat in a big, wadded-up pile on the chair next to my desk for several months.