Back from Wisconsin

Got in late last night (Thanks for the ride, Brother One, even though our flight was delayed, thus making you late for a party!)

and everything was fine. There's nothing as good as sleeping in your own bed. Ahhhhh.

Woke up this morning (okay, noon) to the lovely sound of rain and the not so lovely sound of water dripping on the carpet.

This is what I saw

A bulge about 12 inches in diameter, dripping water. You can even see the drop of water, with its shadow on the wall.

It was located next to an area that was punctured by a shard of a tree branch years ago. We had a dying pine tree in the front yard taken down and in the process, a part of a branch at least 12 inches long and 4 inches thick punctured through the roof and then through the ceiling of the front room. The tree company repaired it but clearly not well enough.

The part that gets me about this now, is that a few weeks ago, I got an estimate from a roofing company to stick down some shingles that got loose. Did I go ahead an invest the $250 to fix it then? Noooooo. We're in a drought situation! What are the chances of it raining ever again?

Now I have this mess on my ceiling and a wet and stinky rug, releasing the smell of dog pee, courtesy of the dog of the the previous owner of the rug.

I called back the roofing company, but no one answered. Sunday afternoon, between Xmas and New Year Day? Why would anyone answer the phone? I called another roofing company that said they do emergency calls. The guy said he'd call his employees to see who was available to come out. But in the mean time I should puncture the bulge (placing a bucket below first, of course) and let the water out, before it gets any bigger. A size 6 US straight knitting needle does just fine. And now the ceiling looks like this:

Attractive, is it not? The rectangle to the left is a repair to the hole from the first roof incident.

Well, tomorrow, I'll call back the first roofing company and have them come out and fix the roof. It's not supposed to rain for the next 5 days. And the emergency roofing company never did call me back.

I guess drywall spackling and painting is in my future.