Neptune, We Have a Problem

Yesterday was windy and cloudy here in the desert. CoolGuy had been out in the garage and working in the yard and when he came back in the house to the bedroom for something, he thought to himself, "Hmmm...it smells like rain." But--it didn't smell like rain outdoors, just in the bedroom. Along the perimeter of the waterbed. Oooh, and the carpet was wet...ack!

We've had a waterbed since we got married. Actually, the same waterbed--for 36 years. I mean, the same wooden frame at least. We've had a series of mattresses because eventually they wear out. There have been excellent improvements in mattress/plastic technology in those three decades, but nevertheless, all of them will fail. (P.S. I LOVE my waterbed--I hope to never have to change to a regular mattress--ever.)

There sat our mattress, leaking water for a long enough period of time that it had overflowed the liner and was seeping onto the carpet through the spaces between the square frame and the support underboards. Blah...The mattress pad, the sheets, and the cordurory coverlet were all soaked around the edges. Kitty Cat was serenely napping in the very center of the bed, high and dry.

So when I got home from work, there was a hose running out the window into the bottom of the empty spa (downhill for the siphon to work correctly) and the mattress was practically empty. The covers were all piled up on the patio and Kitty Cat was supervising everything. This particular mattress was purchased at least 7 years ago in Maryland and was a "waveless" kind. It was especially comfy in that there was never any sustained sloshing, as a result. However, the fibers that are inside the mattress creating the waveless effect make it rather difficult to empty entirely. CoolGuy got it all rolled up and as dry as he could, but it was still extremely heavy.

We rolled our new garden cart down the hall, got ourselves positioned just so, and heaved it out of the frame and into the cart. Whew. That would have been very difficult to carry all the way down the hall outside. Especially since my aching hands have rendered me mostly useless for sturdy lifting tasks.

But, at last, we had all the soggy stuff in the washer, or hanging over a fence, or stuffed into the garden cart for eventual trashing, and it was definitely time for bed. We soaked in the newly refilled and cleaned hot tub, and wandered in to spend the night in our guest room beds. We were speculating what the Kitty Cat would do with this huge disruption of her routine. (She LOVES to cuddle up on someone on top of the cordurory comforter and knead her little paws until she drools.)

No problem: she was already sprawled out on the guest bed, elegantly ensconced on the fleece throw. The Queen of Comfort wasn't going to let a little mattress failure stand in her way. Silly humans.