I went out to my dad’s house to continue helping him fix the plumbing and move some gas lines around. We were relocating a gas line because my mother wanted an electric stove. While we were working when his tenant from the upstairs apartment came down to tell us about a water main break in Downtown Pittsburgh. Since this is not uncommon, I did not think too much about it. I avoided going home through Downtown because I heard the traffic was bad. When I got home I flicked on the TV. and saw how much water was in the streets of Downtown. Turns out a 36 inch pipe burst right in the street behind where I work. The water was going everywhere. But mostly it was going down into the garages and mechanical rooms under the building complex where I work. The water stood at 17 feet from the bottom of the condensate pit by the time they got were able to shut the water off. All the mechanical rooms and fan rooms were flooded All the electric and phone lines were knocked out .I got a message on my answering machine via cell-phone to come into work. When I got into work my worst fears had occurred. I could have brought my canoe into the mechanical plant and scuba dived in there. Water was everywhere. For the next 10 days we were working double shifts pumping, flushing and cleaning water from everywhere. The water authority brought in massive pumps and later the fire department did some pumping too. While this was going on, emergency generators were brought in for lights and to run the elevators. It would take over a week to replace all the main electric switch gear and electrical circuits to run the air conditioning. Water and electricity do not mix too well. Since we were working back to back shifts and all our personal things in our lockers were ruined we were eating out a lot .I can only eat so much fast food before it starts to get to me. So I kept a container of my grains in a duffel bag and had a bunch of cans of sardines. Along with some fruit I kept a fairly balanced food intake during all the chaos. Sleep was a different matter. I think we were running around so much and burning up more calories than we were taking in. I would come home and be a little wired and take a while to drop off. I would get out of bed and down load a couple of bananas to bring my blood sugar up so that I could nod off. The first few days when the water was still being pumped out I was almost constantly wet. My personal boots had been ruined in the flood and the one’s I used had a small leak in them. This can be a very aggravating situation. I am used to being soggy when I scuba dive inside the wet suit, but the lake water and sea water is always fresh. This water had oil and sewage in it. I found another pair of boots that were leak proof but they were a little small. My size 12 feet were hard to cover. The highest building did not get elevators on for a good while and we had to run up the dark stairwells to take care of different plumbing and mechanical necessities. Then while we were handling our trials and tribulations with water, hurricane Katrina would hit New Orleans and would humble our efforts when we heard about the devastation down there. What could we do but just keep on working? For the most part nobody had been hurt or killed from the 20 million gallons of water that had supposedly leaked from the broken line. That 20 million gallons turned out to be about an 8 inch drop in the big reservoir on the east end of Pittsburgh. The reservoir is pretty big. It looks like the manmade lake that it is. I do not want to be totally negative about the way I was eating. On one of our treks to Wendy’s one guy ordered a salad and I have to admit that it did not look bad. It had the standard lettuce and tomatoes. And it also had a pile of mandarin oranges and slices of almonds. All the fast food places are changing with the times. I still have a weakness for the good ol’ burger and fries. One day when the boss was buying, we changed our pace a little bit and went to an old eatery in Market Square called the Oyster House. A bunch of us went up there for lunch. I took the tradition of what my dad always ate here. I ordered two oysters and a large buttermilk and a side of coleslaw. The combination worked pretty good. The buttermilk tasted real good with breaded oysters. They have at this place a killer fish sandwich that I have eaten many times but I was glad to pass on that selection today. I have to admit that my dad knows a good thing. There was in an article in the newspaper that said that the total cost of the flood in the buildings was going to run around 10 million dollars. When you add up all the equipment that needs to be replaced and all the walls the were ripped out you can easily believe that figure. This does seem like a pittance compared to what Katrina has left in her path. I am just glad that I have already visited New Orleans because I feel that I supported them before the storm hit. And now when I go back I can see how the reconstruction goes. I got a little taste of how destructive water can be. The aftermath of Katrina reaffirms what I already know. And that is, we should all be living a little bit like if the worst did happen to any of us, we should be ready. And keeping a 50 pound bag of oatmeal and a couple cases of bottled water around is not a bad idea. Even if we have to be evacuated from our homes you could grab the oatmeal and water. And keep a few flashlights and batteries. The times they are a changin’. A tornado hit here in Pittsburgh a few years ago. Murphy’s law tells us if something can go wrong it will. The grains have been a lifestyle thing with me for some time. I know one thing for certain. I could live almost indefinitely and share food with others, if I grab my container of grains and some water. I am not saying its going to be great cuisine but in times of trouble nobody is going to give a shit. People are going to want to stop that hunger in their bellies. Its never too soon to start thinking along these lines. Food is just a matter of habit and survival food would become very habit forming. Its always nice to have a backup plan.