Karmic Restitution

Why do I deserve an HP digital camera and photo printer for my digital photography needs? Karmic restitution, that’s why. My camera (not nearly as nice as the HP offered) and printer, along with my PC, were in the basement office. In December of 2005, we arose NOT to a special delivery by Santa Claus, but the funk of my surrounding neighbors’ sewage which had spewed forth into my basement. The raw sewage rose about 3 or 4 inches, hung around for a couple of hours, then drained away. We had tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage, not only structurally but we stored everything in the basement. Anything touching the ground was ruined. The only things salvaged were those items stacked on other items or items on tables. Our insurance capped out before we even got done with the clean up and structural repairs. We estimate our losses at around $14,000. We had the sewage company looking into it and they could not find any reason for the backup. It didn’t come from us and they couldn’t find a blockage.
So, several months later, mid April of 2006, my wife and I came home to a very familiar funk. This time, it was worse. Much worse. The actual sewage had already subsided by the time we got home from work, but the damage was done. Over 11 inches of raw sewage flooded my basement. I won’t go into too much detail, but the “leftovers” from the flooding were not easy to deal with. Not something you want to come home to. The flooding was so bad and came in with such force that it looked like someone had ransacked our basement and then flung the funk everywhere. Things had floated around; other things had knocked over from the force of the liquid waste. It was horrible. So bad that we had to spend a week at a hotel with my two young children while the house was cleaned.
This time though, we had some help. The sewage company found pebbles and rubble in the sewage line way up the street where some construction was going on. They had knocked some rubble into the pipe and normal flow rolled this rubble down the pipe until they lodged somewhere near the end, near us. Then it backed up into our house, building in pressure, until it knocked itself loose and then drained away.
The construction company was found liable and the damages were paid for from this occurrence, but since this wasn’t found in the first instance, they weren’t held accountable for that. So, while we did get “some” restitution for the damages, we were still out the $14,000 plus what the insurance company deducted for depreciation. So again, why do I deserve a camera and printer? I say, Karmic Restitution.
This post is sponsored by HP.