The Flood

Brian came over yesterday and he and Bobby went to bed at about midnight, then woke up at 4am and headed to the job site, so while I was barbecuing with my family, they were working. Just before 8pm Bobby calls, "Babe! I need you to get the shop vac and bring it to the job site now!"
"OK, what happened?"
"A flood, babe, just get down here."

I get our wussy-ass shop vac, put it in the Accord, and start out. About 5 minutes down the road, he calls back.
"I'm sorry I was short. Did you happen to bring the floodlights?"
Did you ask me to bring floodlights, I think to myself. "No"
"OK, I found a shop vac here that we are using, but I need you to turn around and get the floodlights and bring both down here."

So I turn around. When I finally get there, I walk over to the stairs and see a paper that reads "Century Transport, 2nd Flood" It was a typo, supposed to read "2nd Floor" Appropriate typo though.

Then Brian walks up. He is covered in black I-don't-know-what. (A little trivia for y'all: the water that comes out of fire sprinklers when they go off is not the nice clean water you see come out in the movies. It is greasy and black and disgusting, and will ruin your clothes or whatever they happen to spray on.) Bobby said that Brian looked better than right after it happened. Then he'd looked like he'd just struck oil. A sprinkler had broken and started dumping huge amounts of water that then leaked down to the first floor onto the first job. Bobby was so stressed out - worried that he was going to have to pay for damage. They tried cleaning the walls, but it just rubbed the texture off so they stopped.

So Bobby asks me to go to Home Depot and pick up a bunch of janitorial supplies and a good shop vac. $450 and over an hour later, I return. Just before I left to pick up dinner (they were clearly going to be there awhile cleaning up), they turned the system back on. Bobby called Brian, who was in the other room) to asked what he wanted to eat, and Brian answered with, "The firetrucks are here." Turning on the system had triggered a silent alarm, but when Brian walked up to the truck covered in blackness and said, "We had a sprinkler bust," they just nodded and drove off.

After I ate with them I went back home while they stayed to clean up. They didn't make it home until about 3:30 in the morning. Luckily Gma's bathroom is attached to the garage, so when they did get home they didn't even have to walk through the house to get to the shower. But then Brian plugged his phone in inside the truck, and closed the door that self locks - locking his phone and the keys in the truck that is not running but is on to charge the phone.

Right about then Bobby finds out that Brian and his wife had plans to see a movie that night - didn't expect to be out working that late. Bobby felt really bad, didn't know he'd been spoiling any plans. But having Brian there was really helpful.