I got the call at 3:00 A.M. this past Sunday morning. I was asleep, but managed to find the phone in all the darkness. "Hello", I answer. It was my mother on the other end of the line. She asked with a slight hesitation, "Do you have anything of value in my basement?"
It turns out my parents had at least 5 feet of water in their home.
Of course, this wasn't good. But, thankfully, everyone was safe. My immediate fears calmed, my mind soon drifted toward something other than the rebuilding process that would need to follow. You see, I had recently moved almost my entire music collection---500 albums, perhaps more---into their basement. (The house I currently live in was sold and I needed a place to store some stuff until I figured out my next move.) And so it was that I waited the few hours until dawn before making the trek over to their house, hoping and praying that I might be able to salvage something.
Given the horrendous smell and the fact the water was probably contaminated by sewage, it's understandable that someone might ask if it would really be worth the trouble. But to an audiophile, such as myself, those CD, SACD, and DVD-Audio albums can be treasured almost as much as family photos. (Well... Let's be honest. It's more.) I can recall exactly where and when it was that I purchased many of those discs. Many of those moments have a special spot in my heart, be it a seemingly mundane purchase of a Cheap Trick album from Kmart with friends who are now long since gone, or something more extraordinary, such as the times I found rare and collectible music in pawn shops. And don't forget about the music! Not only are these some good tunes, but a single song has the power to bring back an entire flood of memories. Music is important stuff!
So as soon as the water was pumped out, I began sifting and sorting. The artwork, liner notes, and cases were all destroyed. As such, the biggest, longest, and toughest task was simply opening up each case and taking the disc out. You wouldn't believe how difficult it can be to rip through one of those paper digipak cases when it's sopping wet! Nonetheless, I found myself on my knees, for the better part of 10 hours, sanitizing the discs in some diluted bleach and then rinsing them off with clean water. Muscles that I never used before began to ache. My big toe became numb. And the combined scents of bleach and sewage made me want to puke.
Ultimately, I was able to save most of the physical discs. It won't be quite the same without the artwork and cases, but it is much better than the alternative of having saved nothing at all. It would've been financially difficult to replace the collection. Moreover, it's hard to say whether replacements could even have been found for some of the more collectible titles.
So, given the circumstances, I'm happy. It's just that next time the phone rings in the middle of the night, I might have to ignore it. ;-)
---Kazaam
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