Parking lot follies

 So, back before spring break, I posted a photo of our flooded parking lot. (We've had a LOT of rain recently). I also sent it to our Physical Plant, in case they didn't know about it (I guess they did not)

Well, last Monday, I was in the middle of ecology lecture and I heard "BANG.......BANG.....BANG...." outside; it sounded like metal on metal. I excused myself to step out and look.

Yes, there was a guy there, in a front-end-loader sort of thing, just.....hitting the grate of the storm sewer with the bucket. I guess he was trying to dislodge it but that didn't work.

Then there were like five guys all bunched up, looking at it.

In fact, the whole thing has reminded me of this:

 

 

Eventually I guess someone got a chain, because when I left class, the guy in the front-end loader had the chain hooked to the grate and was trying to pull it up using the bucket. I don't know that he got very far.

Then, during Soils lab, I looked out - they finally pulled the grate up, and had like a very large version of a plumber's snake they were feeding down there. They'd run it a bit, pull it up, pull a wad of leaves out of it, run it back down....then they left (after, fortunately, putting the grate back)

Then, Thursday they had the parking lot blocked off partly. THEN during my systematic botany lecture they started to cut down the willow that over hung the parking lot (I quipped to the class "they got mad at it because they thought it was dropping leaves down the drain" but also a colleague opined that nearly 20 years of sweetgum balls falling down that drain probably was what did it - so I expect the sweetgum trees to go next, which is kind of sad). 

Today they came back and ripped the stump of the willow out (Maybe they thought it was roots?) and were making with the snake again. I haven't looked since class let out at 9:30 but it's also entirely possible the drainage pipe is collapsed there somewhere underground. 

This would be more comic (well, it still is kind of comic; I gave a running commentary on what they were doing from time to time during class, because I could see and the students had their backs to it) if they weren't doing it while we were trying to teach our classes. 

I'm hoping this doesn't end with them having to rip up part of the building but they DID tear out some of the parking lot so I don't know. It's just.....it's always something here.