Last Thursday evening, we brought our two Labrador Retrievers to the vet because they were both having ear problems. She prescribed a medicine and gave us a little warning that sometimes the medicine make some dogs pee a little more than usual.
When I got home from work on Friday my daughter told me that when she got home from school, there was a pee puddle on the kitchen floor 4 feet wide x 6' long, which she dutifully cleaned up. No big deal - the floor is vinyl and it just took a little work to clean up.
On Saturday morning, my neighbor called and asked if I could help him with a small woodworking project. He brought his item over; we worked on it and had it pretty much done except for cutting a few filler strips on my new table saw in my basement shop.
This was table saw is my current pride and joy,. I upgraded to the big Ridgid tablesaw from a small Makita benchtop model. This was after carefully figuring what I needed and what I could afford and seeing very good reviews for this saw. I saved for it by putting my leftover pocket money in a tin at the end of every week. Three times I almost had enough money to buy it but something came up in the family that needed the money more than me getting the saw (graduation presents, etc.). Finally, after more than two years, I was able to actually make the purchase a few months ago. To me, it's a beautiful saw; smooth as silk, very precise and one of my favorite tools. I really enjoy using it.
So you can probably imagine the shock I felt as my neighbor and I approached the saw in my basement shop and saw that the entire top was covered with thick, crusty, bright orange rust. I couldn't imagine where any water might have come from. There was a pipe above it, but that was bone dry. There were no other possible source or signs of any leaks. I got out my laser plumb bob and put it at what appeared to be the center of where the rust started and it pointed up exactly to a speaker wire, coming through a tiny hole in the floor - right under the wall that the dogs gigantic pee puddle was up against. The ligh bulb went on as it all came together. Th pee went under the baseboard, under the sole plate and found the tiny speaker wire hole, right over my saw. There is absolutely no one to blame except bad luck.
I scraped the crust off, steel wooled it, wiped it down with penetrating oil , leaving a heavy coat to soak. Most of the rust is gone but it is stained all to hell and has some minor pitting. It's like getting a brand new car keyed in a parking lot - a real kick in the gut.