Sump pump don't fail me now!

In Chicagoland, we are not strangers to weird, extreme weather. Just come here in February and you'll get a taste of it. But it's been raining now for at least 36 hours. Can someone tell me if Noah is building an ark again along the shores of Lake Michigan? I'd really appreciate it. Because at this point, an ark is beginning to look like an attractive form of transportation.

Some areas here have already seen upwards of five inches of rain and it's not stopping as we are supposed to get the leftovers of Ike. Wonderful. As a result, I am in sitting a vigil over our twenty year old sump pump. Please, please, please don't fail me now, Sump Pump! Here's what our pump looks like:

This innocent gross hole (kind of looks like a port-a-jon, doesn't it?) in my basement floor is all that stands between us and all kinds of water filling our basement. I just need it to get us through this season before I replace it. Unfortunately, it's not a cheap activity, replacing or upgrading the pump. So I'll resort to vigilant oversight and prayerful begging that it makes it!

Speaking of prayerful begging, methinks UCLA's football team's prayers went completely unanswered today as they fell HARD to BYU, 59 - 0. It was pathetic. I mean even Neuheisel came out at halftime and had basically thrown in the towel - they were already down 42 at that point. It wasn't even a spanking. It was awesome to be texting our Lady of BYU during the game - her best color commentary: "Dad, this is the greatest school ever!" I have to agree.