Water was pouring out the cracks in the wall of my room. I live in the basement and I am responsible for its upkeep. It was flooding and I was incredibly stressed out, using the shop vac to suck up the water. I had a good system going with the water being diverted to the sump pump but what if it got worse? Well, obviously it would get worse if you don't take care of it, that's what happens when you don't take care of things. It was absolutely pouring, I put on my snow pants and a jacket, and I went outside to investigate. It was cold and I was excited despite wishing that the problem could fix itself. I felt almost cool, like I knew that it was all up to me to solve this problem, but I told myself it's just the night's work. It was pitch black outside so I put on a headlamp. I looked outside: the gutter was blocked and pouring a waterfall right over the spot where the walls were leaking. I felt fucking stupid I knew that I was supposed to be cleaning the goddamn gutters and I never did. Now it's biting me in the ass. And the gutters need cleaning more than ever. I grabbed a ladder from the garage and brought it outside. I could barely see and it was freezing, but I got up top and with my bare hands scooped mud and crud out of the gutter, along the entire house until it all ran clean. I wondered if I would get a cold, but had faith in my immune system to keep me afloat. as my hands got colder, I felt like it was a sunk cost thing, like I had to keep going til I could go no more. With the gutters clean, the water stopped leaking and I felt a short lived pride.