Up late with Australian Literary Review last night, luckily. Boy did it rain! Around 12:30 a.m. I noticed a strange sound emanating from the balcony off my living room: the sound of water splashing onto water.

Sensing somehow exactly what the problem was, I got a kitchen knife out of the drawer and fetched my umbrella from my bag. After slipping on my shoes, I unlocked the balcony door, opened it, and released my umbrella against the downpour. A quick glance up at the eaves told me what I needed to know: the guttering is breached. The hole was letting a thick stream flow onto the balcony floor, which was submerged under two inches of water.

After fumbling around I located the drain-hole. Using the knife to clear away the accumulated leaves and debris, I freed the small lake, which promptly gushed down the drain-pipe onto the driveway that passes down the side of the building.

Had I gone to bed early, prior to the rain starting, my living room would have been a mess. My carpet would be ruined and possibly many books damaged.

Thank god for the Australian Literary Review. I made it about half-way through and will post later today about what I found.