WHAT DO MY MINIVAN AND IVORY SOAP HAVE IN COMMON? Answer: They both float.

There was a thunderstorm last night as I left work to go home, which generally should not be a problem. There usually are some street floods, but with a minivan--that really should not be a problem.

Unless you're not paying attention to how high the water level actually is.

It turned out that on the street I was on there was one or possibly 2 broken pipes and the water level was higher than I thought.

How high?

In the middle of the flooded area, my minivan stalled--and then the fun started.

• The water started to seep into the van from under the door.
• Then it started coming in through the speakers in the side of the door (a nice touch).
• Two trucks passed by me, and created a wake large enough to rock my minivan.
• I called 911 and while waiting for help I saw 3 guys--with the water up to their knees--floating a woman in her car past me to dry land.

(I had forgotten 8th grade science that water that enters an enclosed area can only rise to the area of the surrounding water. I temporarily had visions of sitting on top of a building with a fishing rod, trying to find my car in the raging stream below.)

The three came back for me, and when I automatically tried to put the car into reverse, the car started.

After that, it only took another 3 hours (and 2 more flooded areas) to make the 30 minute trip home.

Well, at least I got a post out of it...