9 ways to make vacuuming a flooding basement more entertaining

Chicago was hit with record rainfall this past weekend. My family and I did a bunch of vacuuming to hold back the floodwaters in the basement. It can get pretty monotonous, so here's a couple things that I did to keep it more entertaining:

1. Count the seconds it takes to fill up the tank with water.
The fastest times I got were around 30-40 seconds.

2. Pretend the water is a bunch of aliens.
It's funny to think of all the aliens you are sucking up into a vacuum.

3. Ask yourself if the water is a bunch of aliens, do they like being sucked up?
I like to think the aliens are running in droves to get into the party vac. "Look guys! Its a party vac! Weeeee! Let's go!"

4. Make jokes about how this vacuum really sucks
My brother brought an wet/dry vac that has incredible suction power. My dad kept saying, "Wow, this thing really sucks!"

5. Perfect your squats
Every time you empty the wet/dry vac into the sink, try to perfect your squatting technique. I never do them at the gym, so I was kinda clueless. I know they say "lift with your legs and not your back. I found it helpful to look at the ceiling as I lift--that kept my back more straight. And you should feel it in your abs and not your back muscles. I just looked up how much 12 gallons weigh and it's 100 pounds. I'm glad I didn't throw out my back.

6. Keep track of the time
Point 1 was about counting the seconds in your head. This point is about writing it down. I wrote down records of the time when we started, when it started to really rain harder and when it stopped raining. That helps make you feel like you have a little more control (at least it did for me).

7. Watch the weather reports
We found that weather.com had the best forecast for the rain. Check out the hour-by-hour section for the percent chance of rain. They update it all the time. This point also helps you to feel a little more control. While you can't control the weather, it does give you some handle of the situation when you kinda know what lies ahead.

8. Stare endlessly at the water
Zone out by just looking at the reflections in the water, and think of nothing else. It's kinda like meditating. But better than meditation is the next one...

9. Pray
For anything. For the rain to stop. For your friends. For family. For those who are in worse conditions than you. Anything. Just pray.