ANOTHER FLOOD OMG

Yes folks, it really happened again, in the same place, from the same source. The cause was different and also the outcome. Kathy and I were busy this AM and just before lunch we took a nice walk. When we got back I sat down in front of the TV to cool off, while Kathy went to shower. We had places to go, people to see, and things to do for the afternoon. Suddenly I heard Kathy yelling that the water in the shower had stopped flowing despite her efforts to keep it going. At the same time the washing machine seemed to be refilling for a rinse just fine. She said something about granules on the floor of the shower. I had a suspect in mind but since she needed to rinse I directed her to the guest bath. I went to check our shower. Sure enough it was plugged with something. I grabbed a wrench from the garage, then decided to redirect the water past the water softener. As I headed through the laundry room towards the water softener I was wading in water. The washing machine which had been filling just fine was still filling, and filling, and filling - right over the top and onto the floor. So I turned it off and opened the back door to let the water out. Meanwhile Kathy's second bath has terminated abruptly. So, I mopped up the water in the laundry room and finally got to the water softener to bypass it. Now what to do. I called a plumber I know. His machine says he'll call back and reminds me that after hours and weekends are double the cost (very nice). Five minutes passes and he call from Timbuktu, says he can't come. I answer his questions with what I know. He says, "your water softener is broken, the resin in the tank has invaded your pipes and is clogging up all the valves and washing machine fill sensor". He adds, "you'll have to purge all the lines, clean the sink aerators and disassemble all the valves that are plugged and won't purge. But I can't help you." So I began purging lines and cleaning out aerators in sinks; which is a whole other story. A couple of hours later I got the bright idea of turning off the water to the house to allow the resin to retreat from the valves. Then turn the water back on to see if some resin would purge. After repeating this many times, with Kathys help, I was able to purge our bathroom shower. I wasn't so lucky with the guest bath. Then there's the washing machine to deal with - tomorrow. Not so sure I can fix that one. Anyway, the resin appears to be out of the pipes and we're able to function, even if there isn't any soft water. Kathy will go to the laundromat tomorrow. Only one towel was used to dry up the laundry room. So why do these things always happen at night or on weekends?