Flood-proof yourself

Several years ago, some of my relatives were away from home when a washing machine hose burst. It flooded their house, doing such damage that they had to move out for a year while the walls and floors were replaced. They recommended that everyone get hoses that shut themselves off in such an event. I didn't worry about it in my last home (due to the unfinished basement that flooded anyway on occasion, so we had everything on pallets), but here we have a finished, carpeted basement, where all three computers are on the floor. The sump pump at the other end of the house is not enough protection, IMO, so I finally found some FloodSafe hoses ($28 a pair) at Home Depot (after failing at Lowe's (!?) and Colonial Plumbing). (Don't settle for a flood alarm; it won't help if nobody's home. And don't assume that your snazzy new hoses will last. A bit of web searching indicates that most washing machine hoses are of shoddy manufacture, even the shiny ones with wire mesh.)

Just thought I'd pass on the advice, while it's on my mind. Flood prevention is better (and cheaper) than flood insurance. I'm going to see if I can replace the dishwasher hose next.

In other news, my ethernet jack is suddenly playing dead about half the time, in a way that seems highly (but not perfectly) correlated with which USB port connects to the printer (which is powered off). Huh? (I presume the "U" in "USB" was meant as a joke, or at least is taken as one by manufacturers.)

Gratuitous links: 4-year-old calls 911 for math help. (Thanks, aedeya!)
Whoa! Watch this drummer. (I'd swear those moves he starts at 2:59 and 4:32 are Filipino double stick fighting techniques.) (Thanks, Tom!)