well this was fun...some unnamed person here (cause I forgot who posted it), suggested draining the water heater. last time I did that, I ended up mopping up 1/2 of the basement floor. this time, I figured I would run the drain hose thru a divided bucket and put a piece of cement on top that came out of a washing machine. nice and heavy, not going anywhere. I slowly opened the valve and kept checking to see that the water was draining into the sump pit. little bit more each time and kept checking. quite laughing, I'm not done telling my story yet. figured I may as well give it full throttle cause it's been fine so far. well, it only took half a dozen steps to see that the hose removed itself from it's nestling spot, managed to move about four feet back from where it was, lodged itself between the wash tub and washing machine...straight up! I grabbed it, aimed it back towards the pit and hollered for my wife. I waited...and waited (good thing it wasn't an emergency). I placed the cement block on the hose and watched. it slowly inched up but I had time to dash and give the shut-off a half turn to stop the gushing water, well, the hot water heater is flushed, the basement wall is washed, the floor under the kitchen is washed...I hope you weren't drinking anything and reading this. after mopping again, the fan and dehumidifier are on. third times the charm! I'm going to put a nozzle with shut-off on the end off the hose for next years draining.