Mystery solved

It did seem odd that the water table was so high. As I finished pumping out the basement the second time, I noticed water seeping through my foundation into the front of my garage. Went outside. Yep, there's a big puddle right next to the front of my garage. Went around to the side. Yep, all the grass next to my house is swamplike. Walked farther up the driveway. Oh.

My neighbor had told me about changing the way his sump pump water goes--that it had been going right next to his house, which was getting his foundation wet. I thought he'd redirected it farther down the driveway.

Nope; he's redirected it across the driveway so that my foundation is soaked and my basement floods spectacularly.

Fortunately, he's a good neighbor and I'm sure my note will completely solve this (asking him to get a longer plastic hose and redirect it down the driveway to the street). But since he's completely saturated all the area around that side of my foundation, my pumping career is not over.

sigh.