Draining the Swamp

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 560

185.9 miles

cloudy

 

368 recordings of 27 types, 23 old CPD and 4 SVU. 23% clear.

 

Sunday Laurie called, because her car was stuck at the mall. I gave her a ride to church (she'd called just in time.) I gave the Sharing God's Bounty donation to Jim.

 

Afterwards I went to Petsmart for dog food (for some reason, Pharaoh keeps eating!) and also got a cat toy to play with Spooky. He's enjoying it.

 

In the evening, Helena called, to commiserate. Nice lady, nice to hear from her.

 

Monday the cleaners came. They were pretty late, and of course after 4 weeks, there was a lot for them to do. When they left, I heard water running. I checked all the faucets in the house, out in front, and then glanced out the window in back... uh oh! The pipe had burst! Such timing.

 

I called the plumber and nobody could come out until the next morning.

 

 

Tuesday Brian came out about 9 and had nothing but bad news. Because it's galvanized pipe, it will all need replacing, about $5K. Furthermore, he doesn't have the tools to fix it, and he was NOT willing to dig down where the leak was because he couldn't be sure he'd find the pipe. He was just a barrel of rainbows, but fortunately he didn't charge me for the visit.

 

So I googled "electronic leak detection" and found American Plumbers, practically in my neighborhood. I called them. I had to tell my story to about 4 people, but finally got Monique, who told me their two emergency plumbers were out on calls but maybe she could get someone between 2 and 4. OK, I figured I had time to make my quick trip to the commissary. I did turn on my cell phone, fortunately, because the phone rang while I was on base. I pulled into a parking lot, too late, but I called back and a plumber was available could be at my house in an hour! I told her I'd be home in a half hour, dashed through the commissary and got home after 31 minutes. I could see the plumber's van in front of the house. Dave had arrived about a minute earlier! "Thank you for waiting!"

 

He immediately stuck a probe near where I said the leak had started and created a small geyser, then probed around till he found the leak. Then he turned off the water and went to make his estimate... digging out a 2x3 square, and replacing the leaky area with PVC plastic, then clamping it on and refilling the hole, 3 hours, $678. I signed, and he got to work.

 

 

 

 

The amazing thing is that even though he had to go to the store for a part, he still was done in 3 hours. He's related to my neighbors and was at the Hallowe'en party!

 

 

   

We talked about the next step. After the water company does their thing, he will replace the whole pipe from the house to the riser. This will take two days, so I will have a motel stay in there, and cost $4K. Sigh. I'm trying to get back to my pre-Africa money and was thinking earlier on Monday that I was closing in on it. But at least I do have the money for these emergencies. Also to be thankful for was the good weather, and that I was at home when all heck broke loose, not off on a trip.

 

 

Today, in my 6 years ago memories, "A lot of these tears are leftovers from the last few weeks. I didn't want him to see me crying. He did once, last week, I was sitting next to him on the bed rubbing his back and I just couldn't help it, and he looked over and saw me. I don't know if he understood or not."