December 17, 2005

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  "The Pipes, the Pipes are Calling Me." Plumbing Update.

  
  

   I wrote the following as part of an email I sent to Elizabeth this morning, and it has pertinent info concerning our busted water main.  Here is a total accounting of the past couple of days. Forgive me for mixing present and past tense. This started out as a letter, and not a formal blog entry:

  
  

   On Thursday morning I couldn't start the car, and when I went to the dining room to use the phone to call into work, the carpet was completely soaked. I got a new battery for the car, and the new owner of our complex and the plumber came by that afternoon. It seems the water main has broken, and the pipes are in the concrete slab on which the house is built. They're old galvanized pipes, and one broke. The plumber doesn't know exactly where, and they would have to tear up the flooring to find out. So yesterday, the plumber was to begin installing new pipes in a temporary arrangement so that we could have running water. They shut off the main to the house.
   
  Now I admit I didn't even think that the pipes were broken. We've had trouble with sewage back up and under the house, the standing water has seeped up under the hall and my bedroom carpet. I had to move my bed one winter when it was raining because the corner of my room got soaked. No owner has ever fixed this problem. and my introduction to the new owner, coincidentally on the morning he signed the papers to buy the units, was to tell him my house was filling with water. I told the people at work it was like being on the Titanic. I actually could see the water seep across the kitchen.
   
  The owner told me this would take only Friday, but the plumber didn't show up until I got home from work at 3. Now, I knew by looking at the pipes and what they were talking about that this was a big job. I figured two or three guys would have to come by to get it done in a  day. When the one plumber shows up in the afternoon, after having done a day's work already someplace else, I knew that it was getting worse.

  
  

  

  
  

  
   
  The owner shows up an hour later. I asked both of them if I should be securing a motel room for the night, or if I'd have running water in the shower Sat. morning. (when I'm writng this.) The owner said no, there shouldn't be a problem.
   
  The plumber stayed till 8pm, and he "jury rigged" a pipe so that we could have water. There are holes in the walls, and tools and pipe all over the kitchen. He was supposed to bring over a wet vac so we could clean up the dining room but he didnt' do that. He complained about my satellite dish mounting job, because I went through the window with the wire, and it was getting in his way. I thought he was accusing me of stealing the service (which is impossible to do, but he doesn't have satellite ) because he said that all the services came with free installation. I bought the system over a decade ago and they charged almost 100 bucks for installation so I did it myself. I didn't want to quarrel with the guy, but he was a bit abrasive. (I'm sure he was pretty tired, and possibly didn't know that the plumbing job was as big as it was, but, hey, that's his job as far as I'm concerned!
   
  He finally goes out to the curb to turn on the water, after complaining about stuck valves and other stuff, and when he turns on the water, Joel and I hear a rushing sound, and I went into the kitchen to find water streaming in from the wall spigots where the hot water should be running into the washer. (He had disconnected the washer from the wall and obviously didn't turn off the spigot cause the water was off at the time. He was pretty tired, and I don't think he is the best plumber in the world either. You should never turn on the water with the spigot open.
   
  Well, to make a long story short, I reached over to the spigot to turn it off. The washer was in the way, and water was literally raining in the kitchen. I got really upset, and couldn't find a second fount of water that was soaking me and I couldn't see through my wet glasses. Joel called for the guy to shut off the water. He came to the door. I was a bit upset screaming "I don't know how to turn it off" as the "rain" from the kitchen  was shooting out into the hall. He shut the water off, and came to the door, where I was standing sopping wet.

  
  

  

  
  

  
   
  "Well, I'll come back tomorrow. That didn't work" he said matter of factly. I was about ready to scream. Joel was more reserved. "It's a mess in here" he said when looking at the kitchen.
   
  I'm about ready to go out to breakfast and try to forget that there is still no water. The plumber promised to return at 7:30 and it's now almost 8:30am and we have a worse mess than when he started to "fix" it.
   
  Ho Ho Ho. Merry Christmas. When it "rains" it pours, right in my kitchen.
   
  To add insult to injury, the new owner wants to repaint the house, clean the carpets (which obviously will have to be done, perhaps replace them in the dining room) and landscape the outside of the house. I don't even give a damn about landscaping. It's like the farthest thing from my mind when I have to "borrow" water from the neighbor's spigot just to brush my teeth.

  
  

  Of course our rent is going to be raised.

  
  

  I was telling the guys at work yesterday (when I THOUGHT some plumbing was being done in my house) that our lives and perceptions of "reality" can change in an instant. No matter how well we "prepare" for "disaster" it strikes at the most inopportune of times, and changes everything, sometimes for just a few days (hopefully, in my and my roommate's case) and sometimes forever.

  
  

  I just won't think about this now. I'll think about it tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.

  
  

  
  

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  Here is a photo I took of Joel last night just to change the subject. Usually, he gives me the finger or some other gesture of love and affection.

  
  

  

  • 11:56 am
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