That line from the Roger Miller song, King of the Road, struck me as funny as I pondered my own situation. I've been without water since last Thursday. You never really know how bad things can get until you have to do without something as basic as water. I have options, but I don't really want to use them, guess I'm a little stubborn that way.
They say that cleanliness is next to Godliness, guess the Devil and his gang have moved into my house! It's times like these that I'm glad I don't have a lot of company here. They wouldn't stay long if they did pay me a visit. I have no heat in the house, except for my room and the bathroom, but that beats paying those high winter heating bills.
Of course this does not bode well for my water pipes, as every year I generally have one or two bust from freezing. It's kind of like driving in the snow, you forget how to do it until the first snow hits. I always forget to let the water run in a very small stream during the coldest nights until the first time a pipe freezes. Then I remember for the rest of the season, at least until next winter.
My problem is fixed, at least the obvious leak was repaired, at a fairly high cost this time as well. Seems I tripped going down the steep wooden stairs which lead to the celler and busted up my knee and skinned the back of my hand on the rock wall. You would think as many times as I have had to climb up and down stairs I wouldn't forget how to do that.
But I turned 59 today, maybe that is part of the reason. Things on my ol' body just don't function they way they did when I was younger. Not to mention the fact that when I do fall, it takes longer to heal and generally causes more damage. I guess the old plumbing in my house is a lot like me, just can't take the pressure of survival like it used to.
Water is still not on. I called the water guy Saturday when I repaired the leak to see if I could borrow the tool needed to turn the water on at the meter. Haven't heard back from him. I don't blame him, I wouldn't want to mess with my job on my time off either. Now that I'll be home from work tomorrow anyway, guess one more day of waiting won't hurt anything. The cat doesn't seem to mind the smell all that much.
Have to admire the planning which went into the plumbing of this place. It's setup in such a way that when a leak occurs, the cellar fills up with water. Of course the shut off for the water is located on the wall where the pipe comes in from the meter. That is all the way across the cellar from the stairs. So if you want to shut the water off you have to wade across the floor in about 3 feet of water. Not the safest thing to do considering the furnace and electric hot water heater are down there as well.
I never really understood why people move into retirement homes when they get older when they have a perfectly good home they are living in. I'm beginning to understand...
12/20 update: I have water once again and things are getting back to normal. Sure feels good to be a part of life once again!
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