Monday, February 25, 2008 

Aaaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhh

To preface this story
I worked as a plumber for 3 years out of high school
I worked as an air conditioning & heating mechanic for 7 Years.
I have replaced at least 50 water heaters over the course of my life.

I wake up Sunday morning and stumble to the sink to brush my teeth and hear water trickling on the floor. I trace it to the water heater in the closet where we keep the egg refrigerator (yes, I need a refrigerator for eggs). I see the hot water heater leaking water.
I shut off the supply line to the water heater, clean up the ½ inch of water on the floor, and go to church.

When I get home, I go to Lowe’s and buy one of their cheap hot water heaters and the necessary equipment to replace the water heater to the tune of around $400.00, and then I go home.

I drain the tank and cut the lines to the heater then I discover that the supply line to the hot water heater is ½ inch instead of the coded ¾ inch size, and that I now need a fitting to do it right. (Actually to do it right I would need to replace the entire ½ inch with ¾ inch water line, but I have no intention doing that.

I have purchased a new and better water shutoff for the supply line in ¾ inch size. So I crawl under the house to shut the water off. I turn the water supply cutoff to the whole house and then notice that the cutoff is leaking so I reach up with my open end adjustable wrench and tighten the packing nut. When I do I put torque on the supply lint union coming from the street and the rusted corroded pipe cracks and covers me with a huge spray of water. This break is before the regulator so I am covered with high-pressure water.

I go to the street with my 8 inch open end adjustable wrench (way too small) and cannot turn off the water so I say to son #2 run to the house and ask mom for the big wrench on the water heater. He runs in and says, “Dad needs the big wrench” leaving out (on the water heater). My wife who knows of my moods when a project has gone to hell in a hand basket, has absolutely no intention of coming out empty handed so she heads to the workshop to get every wrench in the place.

I see this chaos from the street and manage to turn off the water with my small wrench.
Now neither my family nor my parents have water

I go take another look and discover that the water is run from the street with PVC all the way under the house (it should be copper according to the code) what looks like epoxy was used to connect the metal pipe in the house to the PVC. This, gentle readers, is a disaster.

I call a plumber

Then I send my Wife to the grocery store to by water for my parents, and me
I hook up a water pump to the old well to fill up buckets so that we can flush the toilets and collapse in exhaustion.

I have not had a shower. The boys are peeing outdoors at the barn,( which they actually prefer), andnd the we are exclusively using paper plates and plastic silverware till the water is back on.

Any questions.

Snagley out

Labels:

Friday, August 24, 2007 

in other news

Last weekend i went snake hunting.
On the hunting land me and some friends lease there is a creek that wanders through it. and it is full of cotton mouths.
So me and another idiot put on some rubber boots and waded the overgrown creek looking to shoot some snakes.
I can honestly say that if you could have seen some of the places we waded into ,beaver dams, log jams, muck, mire some of the snakiest places I have ever seen you would have had a stroke. We saw a bunch of snakes and turtles and deer etc but I ended the wretched lives of no snakes.
I did wear myself completely out.

in other news.
I am walking down the street and i see a twenty dollar bill on the ground. No one is around and it is a deserted street. no buildings etc. I walk about a mile further with the 20 and see a guy in an advanced stage of poverty. He was dragging a little red wagon with 3 wheels. He had a shaggy beard.

I nodded said hello and handed him the 20.
He said thanks and we started talking.
He is 10 years younger than i.
He is a combat veteran from Iraq.
He came home and found his wife with another man. They split and she took everything of value, which he said was very little.
His parents died years ago and he is an only child.
Needless to say he had no job.
he does however have a college degree in business administration from Auburn University.
He said after the divorce he just started walking and has been ever since.
3 years of walking.

I ended up driving him to the Jimmy Hale Mission and getting him setup with some decent clothes so he can get a job interview.
The guy does not drink and does not use drugs (he was tested for drugs).
He said he just did not know what to do and did not know how to start.
The guy at the mission told me that if he really wants some help he will get it.
He said he can have a bed till he can get an apartment. there are some in south side that are cheap.
I hope this guy gets it together. I ended up giving him some more money. (I am a soft touch. I have been broke with no food)
He was a nice guy. After a shave and a haircut he looked like a any 30 year old guy just skinnier and more worn.
life does have a way of beating us down doesn't it.

In yet other news.
I am only getting 4 to 7 eggs a day now 104 degree heat will do that to a feathered animal

And in yet other news.
I am seriously thinking of adopting a kid. I may end up adopting internationally.
I know some of you think i am nuts for wanting a big family. but so what. Its my life, damn it, my kids are pretty well adjusted. and i think that some baby in a foreign country whos future consists of either slavery, forced prostitution or death,. might just not mind living in rural alabama with 4 other kids, and a bunch of chickens.

SNagley out.

Labels: