As luck would have it I wasn't able to go on the Salem trip this year. It was paid for and actually my idea to go but my darn water heater had other plans for me. I woke to water in the basement...and it was too much to ignore. I had to stay home. I kept telling myself I just can't miss the trip; telling myself I can't leave with a mess like this going on at home; wishing it had happened on a different day; wishing it had happened to someone else entirely; wishing I could just go back to bed! But in the end I did what I normally would have done...the responsible thing. I stayed home, waved goodbye to my family as cheerfully as possible; told them to take lots of pictures and called an expert to handle the situation.
I had no idea who to call to begin with so I ended up slightly panicked wandering through the phone book. (does anyone ever even use a phone book anymore?) Roto-Rooter popped out at me with their two page ad claiming they don't charge for the initial visit and estimate; will come to your rescue on weekends, holidays and all hours of the day and night...free. Ok guys...you got my attention. I called and had someone there within a couple of hours. The estimate he gave me left no doubt about how it feels to be between a rock and hard place. I felt that rock in the pit of my stomach immediately. He looked a little sympathetic as he handed me the estimate; I just looked pathetic. They wanted $3100.00 for replacing all manner of stuff down there. I told him I needed to make a call before I signed anything.
I called Tony, my former landlord and a great friend. He was at my house before the Roto-Rooter guy had all his ducks in a row and was back on the phone asking me if I was going to go with them for the job or not. I told him no, I got a better deal and hung up the phone with a sigh of relief. As I type I have two men in my basement doing that same job for less than half what Roto-Rooter was quoting me. But none of this took place quite that easily.
Tony and I spent a little time yesterday making sure all the shut off valves were off and that the boiler was turned off as well. No hot water now baby! But we weren't done yet. That water heater had to be drained too because it was continually leaking hot water onto the basement floor...the basement that doesn't have a drain anywhere...can't have that going on! Luckily I had already taken in the garden hose for the season and it was neatly coiled in the corner. I pulled that out, Tony hooked it up to the water heater and then we proceeded to perform a most complex 3 Stooges routine using only us 2 stooges! I pulled the hose up through the house and out the door to drain on the lawn outside. I could feel hot water heating up the hose as I went. Three or four more times I had to bring the end back downstairs because the hose had become hopelessly twisted and knotted. Did I mention that the hose had been neatly coiled to begin with?
Eventually we actually got this feat of magic accomplished. The water heater was drained (for the most part) and now all that was left to do was wait for the guys on white horses to arrive and do the rest. That wasn't going to happen until the next day so I needed to keep myself busy and salvage what was left of my day. I also needed to keep busy so I didn't keep thinking about that Salem trip I was missing. I decided to bring the dogs outside and strip the rest of the garden down in preparation for winter.
The garden stripping went fairly smoothly. I only got one large scratch on my leg (very painful); smacked myself in the head with a bunch of tomato stakes, leaving clumps of dirt in my hair; and received one very hefty splinter in my finger. Oh yes, I was grace in motion out there.
The dogs passed their time by eating everything they found; having a barking contest with the little neighbor dog whom they can't see but could hear (they won); repeatedly digging holes in the lawn despite my constant direction to stop (thank you Bell); and mutilating random plants in the planter next to them. At that point dirt in my hair was the least of my concerns. I put Bell in the house for her attempts to reach China by way of my lawn, while I let Nicki stay outside chomping on a small cucumber I'd found hiding in the garden. Cucumbers can't hold a candle to dragging a large branch around a tree several times, so it wasn't long before she found herself firmly knotted up in her lead getting real cozy with said tree. (Nick you are a lovable idiot aren't you?). I took pity on her (standing there wagging her whole body pinned to the tree) and brought her in the house to play with Bell in a non-tree environment. I wondered vaguely if I'll ever be able to have them outside without these types of mishaps as I limped back outside shaking dirt from my hair and sucking my bleeding finger.
Life is back to normal now, better than normal really. I've got a brand new modern water heater in the basement (quite sleek and sexy looking I must say) and no more worries about what will go wrong during the long winter to come. There's hot water a flowing and a nice hot shower in my immediate future. And all I've got left to do is figure out how I'm going to clean up that water in the basement. Piece of cake, right?
