Now We Frolic :: January 30th, 2003 ::
All I ever am is cold; cold is all I ever am.
As others have noted, we’ve had some house troubles around these parts. A short narrative follows.
I received the phone call when I was at work. I learned from the conversation that the water main had exploded and was gurgling, that the bathtub was not draining, the toilet was not flushing. Could I leave work early, go to the hardware store and pick up some plumbing supplies, then go to the house and provide support to the caretaker? He was on no sleep, and was not sure what could be done to help the situation.
Yes, of course I could do that.
I went to the hardware store, then I drove to West Topsham. I pulled in the driveway, stopped the car, prepared myself for the cold, and went to the house. When I got inside, I saw the standing water in the bath tub. When I went downstairs to the crawlspace, I saw the water main, which was gurgling water much in the way that had been described to me earlier, on the phone. My immediate reaction: I was not sure what could be done immediately to help solve this problem. I looked at the aluminum foil tape and the pipe insulation I had just purchased, and all this stuff that seemed so important and useful when it sat on the shelf suddenly looked useless in the face of the broken water pipe I was looking at. the plumber was coming, first thing in the morning. For all the frustration I had with my amature tools, I took comfort in his imminenet arrival, as well as the flanges, torches, and wrenches he would be bringing with him.
The story ended well. The plumber got there the next morning, and was able to fix the water main in fifteen minutes. the ice in the sewer line was melted with the help of a supercharged space heater and, after a long discussion with the plumber as we waited, I was able to resume my normal operations. I am unspeakably appreciative of that.
