Let’s see…where were we?
Water:
Yesterday morning I went in to the common bathroom (called the blue bathroom) and found the bucket that my parents were using to flush the toilet over Thanksgiving. They had to use the bucket since the toilet tank stopped filling with water. I was shocked and surprised to find two handfuls of sand in the bottom of the bucket. The well guy was coming later and I told Deborah that this was not good. When Randy the well guy came and I showed him the sand in the bucket, he said that there was nothing that he could do with sand that fine. “So what then?”, I asked. He said you need a new well. Oh Boy! This ought to be fun. Tom Owens, the water expert that brought Randy out, said he could add a filtration system and we would have great water. Unfortunately they can’t put the pump where the old pump was, so I will have a new pump house out in the yard somewhere. I can use the old, rather substantial pump house to keep lawn furniture and flower pots. I have to have an electrician put a new electric box on the outside of my house to connect to the new pump. So we’re looking at $6000+ for the whole job. If I don’t bite the bullet quick, all of this sand will ruin the plumbing system the rest of the way. The $70 I recently spent to test the water is a waste since the test will not apply to the new well. Sunday I put a new pressure switch on the pump and I would not have to kick this pump again, but by next Monday this pump will be trash and that will be a wasted expense of time and money. I’m just not timing some of these activities well. So we have to get a new well and pump, pressure tank, pump house, filter system, and an electric connection. As my dad would say…”Joy, Rapture!!” The only silver lining to this cloud is the fact that a new well will cure my last major problem. I mean after a new roof, fixing the two large holes in the ceilings, repairing the floor that had buckled from the leaks in the roof, changing the plumbing in the missing bathroom, closing up the floor and crawl space and removing the trash in the missing bathroom, replacing two faucets and a drain, replacing 4 light fixtures, new carpet, new furnace and A/C, new hot water heater, new gas line and LP tank, painting 4 rooms, a couple of dozen truck loads to the dump, trees cut down, burning, cleaning, arranging, etc., and now the only major project is getting clean reliable water, and we are less than a week away.
The Furnace:
The furnace went into lockout twice since we last saw Rusty, but it has been working since then. We called Rusty and told him we would just play it by ear and as long as the furnace was working we would not bother him anymore. Today I tried to program the new thermostat. Every time I would program the thermostat it would change the temperature settings on it’s own. I called Honeywell. They said to call Rusty, so reluctantly I did. We will see Rusty Monday. Otherwise we are warm and comfortable. At least I am…Deborah is always either hot or cold.
Lizards and Mice:
Carl really did a super job on the lizards. The population has been reduced to a more reasonable number and there have been no more in the house. However, that has not kept my life-partner from screaming.
We were sitting in the family room watching TV Sunday night when a small little rodent decided to wander through the middle of the room in clear view.
They say that mice have really bad eyesight. But if that is true, how can they see the broom coming, because I could not get near that mouse. Deborah was petrified. I did whatever I could to calm her, but she went to bed and closed the bedroom door tight. The next morning she asked if I caught the mouse. I looked in the traps and thought that I hadn’t gotten lucky. Then I went to feed Dixie and found the mouse drowned in her water bowl. I was so relieved, but Deborah was skeptical. The next night, the mouse that drowned is gone, but new mice started to entertain us in the family room. We had put a trap in the kitchen by the refrigerator and Deborah and I sat and watched as this mouse came out from behind the refrigerator and started to eat the cheese on the trap. He ate until he was full and then went back behind the refrigerator. Now we call Carl and buy some traps, and do a full court press. Since then we have caught 2 in glue traps, one of them is still trying to wiggle off the trap, and I hope that we have them all, but I’m sure this will be an ongoing problem, at least in the cooler months. Lions and tigers and bears…Oh my! Lizards and roaches and mice…Oh my!
The Yard:
The yard is looking better all of the time. The large trash pile in the back is gone except for a couple of logs. My neighbor lent me a saws-all to cut up the satellite dish and a larger chain saw to get the last few, larger logs cut up.
The fall leaves are beautiful.
Church:
Father John showed up Monday to see why weren’t in church Sunday. I couldn’t tell if he believed our story about water problems and watching the fire in back, and the dog, etc., but that was all true and I think he was convinced. It was so nice to see him. We haven’t run across a pastor like that since Peoria.
Christmas:
Just over 3 weeks away! We’re getting there!
Otherwise:
My neighbors are great. Pat brought us some cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood, Betty brought us some fruitcake. The treats were great. Terry and Bonnie have been very helpfull. Bobby came over to tell me the best place to get a pressure switch. We love our neighbors.
Yesterday was a beautiful day, and in between taking care of some Home Depot business and fixing my email after I got hacked, I sat out with my better half, called the folks and smoked an excellent Dominican Cigar, Bauza to exact. I also made some good Italian seasoned bread and turkey soup. Life is good!
Lastly, Deborah starts work Saturday at the Home Depot in Summerville.
More to come...
Thank God I’m a country boy!
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