Today I, Never Alone, am...home..."alone." All the rest of the family went with all the Japanese students down to Seattle for the day and then to the Mariners game tonight. Ahhh...it sounded so good. I was enjoying taking the morning kind of slow. I got to do my quiet time a bit earlier than I've been able to in the recent weeks that the girls come up early for a breakfast (my family does not do that--they shuffle in later just to get a bowl of cereal or something quick)...and while the girls eat I try to quickly make their lunches on their school days so that they can bring them along. This also is not a family tradition, since we homeschool, and lunch just happens when it happens. When we're hungry. We don't use the average amount of saran wrap and sandwich bags, not here at our house. Anyway, usually my own day doesn't get started until after 9 a.m. while we host the girls.
So yes, the morning was wonderful. Then the doorbell rang; a little neighbor wanted to borrow a dictionary. English is our native tongue and we have two dictionaries and use them frequently. English is their second language...and they don't have a dictionary. I can't imagine how they get by. If I were speaking Japanese or Hindi or Punjabi, I think every 5 minutes into a conversation I'd be sunk without a dictionary. Well, again I digress. While she was asking for a dictionary, a yellow strip of paper rubber-banded to the doorknob caught my eye, and I was taking it in while she was making her request.
The paper was from the City of Marysville...they determined that it appears we have a water leak. It showed how to tell whether it's between the meter and the house, or somewhere in the house. I turned off the main water valve, and went to check the meter. It had stopped, so the leak was in the house. I suspect it has to do with the downstairs toilet, the one the Japanese girls use. It's had that "keep on running" sound for quite a while. Now that I see the numbers from Marysville, I'm aghast at how much water we must have been wasting. The paper says that in two months we've used 56,000 gallons...in the dry season. We haven't been using the sprinkler nearly as much as I'd like since the siding people have had their stuff all over the place and it's hard to do. So it's not from watering the yard (and the yard is my witness--do you like brown?). It might have been aggravated somewhat by the fact that Gary did a bunch of pressure washing the other day.
Anyway, today is now accounted for. As soon as the washer finishes its current load, I'll turn off the water to the house--since the valve under the toilet was stupidly installed in such a way that it can't be turned without disassembling the toilet. So I get to play plumber with my day "off." How can this be a good thing? Well, I'm glad I don't have to explain it to the Japanese girls. They'd never understand. And I'm glad no one has to holler because they don't have running water! For that matter, I'm glad (in a slightly resigned way) that I can do this without calling a plumber; it will save us some money; and I'm also glad it's not between the meter and the house--we won't have to dig a nice trench in our dead lawn through the nasty clay soil of Marysville. God is great! He knew what needed to be done...and just when...and just how...and by whom.
Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
2 comments:
Sounds like a great day! I always like to do plumbing projects in my leisure time.
NOT! I actually have a long plastic tube that I use to prop up the floating thing in the toilet when its constant running annoys me. I just take the lid off, and rest the plastic tube on the tank, and thread it under the arm so that it will stop running. That's how I roll! Plumbing Jen-style.
The update to this was that when the woman came to check the meter (once we fix the problem completely, they make arrangements to split the cost of the excessive water use with us) she still detected a leak and handed Katie (the only one home at the time) a bunch of dye tablets to put in the tank of the remaining toilets to check them. One that wasn't making a sound was leaking as well. Aaagh....no...aah...I will enjoy the process again, I will enjoy the process again, I will...sigh...think of the money it eventually will save us, and be glad I can do it (in a resigned way again). Glad that these troubles are light and momentary in a way that even I can comprehend.
Anyway, JenM, I'm impressed at your ingenuity. I never would have thought of that but think it wouldn't fix our toilet's problem (I almost said my problem, but it's not that personal!)...still, I wish I were such a genius as to have tried your trick with the noisy one.
Post a Comment