Sometimes I think I was placed on earth to be an encouragement to others, and the way God wants me to fulfill that role is by showing people that no matter how stupid they may sometimes feel, there’s always someone who really is more stupid than them.
Think I’m being overly modest? How’s this for lowering the intelligence bar. Remember that water heater we replaced this morning (see previous post)? Nothing wrong with it. I paid hundreds of dollars to get a perfectly good water heater replaced…and now I’m waiting to pay another plumber more money to replace the leaking pipe in the wall behind the water heater.
Here’s my excuse, if you’re finished with the derisive laughter.
When I found the leak this morning, it was in the form of a steady spray emanating from behind the water heater. I couldn’t see behind the unit, so I tried to locate the leak by touch. What I felt was the stream of water from the leak in the wall bouncing off the water heater in such a way as to convince me that was the source. Of course, by the time the plumber arrived to replace the heater, I had shut off the water, and he assumed that no one could be so ignorant as to mistake the source of a water leak. If I insisted the water heater needed replacing, he wasn’t going to question it.
As it turned out, there was a pinhole in the copper pipe carrying hot water to our washing machine. Fortunately, the hole pointed outward, into the garage, or we would be looking at replacing a bunch of newly painted drywall in the laundry room, instead of being able to do a simpler patch job in the garage closet.
And on the positive side of things, I’m now quite accomplished at shutting off the water supply at the meter, in case a real emergency arises. Oh, and I’m also now on a first name basis with all the spiders in the meter box, so I’ve got that going for me.
Now, don’t you feel better about your own life?
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Sorry, Eric, I can’t think of a ‘Tom & Jerry’ correlation for this one …
Yeah, this one is more a Beavis and, um, that other guy kind of situation.
Wow. I was wondering why I felt smarter today. :p
Oh the bright side, you have a shiny new water heater.
Oh, but how about the Three Stooges with their plumbers sketch? The one where the cook gets big-eyed over water shooting up from the burners on the stove?
Poor Eric.
Yeah, well…at least I knew who wrote “Pride and Prejudice.”
Well, not really. 😉
I’m sure that water heater was getting ready to let loose at any moment, so I was just being prudent and cautious.
I wish.
You guys are killing me here! (Yeah, I know…I deserve it.)
The “derisive laughter” was echoing loudly thru our house from the male members of the family. The females were all going, “Aw…, poor Eric” (but with stifled grins.)
Fortunately, the more sensitive and beautiful members of yours household outnumber the derisive laughers!
Think of all the extra dollars you’ve injected into our economy……the families you have fed!
You deserve a certificate from the Midland Economic Development Board.
In the spirit of helpfulness, and with a realization that “this could happen to anyone,” I offer, from among the many fruits of Google, this solution to hot water tank troubles:
http://www.ata.org.au/articles/63shw.htm
🙂
Actually, Brian, while the suggestion is appreciated, I’m second-guessing the need for having hot water to begin with. I think we’ve been brainwashed by the water heater (and midwifing) industries into thinking there’s something special about hot water. I don’t think Jesus had hot water, if it it was good enough for Him, well, you know…
I’ll let you know how the divorce proceedings unfold. 😉
I think you’d have still plenty of hot water to swim in if you got rid of your water heater, IFYKWIM. (see, I’m learning).
Almost learning… didn’t hit the cancel button fast enough.. Should have said IYKWIM. 😀
I think the consensus is that that acronym really needs an “f” in it.
And thanks for the marriage counseling. After 32 years, I assure you it’s totally unnecessary. 😉
I just had to laugh at the comment about not really needing hot water. See, my brother-in-law’s water heater went out in May…and he STILL has not replaced it. I can’t understand how or why his wife puts up with it. I guess they think cold showers feel OK in the summer…but I wonder how far into winter it will get before she finally puts her foot down.
Maybe his wife is sneaking out for a hot shower elsewhere! 😉
But the real question is how much trouble did he go to in order to bypass the water heater in order to continue to supply water (albeit unheated) to the house? When our water heater goes out, we have to shut off the water at the meter until a replacement is installed. It’s theoretically possible to run a line around it, but the time and expense of doing that makes a replacement water heater look like a good deal in more ways than one!
Well, I think that he just turned off the water at the water heater. We can do the same thing at our house (we just replaced a water heater, too). Don’t know if it’s a Kansas thing or because we live in an older house, or what. But I think I like it better than having to turn off the water to the whole house!
Linda, it sounds like his water heater didn’t actually spring a leak (in our part of Texas, the typical water heater malfunction is a totally rust-through of the bottom of the tank), because if it had, turning off the valve at the heater would not have stopped the leak. But, perhaps the installation methods are different in other areas of the country. I, too, like the idea of being able to isolate the water heater in these situations.