Written by John Shea
That meant I had to go down to our spider infested hell of a cellar. It looks like something Indiana Jones would raid for a big gold head. It's that nasty. An hour of hitting the pipes with a blowtorch doesn't get me anywhere. That covers all the pipes from just below the bathroom sink down to the water pump, with one exception. There is a rubber hose that connects the pump to the water lines. Naturally, I don't want to use a torch on that.
So consulting one of my many books on home repair I come across the idea of wrapping a pipe in a towel and pouring hot water on it. Sounds great except for that little problem that I don't have any water due to the pipes being frozen. So at about 4:20 AM you could find me in the front yard, filling up big pots with snow and ice over and over again. The stove eventually converts these to hot water. I take a teapot full of boiling water and a towel down to spider land again and wrap the suspected problem area with the towel. Pouring the hot water on it produces the most spectacular steam clouds you could imagine. And then it's back upstairs for more hot water. But surprise surprise, before I can get another pot to boil, the water starts running again. I'd celebrate this achievement if it wasn't now 5 AM and I wasn't covered in spider webs.
So this is why my wife found me snoring on the couch at 5:30 AM this morning. That's right, I managed almost half an hour of sleep for the night. Yee haw.
Friday, 16 January 2009 13:30
3 AM is what I generally consider bedtime. Last night, when that time arrived I closed up what I was working on and headed for the bathroom before going to bed. And that's when I discovered there was no water. Which, considering the outside temperature of about 10 below zero, meant the pipes had frozen. Fuck.That meant I had to go down to our spider infested hell of a cellar. It looks like something Indiana Jones would raid for a big gold head. It's that nasty. An hour of hitting the pipes with a blowtorch doesn't get me anywhere. That covers all the pipes from just below the bathroom sink down to the water pump, with one exception. There is a rubber hose that connects the pump to the water lines. Naturally, I don't want to use a torch on that.
So consulting one of my many books on home repair I come across the idea of wrapping a pipe in a towel and pouring hot water on it. Sounds great except for that little problem that I don't have any water due to the pipes being frozen. So at about 4:20 AM you could find me in the front yard, filling up big pots with snow and ice over and over again. The stove eventually converts these to hot water. I take a teapot full of boiling water and a towel down to spider land again and wrap the suspected problem area with the towel. Pouring the hot water on it produces the most spectacular steam clouds you could imagine. And then it's back upstairs for more hot water. But surprise surprise, before I can get another pot to boil, the water starts running again. I'd celebrate this achievement if it wasn't now 5 AM and I wasn't covered in spider webs.
So this is why my wife found me snoring on the couch at 5:30 AM this morning. That's right, I managed almost half an hour of sleep for the night. Yee haw.
