Sanity, and Water, Is Restored to the Wescott Household

The Wescott household now has a new water heater and a clean and newly lined chimney. The old heater's tank wasn't really leaking - for some reason all the water that was flowing in was just flowing right back out instead of heading itself into the tank or maybe the gauge that tells the tank it's full wasn't working and it was overflowing. So, the tank was full to the brim and, once disconnected, 40 gallons of water came gushing out of the darn thing! The repair guy was pretty fast, but not fast enough to avoid at least partially swamping the floor again. Thankfully, he cleaned up this time! Now, about the chimney: after the new heater was installed, the repair guy called us down to show us how to light the pilot and told us in about 30 minutes we'd have lots of hot water. Ten minutes later he called us back down to show us that there was a problem: the fumes weren't venting up the flue! Oy vey! This was actually a problem we had with the furnace two years ago so we had the chimney cleaned out, a new furnace installed, and the new vent changed into a sidewall vent. So, I called ten chimney people and finally found one who could come out tomorrow. Well, the furnace/water heater guy said tomorrow wasn't soon enough and we made one more call and got a really great group of guys to come out within the hour. They very quickly hauled out the old liner - and the squirrel nests (have I mentioned that I don't like squirrels - dropped in a new liner, replastered the chimney above the water heater flue, and installed a new chimney cap (which they advised hadn't been properly installed previously!) Michele did make it home for all this excitement so it's been great having help with the clean up. Thankfully, the clothes seem to be washing up very nicely, so really we only lost a few small appliances and a bit of my sanity. But I am proud of myself that I took care of it on my own yesterday. Challenges help us know what we can handle, though I'd be content with a an absense of calamity for the rest of the winter. Seems easier to handle emergencies in the spring, don't you think?

Six Inches is About Six Inches Too Much

I wish this post was about the snow, but no, it's about the ankle deep water I found flooding our basement when I got home from work today. Just lovely - the kitties had to take a canoe to get to their litter boxes! Our hot water heater decided it didn't want to function properly anymore - it probably heard me talking to my dad about how we planned to buy a new one with our income tax return. Now, besides the pesky water there were two issues with the basement being full of water: 1. I tried every shut off valve I could find and only the MAIN SHUT OFF valve worked to get the water heater to stop spewing water, so I am currently unable to even flush the toilet right now (wouldn't be a good idea to visit me tonight.) And 2. I've sort of neglected to do the laundry for a few weeks, but yesterday I gathered it all and sorted it, guess where. Yes, you guessed it: on the basement floor in front of the washer and directly in the line of fire (or line of water, but you get what I mean.) I'm hope, hope, hoping that they're not ruined. I have about four weeks of clothes, so if three weeks worth are ruined that's really going to make it hard to class it up at work.

Now, I'm not one to wallow in self pity, so I thought I'd share with you what I'm grateful for today:

1. It's just the basement - I'm still sheltered and warm.
2. My friend Deb cancelled our dinner plans tonight (because she had a plumbing problem so maybe it's contagious?) so I got home when the water was only at 6 inches - imagine if I'd come home late tonight!
3. My morning smoothie was extra good today - I decided to add banana and it put it over the top.
4. As I was shopvacing out the water and hauling out sodden boxes and ruined appliances I found a brand new pair of gardening gloves - still in the bag! Very exciting!
5. Michele comes home tomorrow - she took a load to Florida, got stuck in the bad weather in Georgia, so hasn't been home for a few weeks, so this will be a treat.
6. The basement is more organized - got rid of all those boxes and storage - it was just taking up space!
7. I don't have to clean the kitchen - no water is an awesome excuse for a messy kitchen.
8. I'm getting a new hot water heater!
9. I was super productive at work today (which is good since I need to take tomorrow off to deal with the hot water heater!)
And 10. Well, I have my health. Oh and the Olympics is on! What fun!