Friday, January 18, 2013

Laugh or Cry

We are renting this beautiful home we live in.

It's not without it's quirks.

OK that's generous. It's a crazy place, with many quirks. But we like it anyway. Character and all that.

Yesterday Josh reached under the bathroom sink to grab something and found that the pipes were leaking. When he opened something somewhere under there (I have a lot of technical training, obviously) water started shooting up out of the hot water knob like a fountain. A tall, hot fountain.

He had turned off the water to the sink, but apparently that valve doesn't work, so while the (HOT!) water sprayed everywhere he tried to keep it down with his hand and reach under the sink while yelling obscenities calmly and rationally in a volume appropriate for the situation, requested my help.

I came in to control the hot water spraying everywhere while he crawled under the sink to try to make it stop. He quickly gave up and raced to the basement to turn off the valve to the whole house.

Turns out the gaskets had literally crumbled and the leak was just a bit of warning before the real problem started. You know, like a cartoon.

Most things in my life are like a cartoon.

So with no hot water in the house and 4 family members who were too sick to bathe the day before we called the landlord and demanded he come over right now and fix the problem.

He didn't. Josh did.

Mostly. Still a small leak, but sometimes hot water function and no bathroom fountains is good.

Then the landlord supposedly came while we weren't home (though there is no evidence of his presence) and fixed it. But it's still leaking today.

As is the water heater.

And the downstairs toilet.

And virtually all of the windows.

What Josh learned from this experience: Don't buy old houses. He already believed in this concept, but our last few months here have confirmed it. Over and over again. Also that his wife is awesome.

What I learned from this experience: water spraying straight up is funny. Every dang time. Tommy and I couldn't stop giggling (once I got the burning sensation out of my hand) because everything "especially and even that door by the potty!!!!" was dripping. Also that Josh is right. Again.

What Tommy learned from this experience: "We never never NEVER say those words. Even if we hear someone else say them. OK?"

What John learned: nothing. Kid can sleep through anything if he really wants to.

3 comments:

  1. Next time you have water spraying straight up, will you call me? I'd like to see if it looks as funny in real life as it looks in my imagination. :)

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  2. Amen. Freaking Amen. One should not move into an old house after living in a new house. And now we know. But it's too late.

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  3. Wow! What an experience. When I was in Utah we owned a house that was 90 years old and rented another one out that was 91 years old. Character doesn't always outweigh the problems. Kenny learned a lot of "fix-it" skills in those 4 years though. I figure any house under 30 years old is pretty new to me. Ha!

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