Get yourself something to drink, sit down, and relax. This is a VERY long-winded story. On second thought, you probably ought to go to the bathroom too. No seriously, I mean it . . . . it’s REALLY LONG, like three pages of paper long . . . .
So, Northern California has been arctic this winter. I bet it’s been that way all over. Honestly, I haven’t been enjoying it one bit. Normally I am much more of a whiner about hot weather, but then again hot weather doesn’t freeze ones water pipes every single day for a week running. Last Friday I woke up at my normal time, which gives me just about 13 minutes to do my morning routine. I shower at night (thank God!) so that means I just have to wash my face, brush my teeth, avail myself of the facilities, get dressed, throw the ice pack in my lunch box, and walk out the door. Of course, it is customary for me to run the water in my bathroom sink while I am washing my hands and face, and brushing my teeth. Alas, this particular Friday I was out of luck in the running water department. I realized immediately that the pipes must have frozen overnight. I am a bit of a freak about having lots of bottles of water in my refrigerator at all times, so I went out to the kitchen and got a bottle. With this water, I did my morning necessities as best I could. This of course is not figured into my 13 minutes, so I was running a tad late by the time I got back into the kitchen. Once out the door, I went over to check the water main and it was in fact frozen. I also realized at this point that the PVC pipe my dad had added to run my lawn sprinklers was most definitely broken. This was troublesome, as I had no way at that moment to turn the water main off (frozen in the on position of course). So I got in my car and drove the four and one half minutes to work. I called my dad to alert him that I would be needing his expertise and assistance in the evening to repair said broken pipe. Around noon, I returned home hoping that it would be unfrozen enough to turn the main off, and yes, you guessed it, it was most certainly unfrozen by then. I had a geyser of sorts in my driveway. So I turned the main off, and went back to work. I was, as I am sure you have probably figured out, just a bit grouchy at this point, and still half the day to go. After work, dad was of course already there working. He’s such a Godsend!! I really don’t know what I would do without him, I am so lucky!! Oh yeah, where was I? Oh yes, he had bought all the parts needed and we went to work. He had me actually do all the work, which I was quite squeamish about but I am grateful he did that because now I have actually physically done the work myself and know I could do it again if the situation calls. Friday night I went to bed, leaving the guest bathroom tub dripping to keep the pipes from freezing again.
Apparently, a dripping faucet is not sufficient to keep one’s pipes from freezing. Saturday morning I awoke to once again wash my face and hands, and brush my teeth with water from bottles in the fridge. Dad had already planned to be at the house at 10:00 to be there with me when the contractor came to do some maintenance on my house (this was arranged prior to the pipe problem). So we sort of took a look at the pipes around 11:00, and nothing looked broken this time so I was glad for that. The pipes did not unfreeze until almost noon. This made me feel better about the geyser I had at lunchtime on Friday, as it probably hadn’t been spewing for too long when I got there to turn it off. So we checked the newly changed pipes and all looked well there. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a drip around the water meter. Dad tightened a couple of bolts and we thought that seemed to fix it. Well, not so much. It was definitely dripping by 1:00. So I called the park manager, and let them know that my meter was broken. Thankfully, this is their responsibility as the meters belong to them. She asked how bad it was leaking, and I told her not too bad. I was the fifth person to call Saturday with this problem. The place they purchase the meters from is not open on weekends, and of course this was a holiday weekend (Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday) so probably they wouldn’t be able to get replacements until at least Tuesday. And the store is in Santa Rosa (about an hours drive) so I was guessing I would be lucky if it was replaced by quitting time on Wednesday. I had plans with friends for Saturday afternoon, so when I finished talking with the park manager, I packed up my stuff and left. I decided that I really didn’t need a puddle at my utility area, so I turned the water main off before I left. I hung out with my friends for several hours, had lunch, wandered downtown, rented some movies. About 5:00 we were waiting for another friend to arrive before starting the movies. I decided to go home and shower while waiting so I wouldn’t still be up at 1:00 am. I am getting much too old to do stay up that late very often, and I also had plans for Sunday that I didn’t want to be too tired for. I arrived home, turned the main on, and showered. I decided this time that I would fill up some pots and pans with water too, as it appeared that we would be suffering from these freezing temperatures for a few days to come. I figured it would be good to have extra water on hand. How fun!! Just like camping!! Anyway, when I was all done with that, I packed up my stuff again, and turned off the water main before heading out. We watched our movies. Completely off the subject, but steer clear of My Super Ex-Girlfriend. It was very possibly the worst movie I have seen in five years, if not the worst movie I have ever seen. Anyway, back to my riveting story - I left my friend’s house about 11:40 and got home about 10 minutes later. I went to turn the main on to do my bedtime routine, and the pipe was already frozen. I was quite irritated, but infinitely glad that I had showered at 6:00. Whew!! So I used my stocked up water for teeth brushing and what not, and went to bed.
Sunday I went to Santa Rosa with my parents. The water of course was frozen when I got up, so I did my morning routine with my water in the pot. The valve was still frozen shut when I left at 10:00. I returned home about 6:00 pm. On my way in, I turned the main on so I could shower etc. Well let me tell you, that water meter was no longer a drip, drip, drip. It was a freaking geyser. It shot out both sides, and down (which hits the ground about 6 inches below it and sprays your feet and legs), and straight up which hits the carport roof and makes a not very lovely waterfall. The was entirely unexpected, and I was so shocked, it took me a couple second to move. Of course I was practically half showered by then, but this was not very useful as I normally do not shower with all my clothes on. So I turned it back off (I’m quite brilliant aren’t I?) and went inside. I called the park manager back to let them know I was no longer a drip, drip, drip, so please don’t put me at the bottom of the queue. I told them I would be only turning the main on when I really needed the water and otherwise it would be off at all times. So . . . . I got completely ready before turning the water back on. Hair is brushed and ready for washing, I am wearing a robe for easy . . . . well disrobing, I have all the water bottles and pots/pans I want to fill, dishes I want to rinse. Then I go out there and turn the geyser on and run back in the house. I fill up two large pans with water, and a smaller pan, and about six 32 ounce bottles of water. I shower. I flush both toilets. And I’m back outside turning the water off in about 15 minutes. I hope you’re impressed, because I’m a girl and that’s one quick shower mixed in with lots of other stuff. I was in and out of the shower in under seven minutes. So as a recap, this was Sunday evening.
Monday was of course a holiday. I think this may have been the only time in recorded history I wished it wasn’t a holiday. I used both toilets during the day. I learned that once the tank is full, you can flush twice before you can’t flush anymore. So that’s four usages. That got me well past the noon unfreezing point. I also slept in quite late, which was handy. I did the same shower, fill pots/bottles, flush everything routine about 4:00, and prepared to go to my parents house to watch The Golden Globes. I don’t have TV service so I must rely on the goodwill of others for important events such as award ceremonies. Upon leaving their house, I made sure to use the facilites as I could flush AND wash my hands with running water (such a novelty for me). I returned home and did the nightly teeth routine with my bottled water.
Tuesday morning I rose a tad earlier than usual, giving myself 18 minutes instead of 13 to get ready. Things move a little slower when washing hands and face with a pot of water. But I made it to work on time. I must admit, I did have a smidgen of hope that when I returned home from work that the water meter would be shining and new, but no such luck. So the same evening routine of prepping everything before turning the main on, showering, fill pots/bottles, flush both toilets, and turn off the main. I can’t believe the mess that makes outside! It wets my porch steps, my swing, even my car.
Today is Wednesday (January 17th, 2007). The water main was not frozen shut this morning (WooHoo), but I didn’t know that until I was already out the door so it really wasn’t that helpful for me. What it does mean is that maybe we are finally past the coldest point and it will be warm enough from now on to keep things running. I can dream anyway! I am hoping once again today that when I return home the water meter will be a lovely new one with no leaks. I have to admit I am very tired. I am quite stressed, tired of worrying about things breaking, and the cost of repair, and whatever other silly obsessive thoughts I have had over the past five days. On the other hand, at least I can still use the water when I really need it. It’s been much more bearable than when we were without power for two days last summer during the days it was 110° and up. No AC, no refrigerator, no ice maker. Not pretty. It wasn’t like I could turn on the power for 10 minutes and do my stuff and turn it back off.
Now it’s Monday January 22nd, 2007 and I am finishing up this lovely story that I am quite sure is keeping you on the edge of your seat. I am quite sure you’re just dying to know how it ends. When I returned home Wednesday last week, the water meter was indeed replaced. I was so very elated. But that elation lasted a total of 13 seconds (don’t blink, you might miss it). I could see that there was a drip of water coming from somewhere, but I wasn’t sure right off where it was coming from. So I removed the foam insulation until I located the trouble spot. The T fitting that joins the line that goes into the house to the backyard hoses and sprinkler line had a hairline crack in it. It wasn’t bad, not at all. Just enough to make a little mist of water and, of course, the drip I was seeing. I have no idea when this leak occurred, as the geyser caused by the water meter would have masked it. So into the house I went and called the park manager once again. I asked how much of the line belongs to the park, and how much belongs to me. Their part is the pipe that comes out of the ground and the water meter. Everything beyond the meter belongs to me. See, this has been quite an education for me! I discovered later that this is the case for everyone, even if you are lucky enough to own a real house and not live in a trailer park. All you readers probably already knew this lovely fact, but it was new to me. After getting off the phone with the park manager, I could hear a noise inside the house. I followed it to my bathroom door. As a side note, this door is always shut due to the cat finding the bathroom a play-room – oh the joy of unrolling the toilet paper and batting all my jewelry onto the floor and down the sink drain. I opened the door and about passed out. I had bled several faucets in the house the night before, and apparently had not completely shut off the shower. This was very bad, as it was definitely warm-to-hot water and as I have mentioned, the door was shut. So the mirrors, walls, light fixture, window (which was very thankfully open) were streaming with condensation. I had to empty both medicine cabinets and wipe everything down, including the contents of the cabinets. I called the manager back to see if maybe she knew what time my meter had been replaced. I explained that when the repair person arrived, the water main was most certainly off, and that they had turned it back on and left it on. I also explained, I hope in a pleasant voice, that this was most unfortunate as I had faucets in the house on. I tried to be clear without being, well, a witch, that I has very unhappy that things had not been put back as they had been found, and that I am very concerned about my utility bills. I was already concerned about my water bill due to the geysers I had for several days, but now also about my gas bill for heating my hot shower all day long. She said to call back in the middle of February and remind her about my situation, and they would try to adjust my utility bill covering this period. We’ll see how that goes . . . .
Anyway, I called my dad and he said he would come over to take a look at the new problem. I was in a bit of a tizzy as I could not for the life of me see how in the world one would get to the T without dismantling the whole house. Ok, maybe not the whole house, but you see I was a mess and not really thinking clearly. So he arrived, and said it was no big deal and calmly explained to me how it all goes together. I was much relieved as it started to make sense to me. He did not have time or materials to repair it on Wednesday, so I washed my car. What else is a girl to do? I had to do something that would make me feel better. Which it did, but it also made me frozen as I got wet and it was cold (thus broken water pipes, duh!!) Then I did a load of laundry and took a shower, after of course waiting for the water to get hot again. At least now I could leave the water main on for a longer period of time, as now the leak was a little mist rather than a geyser. This was much nicer, but truth be told I was still on edge and feeling very much upset. I had so wanted this to be the end of my saga and was so disappointed that it was not. I turned the water back off before bed, and did my usual camping routine Thursday and Friday mornings.
Saturday morning my dad (my dad is Superman in case you haven’t figured that out yet) came and fixed the T. I watched this time. It was so much easier that I would ever have expected. A pain in the rear of course, but not the total dismantling of the whole works that I thought. Less than an hour, including us talking and doing some other things. Then he went home, and I went inside. Of course, I went outside about once every five minutes to see if there were any drips anywhere. Not one drop all afternoon. I had plans Saturday night, so I took a shower and got ready to leave about 6:30. I turned the main off as I left. I wasn’t planning to be home until quite late (or quite early depending on how one looks at it). I was worried that when I returned home, I would not be able to shower again (I always shower after three hours of dancing my heart out). I was very pleased to find the water not frozen when I got home. I took a lovely shower, and went back out to turn the water off. No leaving it on overnight when the temperature is going to be below 35°. But the strangest thing happened when I went out to turn it back off. It’s like the main didn’t turn the water entirely off. I always bleed the hose spigot, which is located right above the main, whenever I turn the main off. No sense in the pipes still being full of water as the whole point of turning the water off is to keep the pipes from breaking. So I bled the hose spigot, and it just sort of kept dripping, dripping, dripping. I thought it odd, as I said, because it did NOT do this when I turned it off at 6:30. Well, as I am sure you can imagine, this did not make me feel at all secure. I mean, really, it’s the main!! If I can’t turn the main off . . . . I don’t even want to go there. After playing with it for a bit (mind you, it’s about 3:00 in the morning and it’s darned cold) I finally got it to just barely drip and so left the spigot open with a bucket below it to catch the water. Of course I would need to know when I got up Sunday just how much water had come out while I was attempting to get some sleep, and also I really don’t want there to be a pool of water on the ground there. The cement was finally almost completely dry there, and I wanted to keep it that way (it makes it easier to see if there is a new leak). Upon awaking Sunday morning, there wasn’t much water in the bucket, so I breathed a sigh of relief. I left the water on all day Sunday, which was hard for me. But I did get in a good nap which was much needed (note that I didn’t check the pipes every five minutes while I was napping!!). I ran water and washed dishes and changed the sheets on my bed and did laundry. It was nice to have normal running water again. I did my normal evening routine, showering, full teeth regimen, and then turned it off before bed. I had a tiny bit of trouble with the main, but not as much. I did the same thing with the bucket, as I again wanted to know how much would drip overnight.
This morning (Monday Jan 22nd) there was more water in the bucket than Sunday morning, but not a huge amount. I turned the water on and left it on all day again, and still no leaks. I am starting to feel somewhat normal. I don’t know how long it will be before I feel completely normal about the water pipes again. I know I won’t be able to leave the water on overnight until the low is at least over 35°. It’s just not worth it to me to leave it on. It’s not that inconvenient to have it off in the mornings, as I shower at night. I know you probably all think I’m off my rocker, and maybe I am. I can only imagine what the neighbors on that side of my house must think, if they have seen me poke my head out the door at least twice an hour. I have certainly learned that under the right (or wrong depending how you look at it) circumstances I can be completely obsessive-compulsive. I have known for years that I am obsessive about certain things, but this is the first time I have really been compulsive too. Hopefully it is truly situational, and will pass as more days and nights go by with no new leaks.
I have realized that even with all this unpleasantness, I am extremely glad to not be a renter anymore. If I had been a renter this past 10 days, maybe I wouldn’t have had to deal with any of the worry about cost, or doing the work myself, but I would have still had the inconvenience of being without reliable running water. I don’t mind nearly as much paying a house payment as I minded paying rent. At least I am earning equity in something that’s mine, and someday I will be able (hopefully) to sell it and buy a real house. But the truth is, I hadn’t prepared myself for this sort of thing. I have lived in this house for just over three years now and I’ve never had this sort of crisis. I realize I should have thought about it and prepared for it, but it simply never crossed my mind. I guarantee you I will be watching the weather much more carefully from now on, and not just the forecast high. Like I said, I am usually quite the whiner about hot weather. I hate hot weather! I mean, really truly hate it!! I have never particularly minded cold weather, so I have never really paid any attention to the lows. Well, that’s all changed. I will diligently watch, and when it is predicted to be in the teens and twenties like it has been I will be taking proper precautions to keep the pipes from breaking again. I will also be doing something VERY special for my dad, because without him . . . . well I don’t even want to think about it.
