Lost week

[offcntr]

So I've been kind of absent here since we got back from Minneapolis. What's been going on?

Well, glazing, for one thing. This is my patterns list for the firing that's currently quietly roaring to itself in the next room. Started glazing Sunday night, finished last Friday afternoon. That's a lot of critters to paint.

While I was doing that, I was also working on my summer shows postcard--idea, design, paste-up, printing. Sorting out my mailing list, buying stamps. We labeled and mailed the first batch, bound for Roseburg, during the occasional slow moment at Saturday Market.

That means I also needed to update my web page, write a new welcome, pick a pattern of the month, update my summer shows, now that they're all in place. Throw in an announcement for a workshop I'm teaching in July. Details in a day or so, promise.

And meanwhile... Monday afternoon, Denise answered a knock at the door to see the EWEB meter reader. Our water meter was spinning like a top; were we washing a lot of something?

Um, no. So she turned off the water at the street, I came home about 4:45 and called our plumber, who recommended a leak finder, who was on vacation. Called back again and got the number of another leak detector, who promised to send someone Tuesday afternoon. Filled five-gallon bucket from the rain barrel, took a 2.5 gallon contractor's cooler and a bunch of jugs down to Club Mud when I went back in the evening to continue my interrupted glazing.

Tuesday morning we lucked out; the half-day job they'd bid came out to an hour of actual work, so the tech came by at 10 am, listened around the house, checked the usage rate (9 gallons per minute) and, using pressurized helium and sonar, is spite of the neighbor's mastiffs barking and bouncing off the chain-link fence, found a spot that he marked with a big blue X, right at the base of a big cedar tree. Denise called the plumbers, who promised to come out Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday: plumbers came, dug at the spot, found no leak, bone dry soil. Detector came back, marked out the rest of the line, as best as he could find it--lost it somewhere in the back yard.

Plumbers came again Thursday, filled the first hole, dug another back in the yard, explained that the leak being somewhere under the tree, the best plan would be to cap that pipe at the meter and again in the back yard, and run a new service line from the meter to the back. They had a nifty high-tech machine that would bore a horizontal hole and thread a flexible line, so no digging, no trenching, no problems. Told Denise they'd be able to do the job next Wednesday.

Denise called, upset, trying to explain what she'd been told. I dropped the glazing, came home to hear it in person, then called Walter, the plumber, to hear it from him. He explained the situation again, waxing eloquent about the tunneler, which was busy. Could you do a temporary splice in the meantime? I asked. Run a pipe above ground between the two endpoints, so at least we'd have water again?

Well, yeah, he said, but it'd be more money.

Reader, I lost it.

We were sweaty, grumpy, unwashed--except for what washing you can do with a wet rag and a half-gallon jug of tepid water. I told him, Money is not the problem. I have money to throw at this. What I don't have is water, and I'm not willing to wait another week to get some.

Did I mention it was 80° plus all week?

Well, he needed to talk to his scheduler and call back. Said they worked Friday and Saturday, so it would be one of the two; when I explained about Saturday Market, he said it didn't matter, they wouldn't need to go inside. Called back in five minutes to tell us they'd be there 10 am Friday.

At which point, I went online and reserved us a motel room for the night. Packed an overnight bag and a couple of bears, drove down and took a shower, left Denise to regain sanity and sanitation, while I drove back to Club Mud to continue glazing.

Friday afternoon, just as I painted the last dozen soup bowls, Denise called to tell us we had water again. That evening we washed the dishes, watered the garden, and showered again before bedtime. (That's three showers in less than 24 hours; I don't think that's excessive.)

Comments

[chefxh]

I bet you used less than nine gallons a minute!

[offcntr]

Just got our EWEB bill. Over 600 dollars, of which 500 was water. Denise did some back-of-the-napkin math and figured it'd been leaking at least nine days.

[chefxh]

Oh no! Reminds me of the (thankfully slower) leak we had under the 130-year-old house in Medical Lake.