Plumber's Butt...
So he was supposed to show between 6:00 and 8:00 this morning. And I believe that the only good reasons to be up this early on a Saturday are fishing or golf. And I was doing neither.
Jake made coffee. Thanks, Jake.
At 8:30, I called the office and the guy was lost, but not far away. I talked him in.
And he investigated. And he turned the water to the water heater on slowly. And sure enough, there are two small holes in the top of the tank. "You got a busted tank. YEr gettin' a new water heater, buddy."
(Incidentally, why do they call tank tops 'tank tops'? Tube tops, sure I get it, but tank tops?).
And all of the supply houses are closed until Monday. So no hot water until Monday at the earliest. And I'm mentally preparing myself for Tuesday or Wednesday.
Rachel took a cold shower this morning. A REALLY cold shower. That's not for me. So I guess I'm going to find an old Western or something on TV so I can show Jake how they used to wash in the old days. Hot water in a bowl, or basin. Or maybe the golf course clubhouse or the pool has showers. I could probably go to Frank and Marla's or a neighbor's and shower.
Or maybe I'll just pretend I'm camping.
Anyway, then I had him look at the leaky valve on the toilet in the Kerouac Shrine. And that's when I saw crack. But I'm not gonna show you that. This is a family blog.
Plumber's Butt (Nick at Night version)...
...face hidden to protect the guilty party, as well as the innocent readers of this blog.
"Plumber's Butt" is also a cool band name, dontcha think?
Now, I've said repeatedly that this is a family blog. And I want to make a point about passive versus active media. The above picture was forced on you. But the video below, well, that requires you, the reader, to click on it.
It's up to you.
The good news is that today's effort - the visit, the tank inspection, and the toilet valve replacement - would have cost me around $300. The replacement water heater is in the $350 neighborhood. Plus 3 hours of labor at $125 an hour. A bit over a grand, all told. Which means if we get an infestation of black widows again in the spring, we will be ahead on the warranty this year.
Or maybe the garbage disposal will go out or something.
I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of my day, but I am pretty sure there's going to be a nap in there somewhere.
Oh, and a phone conversation with a friend from college, Roshan. He found me on MySpace and we've been trying to get back in touch.
Jake made coffee. Thanks, Jake.
At 8:30, I called the office and the guy was lost, but not far away. I talked him in.
And he investigated. And he turned the water to the water heater on slowly. And sure enough, there are two small holes in the top of the tank. "You got a busted tank. YEr gettin' a new water heater, buddy."
(Incidentally, why do they call tank tops 'tank tops'? Tube tops, sure I get it, but tank tops?).
And all of the supply houses are closed until Monday. So no hot water until Monday at the earliest. And I'm mentally preparing myself for Tuesday or Wednesday.
Rachel took a cold shower this morning. A REALLY cold shower. That's not for me. So I guess I'm going to find an old Western or something on TV so I can show Jake how they used to wash in the old days. Hot water in a bowl, or basin. Or maybe the golf course clubhouse or the pool has showers. I could probably go to Frank and Marla's or a neighbor's and shower.
Or maybe I'll just pretend I'm camping.
Anyway, then I had him look at the leaky valve on the toilet in the Kerouac Shrine. And that's when I saw crack. But I'm not gonna show you that. This is a family blog.
Plumber's Butt (Nick at Night version)...
...face hidden to protect the guilty party, as well as the innocent readers of this blog."Plumber's Butt" is also a cool band name, dontcha think?
Now, I've said repeatedly that this is a family blog. And I want to make a point about passive versus active media. The above picture was forced on you. But the video below, well, that requires you, the reader, to click on it.
It's up to you.
The good news is that today's effort - the visit, the tank inspection, and the toilet valve replacement - would have cost me around $300. The replacement water heater is in the $350 neighborhood. Plus 3 hours of labor at $125 an hour. A bit over a grand, all told. Which means if we get an infestation of black widows again in the spring, we will be ahead on the warranty this year.
Or maybe the garbage disposal will go out or something.
I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of my day, but I am pretty sure there's going to be a nap in there somewhere.
Oh, and a phone conversation with a friend from college, Roshan. He found me on MySpace and we've been trying to get back in touch.
posted by Eric Soderstrom at 9:25 AM
2 Comments:
Mmm.... pitcher and mexican food. Sounds good. Oh crap - I'm on a diet again. Maybe this one will last longer than the past 3 or 4.
I'm glad that there is a path forward for the water heater. We had our furnace & air conditioner replaced last month. Didn't use the warranty though. We had it inspected & it just wasn't bad enough to be condemned, so we took out a loan through the local power company and bit the bullet. I hope we can at least deduct it from the taxes. The inspector told us that we can expect 15-20 years out of a furnace & ours was 27 years old. Oops.
On the intial house inspection, the inspector told us that both our water heater and furance were "past their prime". I am a bit more worried about the water heater now. If we replace it out of pocket, I will probably look at a tankless option. Not sure why -they just sound cool.
-Joe
I'd like to go tankless as well. I'd also like to switch to gas. That w3ould let me get a gas stove as well. And if we didn't have the home warranty, we'd probably bite the bullet now and get it over with. But for now, $0 out of pocket is better than replacing everything.
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