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"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."
- Unknown

"That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."
- Handed down through the ages.

"Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid."
- John Wayne



Dude.

Dude.  You can't make this sh*t up.

When I got home from work Tuesday evening, there was no power.  And that was odd because it had been a glorious, full-sun day.  I checked the battery system, and, sure enough, another battery had gone bad within the bank . . . pulling the voltage of the entire system way down.  Ah, yes.  And, the local guru is in . . . Norway right now.  The long-distance guru might be up next weekend.  If so, he could switch the bad one out with one of the two remaining "replacements".  But, it's just a matter of time before they're all dead.  So, unless it's fully sunny and the batteries are charging via the solar panels, I have no electricity.  Unless I run the generator.  Which is what I've been doing each AM & PM before leaving for and once returning from work.

But wait!  There's more!

When I got home from work Wednesday night, all ready for my day off on Thursday, I walked into the utility room of the house to find water on the floor.  What the . . . ?  Further investigation found it seeping underneath the common wall into the bathroom . . . and soaking, from the bottom up, a couple inches of the sheetrock there.

Tracing the misplaced water back to its origin . . . I found a BRASS FITTING (mind you, only, what 5-6 years old???) leading up from the well and into the pressure tank had sprung a tiny hole in its solid side.  NOT at a joint.  NOT where it met the next piece of water line.  Cold, fresh water was happily shooting out.

I'm really beyond the you-have-got-to-be-kidding point.  (Well, famous last words . . . never say never!!!)  But, I gotta say, these "little things" are making it QUITE A BIT easier to think about leaving Swamp River Ridge right now!  ;)

I've tried patching the leak to no avail.  And its progressing all the time.  So, I'm going to have to call a plumber.  In the meantime?  Yeah, the water is off.  No showers, no dish washing, no laundry.

ON THE UP SIDE (!), I had a lovely visit from dear comment-leaver "M" yesterday at work.  She dropped off my first "for my new life" giftie.  More to come on that (WITH an accompanying picture) tomorrow.  :)

Also on the up side, a heavy, heavy LARGE steel plate did not fall on my head this week as it did a dear, dear friend's husband!  He's okay, aside from an impressive glued-together gash on his head, a sore noggin and stiff neck.  I caught them at the gas station the other night on their way home from the ER.  I told them about Swamp River Ridge, he said he might cry.  It was just the ER drugs talking, I'm sure.  ;)  But I got to give him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.  That made it all better . . . for me, oddly enough!  I've got to remember my wonderful, loving friends through this all.  :)
  

4 comments:

  1. Glad to hear your friend is okay! Isn't your water pump running constantly? That's how I can always tell there is a problem, when that thing runs for more than 10 seconds at a time -ugh that stuff is a bear, so I can see how you would be seeing the bright side of leaving right now LOL! Hopefully work is going well right now :)

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  2. What's that saying .... When it rains, it pours. (No pun intended.) Yea, all of this stuff that is happening may make it much easier to leave but you are still there so it would be nice it things would continue to work until you get out! My heart goes out to you and all the others out there struggling to "keep it all together" in their lives. Have a cry on me and I'll have a cry for you.

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  3. Is it better or worse that it's probably warm enough up there that the water isn't freezing into an ice rink in your house? And how does that water effect your heated floors?

    Glad your friend is okay - and also glad that you didn't have anything fall on YOUR head!!

    Still thinking of your new life gift...

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  4. You make a whole new meaning to" Over Come Adversity" and I have another story,but they are all true,can't help it that black cloud keeps following me through life. but this time we actually bought this house in this condition ,thing ,oh,we can do this ,fix her up, HA. fist ,there was no kitchen range or refrigerator "( and we had no extra money to buy any) the house had been vandalized -the neighborhood boys tore this house apart,hence ,a bargain( the neighborhood boys were a different story) my boys became men,at age 7& 8 aver night ,said by one boy's who taught mine this so called lesson. And all this was IN the country. Horse manure on front steps,eggs thrown at car and we even heard one of this group beat his dad with a baseball. On Christmas and Thanksgiving I cooked our goose ,I mean turkey on the grill,when our hot water heater went I heated water on the hot plate for the kids bath until my sister ( or rather guardian angel) stopped buy and said" I smell gas",saved our life's,End of that story ,oh,until the whole septic system backed up in house and yard,I had just had "Sewerman" out to clean it.We moved!

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If you are familiar with me and where I live, please respect my right to retain some anonymity by not referring to me by anything other than Chicken Mama nor mentioning city/town/villages by place names. Thanks!