Lack of posting here has been nagging at me for some time now. And now I've received two emails from readers asking if we are o.k., or having some trouble. So here goes:
Last Saturday the local Lions Club held their annual swap meet.
Part of the reason I haven't been posting is that I've been busy renting out the one bedroom condo. We were really fortunate not to have a vacancy between renters! But it did make me pretty busy with making all the arrangements.
Saturday afternoon I had to go over there and clean the rug with the Bissell rug machine, and then clean up the patio and the patio furniture. I figured I could do that in an hour, and then have time to go to the pool for a relaxing swim.
The outside shutoff for the water for that condo is on the opposite side of the building: three condos to the end of the building, around to the other side, and then three condos down to the shut off. I walked out there and turned the water on. When I got back to the condo I heard, I thought, a tap running. I went into the kitchen to turn it off and discovered a small flood coming from the laundry room into the kitchen. I RAN!!! to turn off the water on the other side of the building.
Fortunately I had a pail and some large rags along, and mopped up what had run into the kitchen and what was left on the laundry room floor. The laundry room is more like a large closet and contains a stacked apartment size washer/dryer, a hot water tank and some shelving to hold supplies. Was it the hot water tank? I checked. Nope. I moved the washer/dryer as far as I could--just far enough to squeeze behind it. There was the problem, a hole in the cold water hose to the washer.
I resigned myself to an afternoon of "playing" plumber.
There was no pliers there, so I walked back home and picked up a pliers. Went back to the condo and, with lots of effort, managed to remove the hose from the wall outlet and the washer. That meant a trip to Home Depot for a replacement--fortunately just a few minutes drive away.
Washer hoses come in a package of two--one blue for cold water, one red for hot water. If I'd been thinking straight I would have bought the braided (?) steel hoses, but just got the replacement rubber hoses. They should last a while.
Back to the condo. Wrestle off the hot water hose (squeezed between the washer/dryer and the wall) and attach the new hoses. Wish I had one of those wrenches that plumbers use, but was stuck with my pliers, which didn't fit in the little indentation in the wall that housed the outlets. Finally got both hoses on.
Went back and turned on the water again. Came back in and found another flood, smaller, but maybe more frustrating. Ran back and turned off the water again. Came back and worked on getting the hoses screwed on tightly enough. Tried again. Had to do it all a third time. AAAHHH, third time the charm. No leaks.
This was taking a lot of time! I considered going home and having a dish of ice cream (my comfort remedy) but thought I should persevere. So I prepared the rug cleaning machine and had a go at it. Did a pretty thorough job. And then went out to the patio and got rid of a few months worth of blown in dirt. Things were looking good now. Still no leaks in the laundry room. Emptied out the dirty water from the rug cleaner, gathered up my bucket, broom, rags and cleaners and dragged the whole caboodle back home. It was just after 5 p.m.
Then I did sit down with a generous helping of ice cream. By generous, I mean a slightly bigger cup than the usual 6 ounce serving.
Today I went back to move the furniture back in place and was pleased to see how clean the rug looks now--and still no leaks in the laundry room.
I felt like a fairly competent plumber--UNTIL tonight when I came home from my walk with my sister and the Dear One told me that the garbage disposal wasn't "disposing." I looked up on line what to do, did it all, and it still didn't drain. There's one thing left to try there: unplug the disposal, remove it from its clamps, being sure to have a bucket underneath. Empty it, examine why it's not clearing. Hopefully be able to get the thing going again.
If not, it's time to call Able Dave! (There really is such a fellow here, and he is able.)
Last Saturday the local Lions Club held their annual swap meet.
From 8 a.m. to noon the Lions Club and several individuals offered a wide assortment of second hand items for sale in the Community Center. There were lots of bargains to be had. I bought several. Somehow everything I bought was very heavy, beginning with a terrific frying pan for only 50 cents.
I had my big pink bag along but soon had to come back to the condo to empty it. I made three successful forays and found the frying pan, the hat, the Cuisinart with four different blades (for only $5!), two white tablecloths (destined to become a blouse and a pool cover-up), an electric can opener (the hand cranked one doesn't work well), a nifty Corning Ware casserole with a lid, and best of all--a table-top ironing board. Living in a 908 sq. ft. condo means not having a lot of room for odds 'n ends. Oh, yes, and that cute straw hat for pool afternoons ($5, seemed a little much, eh?).
What doesn't show here are the large Christmas tree stand and the large wicker basket with gold sprayed pine cones and a big red plaid bow on the handle. They're in the storage closet until December arrives.
Jim had made a beautiful fruit salad that morning. He does this every day. I have the small cereal bowl full and he eats the rest over the course of the day. He LOVES his fruit salad and considers it essential to his health. I'm so thankful that he does the cutting up for this!
Part of the reason I haven't been posting is that I've been busy renting out the one bedroom condo. We were really fortunate not to have a vacancy between renters! But it did make me pretty busy with making all the arrangements.
Saturday afternoon I had to go over there and clean the rug with the Bissell rug machine, and then clean up the patio and the patio furniture. I figured I could do that in an hour, and then have time to go to the pool for a relaxing swim.
The outside shutoff for the water for that condo is on the opposite side of the building: three condos to the end of the building, around to the other side, and then three condos down to the shut off. I walked out there and turned the water on. When I got back to the condo I heard, I thought, a tap running. I went into the kitchen to turn it off and discovered a small flood coming from the laundry room into the kitchen. I RAN!!! to turn off the water on the other side of the building.
Fortunately I had a pail and some large rags along, and mopped up what had run into the kitchen and what was left on the laundry room floor. The laundry room is more like a large closet and contains a stacked apartment size washer/dryer, a hot water tank and some shelving to hold supplies. Was it the hot water tank? I checked. Nope. I moved the washer/dryer as far as I could--just far enough to squeeze behind it. There was the problem, a hole in the cold water hose to the washer.
I resigned myself to an afternoon of "playing" plumber.
There was no pliers there, so I walked back home and picked up a pliers. Went back to the condo and, with lots of effort, managed to remove the hose from the wall outlet and the washer. That meant a trip to Home Depot for a replacement--fortunately just a few minutes drive away.
Washer hoses come in a package of two--one blue for cold water, one red for hot water. If I'd been thinking straight I would have bought the braided (?) steel hoses, but just got the replacement rubber hoses. They should last a while.
Back to the condo. Wrestle off the hot water hose (squeezed between the washer/dryer and the wall) and attach the new hoses. Wish I had one of those wrenches that plumbers use, but was stuck with my pliers, which didn't fit in the little indentation in the wall that housed the outlets. Finally got both hoses on.
Went back and turned on the water again. Came back in and found another flood, smaller, but maybe more frustrating. Ran back and turned off the water again. Came back and worked on getting the hoses screwed on tightly enough. Tried again. Had to do it all a third time. AAAHHH, third time the charm. No leaks.
This was taking a lot of time! I considered going home and having a dish of ice cream (my comfort remedy) but thought I should persevere. So I prepared the rug cleaning machine and had a go at it. Did a pretty thorough job. And then went out to the patio and got rid of a few months worth of blown in dirt. Things were looking good now. Still no leaks in the laundry room. Emptied out the dirty water from the rug cleaner, gathered up my bucket, broom, rags and cleaners and dragged the whole caboodle back home. It was just after 5 p.m.
Then I did sit down with a generous helping of ice cream. By generous, I mean a slightly bigger cup than the usual 6 ounce serving.
Today I went back to move the furniture back in place and was pleased to see how clean the rug looks now--and still no leaks in the laundry room.
I felt like a fairly competent plumber--UNTIL tonight when I came home from my walk with my sister and the Dear One told me that the garbage disposal wasn't "disposing." I looked up on line what to do, did it all, and it still didn't drain. There's one thing left to try there: unplug the disposal, remove it from its clamps, being sure to have a bucket underneath. Empty it, examine why it's not clearing. Hopefully be able to get the thing going again.
If not, it's time to call Able Dave! (There really is such a fellow here, and he is able.)
No comments:
Post a Comment