Tag Archives: frozen pipes

If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Something Else…

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My old Granny used to say, “If it ain’t one thing, it’s something else” every time something broke or quit working. I say it a lot these days!

In case you don’t know, I live in SW Missouri, and we’ve had a little snow and very cold temperatures recently. (This week it’s a bit warmer, thank goodness.) There’s still snow on the ground, and I’m almost certain our car is going to be stuck in the mud as the snow melts. I should have parked it elsewhere before the cold snap. (Shit. I can’t do everything.)

We have a private well, and the pressure tank is outside (in a wellhouse that used to be insulated). There are also exposed PVC pipes under the house, so there’s always a chance our pipes will freeze. This is a real pain in the ass every winter! We always have to run the water a bit to prevent the pipes from freezing, and there’s a heater in the wellhouse to keep things from freezing in there. Anyway, when it’s going to be below freezing, I turn on the cold water a bit in each sink and in the tub. If it’s going to be in the low teens and single digits, I turn on the hot water a little, too. I also turn on the heater in the wellhouse. I check everything multiple times during the night. I was doing so well…

Monday morning, the temp was 39 degrees. The sun was shining bright and warm. The high was in the 40s that day. I turned off the water and the heater in the wellhouse to give everything (pump, water heater, heater) a break. About an hour or so later, I went to use the water, and nothing happened. No water! Not a drop. No water in the kitchen or bathroom. I thought, Ok, I doubt the pipes have frozen, but maybe there’s a chunk of ice blocking one of the main pipes. So, I put my little heater on the pipes going into the water heater. (That has worked before when the pipes froze, but hadn’t been frozen for long.) The heater went for hours. Still, no water. Fuck. 

I texted our well guy. He said he would send one of his guys out the next day (Tuesday). That was yesterday, and just as our well guy promised, one of his guys came out to check our well. We were so hoping the problem was the control box on the pressure tank, or maybe a bad switch. It turned out to be the freaking pump!! That’s going to run about $4,000+ and counting labor, closer to $5,000. That will come out of our new house money. There goes the money for our kitchen cabinets. If it ain’t one thing, it’s something else.  

We are currently waiting for the well service crew. We have called on them before, so they are familiar with everything. They are quick to get things done when people don’t have water! This morning, they are picking up the new pump in Springfield. If all goes well, they will be here today to pull the pump and replace it. If not today, then tomorrow, but they really do their best to get to us asap.

Maybe one of these days, our luck will change. I’m so tired of fighting this house and all of the problems it throws at us. It’s depressing, and I don’t know how much more I can take.

Update On All Things Sh*t

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Ok, not all things are shit. There have been some good things happening since my last post. Our new house is coming along. The house is wired, and the water lines and sewer pipes are in place and awaiting the next phase. The HVAC is nearly ready for hook-up. The insulation will be delivered on Wednesday. The next step will be the drywall. Such happiness and hope! I don’t think I can bear another cold ass winter in this old house!

Colder than a witch’s tit…

Which leads me to the shit part of this post. The weather has been colder than a witch’s tit. The last 2 nights were down in the single digits and tonight will be the 3rd. We always keep our water running to prevent the pipes from freezing. Running only the cold water always works. We have never run the hot water in the same manner and never had the hot water pipes freeze up. They say there’s a first time for everything and this was a first. The hot water pipes froze up, but hopefully not busted. It’s too cold to crawl under the house to check. Not that I could do it and Dad really doesn’t need to be doing it but he might insist if it were warmer. Anyway, maybe our contractor will check for us tomorrow when he comes. He wasn’t here today for his own reasons. 

Withdrawals suck…

Last week was a bad one for me. If you follow this blog you may remember me posting about my meds not coming when they should have which led to me having withdrawals. Now, don’t give me that “omg, she’s an addict” crap because I am not an addict. There’s a difference between being addicted and being dependent. I am dependent on my meds so that I can function. I had gone 3 days without my gabapentin, which has terrible withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it abruptly. It was not a good 3 days as I had insomnia, massive sweating (in a 40-degree house, mind you), and heart palpitations. I had headaches off and on, and I was moody as hell. Wouldn’t you be moody on zero hours of sleep in 3 days?  I finally got my script in the mail but not before I got an emergency 10-day supply filled by a different pharmacy. Needless to say, I saved the 10-day supply in my “extras” stash. 

I think they need more training!

I blame the pharmacy for not filling the gabapentin automatically as they do the other meds I take. I had forgotten to order them myself because it was right before Christmas. I also blame the USPS. Even though I expected a delay due to the snow we got that week, I did expect my delivery when Informed Delivery told me it was out for delivery! But instead, it was 4 days later before it was actually delivered. The roads had been perfectly fine. If the mail carriers can’t do the job correctly, then they need to be replaced. Still the fault of the USPS. They have a lot of nerve raising the rates for every damn thing and then reducing the quality of service! 

Not much else going on…just trying to get through this cold spell. I’m wearing my Sherpa blanket hoodie, which I found on Amazon a few years ago. It’s been a lifesaver in this cold ass weather! I hope you’re staying warm…or cool, depending on where you are!

Have a great week, my friends!

 

 

Still Kickin’

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Happy Monday!

What’s that? Yes, I’m still kickin’…and sometimes screaming. I’m trying to get back on track but this past couple of months have sucked and quite frankly, my desire to do anything has diminished.

We finally got propane, which is our primary source of heat. It took an entire month to get that no-good, mofo company out here to fill our tank! We went through that zero degree weather with 2 little space heaters in the living room, which didn’t even begin to keep us warm. I ended up buying a couple of electric shawls that were a Godsend, holy crap. They really helped – but now it’s warming up and I have packed them away for next winter.

We thought we were in the home stretch when our water pipes froze. We always take precautions and this time was no different but it was so much colder than it normally is that what we did wasn’t good enough. When it started to warm up and the pipes started to thaw, we realized we had busted pipes and we had to shut the water completely off. My son came and replaced pipes and repaired leaks and we thought we had it made but then for some reason we only had hot water in the bathtub and cold water in the toilet but no water anywhere else! My son checked and double-checked but could find nothing wrong! Nearly 2 weeks later, we finally found a plumber and $500+ later, we had water everywhere we were supposed to have water! The faucets were clogged; the kitchen faucet even had to be replaced. Boy, was it nice to be able to take a shower and wash dishes like “normal folk”.

I’ve been having health issues again. You may recall I was in the ER in December with swollen legs and numbness. I’ve been taking meds for that but last week I was in the doctor’s office with “leakage” in my legs. Technically, it’s lymphedema and I need a specific treatment which my insurance won’t pay for. That doesn’t surprise me at all, as it’s not the first time I’ve not been able to have the treatment/procedure/medication that I need to improve and protect my health. Anyway, the medical center has sent me forms to apply to a local charity that sometimes pays for things that folks can’t afford. I won’t get my hopes up because if I do, the rug will get pulled out from under me as it always does.

On the bright side, my daughter has given birth to a bouncing baby girl! My baby girl now has her own baby girl and that makes me so happy! On that note, I will leave you with a photo of Miss Angelina Rose!

angelina rose