Water Torture

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One evening I felt the water pressure in the house was quite low and thought about it every time I woke up. The next day I was having an injection in my eye, and that took up the worry time. I didn’t know I needed to worry about the bus, since with a 15-second delay, I would have missed it. Get your priorities straight, Anne! Deal with house problems after you see the eye doctor.

After I came home from the eye appointment and ate lunch, I turned on the water and knew I had to do something. Neighbor Bob, the resident Mr. Fix-it, had moved and could be anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours away. Thankfully, he was only 15 seconds away by text. I wanted advice, knowing he could not come and look under my house. Was it time to call a plumber? He texted a few questions and said he would call neighbor J. I knew that was the best thing, but I didn’t want to bother J. He had told me on several occasions that he was not good at plumbing. Nevertheless, in a few minutes J was at my door. He turned on an outside tap and agreed that I had a problem. I grabbed a flashlight and my phone, following him under the house. I pointed out the wonderful steps Mike had installed, so that I no longer needed to jump a ditch to get in the crawl space. I was looking and listening for leaks, but there were none. J went straight to the pipes where the water comes into the house.

He touched various things, saying aloud the purpose for the levers and knobs. I was extremely impressed that he knew what he was looking at. Bob had taught him well. J couldn’t see anything wrong, but he turned things off and on. He thought one handle had not been fully on, and we both agreed it should be straight. We didn’t know it, but that must have fixed the problem. J tested an outside tap, and we went into the kitchen to turn on the water there. Yes! The water pressure was good. I was so grateful. I’m still alert every time I turn a tap, but the water torture is essentially over this time. Thousands of thanks to Bob and J!

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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28 thoughts on “Water Torture”

  6. You’re so lucky to have “helpers” Anne! Sadly, my only helpers are paid helpers and I’m sorry I no longer have my nice handyman who had to retire due to a medical issue – the ones who have succeeded him are one and done (if they even show up).

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      1. Yes they are. I waited a long time to find Jim, my great handyman. The handyman Mom and I had for years was great until she passed away and he said he’d charge me double since he gave her a senior discount. I said “we split all house expenses 50/50 and I sometimes paid more as I was working and my mom was just on her Social Security.” He turned rogue and Marge saw him at the casino and I suspect he might have had a gambling problem as he kept asking for an advance on his Spring/Fall chores and would call or bang on the door incessantly, so I had to find someone else. Marge and her work friends went to the casino once a week with an allotment of money – when it was gone, they went home. She said Bill was always there. Of course, Marge seeing Bill was kind of like the pot calling the kettle black.

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          1. Yes and I was on the phone with my boss (Robb) the last time Bill came to the door and pounded on it repeatedly. I don’t have an answering machine on my landline, but I do have call waiting and caller ID. Robb was trying to tell me something and the phone kept beeping in my ear. I was glad to get rid of Bill, but then I went through a series of handymen-types (I say “types”) as one was scrolling through social media and laughing, while I handed him a “punch list” of stuff I wanted done (I had an identical list). He was a real winner, from a franchise called “Mr. Handyman”. Another one was supposed to be cleaning the gutters and Marge called me and said “should I wake up your handyman – he is sleeping up on your roof?” And, after I told Bill he was no longer welcome here, he would drive by and tell tales about me to the new handyman. The guy who fell asleep on the roof told me, then when I got Jim (the great handyman), he told me this little guy in a beat-up car pulled up in the driveway and said I was crazy. Mom and I had Bill for a long time as I mentioned before. He did handyman work as a side gig, but one time, he was “on the clock” for work and was doing a side gig where he fell off a roof and bent his knee backward the wrong way. He could not claim worker’s comp and he lost his job, lost his truck (company truck) and so he bought this car and hollowed it out inside to put his ladder and other stuff inside of it.

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              1. Yes! I had two bosses that I really liked during my 50 years of working: Erdie the manager at the diner who treated me like a granddaughter and Ed, an attorney, who sadly passed away from a fatal heart attack at a Tigers baseball game this July. Ed told me he had never known someone that had a story for everything … this is true. Not that I am trying to “best” others, but the vast collection of weird circumstances I’ve dealt with is almost book worthy.

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  11. I’m so happy you have helpful neighbors who are ready, willing, and able to assist. Have a good weekend. oxox

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  12. I am so glad to hear you did not have a leak. I have dealt with them and I feel for anyone who has them, not fun. It is good you had a nice neighbor to come and help.

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  14. Good friends and neighbors to the rescue! God is your great Provider even when Bob is not around. J does know a lot more than we think! He and D were such a blessing to me in ways I never imaged they would! I’m so glad they are still there!

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