DIY Plumbing

Owning a older home has proved to be a challenge for Christine and me. Remodeling bathrooms and kitchens, taking down dead trees, replacing wiring and plumbing . The list goes on and on. There is always something to do.

A couple of weeks ago we had a hot water pipe start leaking in the basement. I went by the hardware store, bought the supplies, and replaced the leaking section of pipe. No problem for a man of my talent!

Today we had another leak in the same pipe (not the section I fixed). I decided to replace a longer section of pipe, from the basement to the crawl space, with the new Pex pipe. The couplings for Pex pipe are are a little expensive but its great to work with-- no glue.

I did all my work in the basement section and the project was going well. Now to the crawl space. I was feeling pretty proud about my 'gift of plumbing' as I started replacing the rest of old pipe in the crawl space. With the first cut of the old pipe water started spewing everywhere! I let the water run for a minute or so, until I was soaked, because how could a man of my plumbing talent cut the wrong pipe, but I did!

Put this down in your book of things you might want to remember. It doesn't matter that you turn the hot water off, if you cut the cold water pipe!

I don't know what is worse, making a mistake like that or having you wife and daughter-in law find out about it!

Where is 'Joe the Plumber' when you need him?

A chicken wing is not just a Southern thing!

We had a guide while we were in Cape Cod that told us many interesting facts about the Cape. Bringing the South to Massachusetts made the trip even more interesting. Our words are different than theirs, for example fork was pronounced falk, yard was yad, corn was kan, you get the picture.

One day we went to Nantucket. A beautiful little town lined with expensive shops , fancy restaurants, and cobblestone streets. At lunch time we wanted to save time and money, so Christine and I went to the the supermarket there in town and bought some chicken wings , a pack of crackers, and a Diet Coke. We found a bench on the main drag there in Nantucket and sat down and ate our wings and watched the people.

I thought nothing about it until I remembered what our guide had told us earlier about that street. She said that cobblestone street in Nantucket was like Rodeo Drive in Hollywood, only the rich could afford to shop there and now we were there eating wings on the sidewalk! I guess our southerness really showed out that day!

I know a lot of people in the south who are proud that we saved money on lunch!

The Blue Pill

Christine and I took a great trip to Cape Cod last week with our Senior Citizens from Brushy Creek. We toured the Cape, Martha 's Vineyard, Nantucket and stopped by Boston and FDR's home on the way home. We had a great time but I am glad to be home. Both Christine and I came back with colds. We have been coughing and hacking all week.

I left Monday after we got home on Saturday for our annual staff retreat. I found that if you snore or are coughing and running a temperature you can get your own room! It was quite nice. David Kay had a stiff neck and asked me if I had something he could take to ease the pain so I gave him two Tylenol PMs. I don't know what was funnier, seeing him fall asleep in our meeting or watching Benji, Angela, and Ben watch him (they were in on it, too). This was Benji's and Ben's first staff retreat I hope I haven't ruined them. Most of these meetings are not that funny.

He should have known not to take the Blue Pill!