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Sunday, we got the water heater and, so we thought, all of the equipment needed to make it go. We shut down the power, cut the old relief tube off of the old heater, disconnected the cold water feed and the hot water out-line, and prepared to move it out. Omaha decided that the floor under the tank was "too gross" to leave as-is and, we discovered, we needed more stuff, so it was a trip to the hardware store for us.

We picked up everything, then started to run into a series of annoying snags. First, the relief tube was cut close to the wall, but we needed to solder a new adapter to it. We couldn't work the old adapter off, so we had to cut it even closer to the wall. I was terrified that we were going to set the house on fire soldering the new one on, but Omaha convinced me to try and get it on, and that worked pretty well.

We also tore up the linoleum and put a new vinyl flooring in its place, which was a pain in the neck, which chisel, scraper, and mallet. My arms hurt after all that. But after getting everything assembled, we finally had to put the water heater into position.

And dammit, we had the wrong connectors still. I had to run back to the hardware store, where the incompetent buffoon I'd talked with that afternoon had been replaced by a competent salesperson who gave me exactly what I wanted. Note: the white silicon anti-leak tape you can buy for $0.57 is okay, but the tape used for sealing threaded gas lines that you get for $1.97 is much better and will save you much time avoiding re-taping leaky lines.

After everything, including the new "thermal expansion tank", was hooked up... we discovered that the tank itself leaks. Omaha and I were quite gentle with it, so it wasn't anything we did. The intake and relief lines leak. They weren't taped correctly at the factory, dammit.

I really wanted my hot water. Omaha and TygerEclipse made fun of me because, rather than take a cold shower, I heated up a pot full of water to something comfortable and bathed with it, only to have to submit to the chilling shower when I didn't have enough for a proper rinse. They laughed cruelly at my squeal of indignation, but what would you do if your testicles tried to crawl back up into your body to stay warm?

I read some of Wind in the Willows to Kouryou-chan and then headed off to bed myself.

My sympathies...

Date: 2004-08-31 03:58 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Although I suppose by now the problem is fixed. I have been having a 4x5 handicapped shower added to my house, making a redo of my whole, small bathroom necessary. I have had no shower at all and no toilet on the main level of my house for over a month. I am tired of sponge baths and really tired of going into my basement to pee. Ye gods! But I had the chance to visit Tanzania last February and dammit I have hot water! I have an indoor toilet that doesnt require squatting and I make well over the annual income of $400 a year. Yea me. I am doing all this remodeling to spring my overbearing mom from Shady Pines where she has been residing for the past year and I am really apprehensive about her coming home. I have been reading stories on the web as a way to escape reality and found some yesterday that made me say Yea and clap at the end (out loud yet). Sigh. That hasn't happened since I first found the Journal Entries many moons ago. So I waxed nostalgic and not knowing where to find them any longer sent out a search. I got this home page and read the cold shower entry and here I am babbling again. I am naive enough not to know where this goes to somewhere on the Internet but oh well. Tomorrow I am going to a friend's house and she is allowing me to shower. Wow. Something else to make me say Yea and clap.

My sympathies...

Date: 2004-08-31 04:03 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Although I suppose by now the problem is fixed. I have been having a 4x5 handicapped shower added to my house, making a redo of my whole, small bathroom necessary. I have had no shower at all and no toilet on the main level of my house for over a month. I am tired of sponge baths and really tired of going into my basement to pee. Ye gods! But I had the chance to visit Tanzania last February and dammit I have hot water! I have an indoor toilet that doesnt require squatting and I make well over the annual income of $400 a year. Yea me. I am doing all this remodeling to spring my overbearing mom from Shady Pines where she has been residing for the past year and I am really apprehensive about her coming home. I have been reading stories on the web as a way to escape reality and found some yesterday that made me say Yea and clap at the end (out loud yet). Sigh. That hasn't happened since I first found the Journal Entries many moons ago. So I waxed nostalgic and not knowing where to find them any longer sent out a search. I got this home page and read the cold shower entry and here I am babbling again. I am naive enough not to know where this goes to somewhere on the Internet but oh well. Tomorrow I am going to a friend's house and she is allowing me to shower. Wow. Something else to make me say Yea and clap. I hate being anonymous, but haven't a clue how to be a livejournal user. If I had the inclination I'd look as I'm sure there's a link somewhere. Ah things will be brighter by tomorrow. If they are not, perhaps I can take out a contract on my contractor... Hmmm And apparently my typing is bad enough that this system thinks I am a spam robot. Double Hmmm

Contract on the contractor...

Date: 2004-08-31 06:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] babarr67.livejournal.com
Arrggh. He didn't show up... again. I am just about sobbing and trying to take slow, cleansing breaths like the lady on the yoga channel and it isn't helping anymore. I wish I could do these things myself. I wish I could vent directly at the contractor. Did I mention he has a sick wife, his son just got cleared of testicular cancer (for now) His other son's helicopter crashed in Iraq and he is still there recovering from injuries, and he himself has been ill? But none of this is my fault and I want my (expletive of your choice or perhaps mine) bathroom. And I still don't know why I'm publishing this to someone I don't know's journal. I did figure out how to register. Brownie point for me. But I don't have sufficient patience to actually set up the whole thing for now. It is actually a good idea to keep me from pestering others though I'd give nearly anything for a sympathetic hug right now. Sigh.

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Elf Sternberg

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