It's Raining Cats and Dogs

You know what they say, when it rains it pours.  (Haven't you always wondered who the "they" are that say all of these profound things?)  Maybe it was the deluge the other night that started this snowball rolling but today it is not only pouring, it is raining cats and dogs (figuratively speaking of course).

It began last night when we were heading out to dinner.  The car wouldn't start.  Not even a whimper.  The burr under the saddle here is that this is the 5th time we have had this problem.  Batteries have been replaced and a new alternator installed.  The service manager at the dealership has become The Kid's new best friend.  In fact we were considering inviting him to Christmas dinner.  But I can assure you that after this latest episode and with the vehicle now out of warranty his status is questionable.  You would think that given all of the fancy electronic this and thats and diagnostic computers at their disposal,  a simple little electrical problem could be easily detected.  Well, wouldn't you?  Apparently not.  Tomorrow it shall be towed.

But that's only the half of it.  The bigger and badder tragedy occurred in the wee hours of this morning when The Kid arose from his slumber and heard water running.  A quick check around the house only heightened the anxiety level...nothing had been inadvertently left on.  Flashlight in hand he ventured out of doors in another failed attempt to isolate the problem.  (What in tarnation did he expect to see at 4:30 in the a.m. with a flashlight?)  His solution was to shut off the main valve to the house until he can "get to it."  Today he is off at a business meeting and is unavailable for follow-up.  You can picture me hauling buckets of water from the pool to flush the toilet.  Just call me pioneer woman.  (Not to be confused with The Pioneer Woman, who has more than 11 followers and actually makes some serious cash doing this.  What's wrong with me anyway?)

The last time this happened we had to have all of our hot water lines in the house replaced to the tune of...let's just say it wasn't cheap.  We also ended up with several walls that looked like Swiss cheese because dumb and dumber (the plumbers) couldn't locate the connections any other way.  We opted not to fix the cold water lines at that time because it would be much more involved and much more expensive.  That is beginning to look like a bad decision.

The fun begins tomorrow when The Kid begins haggling with service managers, insurance companies and plumbers.  As for me, I'll just keep my bucket and my umbrella handy.



And just so you know, I haven't seen this little dude or his sister since Thanksgiving.  Grammy is in bad need of hugs.

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