I was pretty happy with myself taking the trash cans up first thing in the morning and getting them to the top before the trash guys pass. Should I have brought them up last night? Sure but I made it this morning and all is good. Well that is until I was headed back to the house and out of the corner of my eye I see something flashing in the trees.
Weird, I better go check it out. I walk over and there in the little gulley that was dug 50 years ago by the previous owner is a hose bib with a puddle of water at the bottom of it. not only that, there is a clear trickle of water coming down the side of the faucet. What the… How did this happen and how long has it been going on? More importantly what size is that pipe and do I have another faucet to replace it with.
Sticking with the order of operations. Fix it first and place blame second. I check the pipe, it is a galvanized pipe threaded on the end with a brass headed faucet clearly marked 1/2 on the side. No matter how hard I tighten it, it still flows. Ok, time to head to Lowes. I am almost excited, I have a reason to go somewhere in my truck! This is awesome. I grab my keys, and phone and shades and mount up. I am wearing my watch under my sun sleeves and one of the hundreds of hats I have is shading the chrome dome. Lowes is about 7 miles from the house. I roll down the windows because it is early morning but it is also 86ยบ already. The truck sounds wonderful, it starts immediately with this new battery and I head up the hill to the road. It is having some issues like the timing is off and it is bogging down a little. The check engine light let me know I am going to need to do a little more work. But by the time I am turning onto the road it is purring like a kitten. With the windows down the stereo is very disappointing and when everything else is done it will get some attention.
The drive is nice the truck is smooth and has plenty of power. AC would be awesome, even just the fan would be nice, but one thing at a time. I get to Lowes jump out of the truck, have to remember to physically lock the doors since the breaker for the power door locks is still removed. I get almost to the door and I realize, I don’t have my wallet. Over the years I have had all manner of wallets, including the OP corduroy trifold in High school, a Texas flag bifold from Buckee’s. and even the 1 credit card wallet that connects to the back of my iPhone. The current iteration of wallet is a very small credit card wallet with an Id window on one side a pocket in the middle and slots for credit cards and a holder for an air tag on the other side. I don’t actually need the air tag to tell me I left my wallet in my desk. I remember seeing it there this morning before I took the trash out.
I check with the cashier and no they don’t take apple pay. She offers to take a credit card if I remember the number, I know the last two full cc number from my Amex before i lost it this last time, but I am not totally sure of this one and I decide to just go get the damn thing and come back.
Back at the house my workday is about to get into full swing and I settle in to phone calls and email and programming people need yesterday. By lunch time I decide I need to get this done. I grab my wallet head back to the store and pick up the item. I am careful to check that the faucet I grabbed actually fits a threaded pipe. There are multiple different fittings that use threads and not all are the same. (ask me how I know). I drive back to the house and as i come down the driveway I see 3 baby does and their mommas all gathered around the broken faucet drinking from the little puddle at the bottom. Really? Now I have to feel guilty about this too? I guess I will fill a bucket and leave it here by the fixed faucet.
I finish up my work day and grab a couple of wrenches and the parts to go fix this. I bought some teflon tape with the new faucet. I’m sure I have 20 of these partially used rolls between the house junk drawer, the garage and the shop, but I am not spending an hour or listening to mother’s voice berate me in my head for not being organized. Nope I just cut the water off (the meter is only 15 feet from this pipe), I use some tape fit the new faucet while it is open slightly. Snug it down tightly without cracking the fitting to the main line by over tightening and managing to get it lined up facing the same way as the old one. Not that it was important. I turn on the Meter and close up the faucet. No drip. Job done, I take the roll of tape and toss it into the open glovebox of the golf cart, it’s new home.
Ok, one job found and fixed in the same day. What am I, SuperMan? Nope just an ordinary dude trying to keep his head above water in this deluge of brokenness.
