I want to be in hot water!

Back in July we had purchased a new washer, dryer and fridge and we thought we were done for a while – it turned out to be a short while! About 10 days ago, the dishwasher died – needless to say with a full load of dirty dishes and dirty water. We ended up taking out the dishes and washing them by hand then I started to bail out the water. With only about 5 containers of water left, it occurred to me to get Steve to get out the wet-dry shop vac to suck out the rest of the water. As a heads-up, the shop vac works really well and much faster than margarine containers!



Last weekend we went to Home Depot and bought a new dishwasher that was delivered on Thursday. It is quite pretty but not yet installed. The guys who delivered it first unpacked the wrong unit – I almost got a stainless steel and black model but I think the people who ordered it might have noticed a problem when they received my white unit. Fortunately Steve caught it before they brought it up the stairs so we did end up with the right unit.

Steve unhooked the old unit so it could be taken away when they delivered the new dishwasher. He had had to turn off the water to the dishwasher while it was out. We seemed to be missing a part that was needed to install the new dishwasher so he thought he would get it on Friday while he was out and about.

On Friday morning he realized that there was a bit of water leaking so he decided to turn off the water to the hot water tank. When he got downstairs he realized that the tank was bulging and has rusted down the seam and around the bottom. He tried to turn off the shut-off valve but it didn’t close completely so he decided to turn off the water to the entire house. This was fine in theory but…. He called Home Depot and ordered a new hot water tank and they said it would be delivered on Saturday.

On Saturday, when the hot water tank had not arrived by 3:00 we called Home Depot again. We were then told that the plumbers DON’T do hot water tanks on Saturdays! I told them that I am tired to getting buckets of water from the neighbours outside tap in order to flush the toilet. The girl agreed that was not reasonable so she called a manager and they managed to contact the plumbers who are willing to do this as a emergency call. The plumber called about 5:30 and said he could be here about 10 tonight or early tomorrow morning. We have decided that we can wait until tomorrow morning.

While I won’t kiss the plumber when he arrives, I will be anxiously waiting for a shower and running water to brush my teeth. It can be done with bottled water (while Calgary has good water, I am not willing to use the outside water after it has run through the hose) but it is a slow process. We also have a load of dishes that need washing that I can’t do until I have running water or the dishwasher. James suggested that we use the hose water then boil it and add cold hose water and wash the dishes that way. Quite frankly, I am not that averse to eating out for a few more meals (I think I will pass up McDonald’s Sausage & Egg McMuffin tomorrow though) until we get real water. You really don’t realize how much you take things like running water for granted until you are without. I have been to camps without running water but that was a planned adventure, not trying to live in the regular world.

I don’t dare say “what else can go wrong” because I know that is simply tempting the gods. I am thankful for a credit card with a good limit as well as a great job so I can pay it off. G-d is definitely looking after me and my family.

Speaking about family, my Mom phones on Friday evenings but we weren’t home last night and it was too late when we got in for me to phone her. She called again this morning all worried because she was afraid that I might have been at the hospital with Steve but he was able to reassure he that he is as fine as he is likely to be right now. I did call her this afternoon after I got back from a presentation I gave this morning and reassured her again that we are all fine.

My dinner on Saturday night: