Though I do try to plan/prepare for the most probable disruptions, we all get complacent from time to time. I spend a lot of time thinking about things like inflation, recession and maintaining health. Today, on Christmas Day, .. I must admit that I didn't properly prepare for the Big Chill.
Yesterday, on Christmas Eve morning I awoke to discover that we had no water. Overnight, the temperature dropped to a record -5 degrees and the well-head froze. The well is insulated but the pink fiberglass had deteriorated over the years and I was too complacent to check it or take proper precautions against freezing. Shame On Me.
Ironically, we are so 'green' at neoTerra that we don't have any incandescent light bulbs (that get hot). It was a bit of a scavenger hunt to find something to defrost the well. Ms. Terra suggested the iron... you know for ironing clothes (I'm surprised the Democrats haven't banned them yet).
200 feet of extension cord, an iron, an old beat-up blanket and several hours later the pipes were defrosted. Then, the BAD news... the pipe had fractured and water was gushing out. NO WATER.
I called our 'well guy'. I was honestly surprised that he called me back in less than 10 minutes... on Christmas Eve and I could hear his family talking and preparing dinner in the background. (that is one of the great benefits of living in rural, traditional America).
The bad news is that he had 80 calls ahead of me and we won't get our well repaired for at least 5 days. The good news is that there are at least 80 other people as dumb as me :-).
Fortunately, we have awesome friends and neighbors so I was able to get 20 gallons of water for flushing toilets and washing dishes... which allows us to reserve our 10 gallons of distilled water for drinking/cooking.
Ironically, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's like camping in the desert. No laundry, no showers and restricted flushing... but it is definitely not as bad as what people in the UK or Germany are going through. The sun has warmed the Great Room to 77 degrees... we have LOTS of firewood (firewood is now illegal in Blue San Francisco), and we have rib-eye steaks ready to go into the broiler.
This makes me realize that our 'disaster' is merely an inconvenience.... an inconvenience that could have been avoided. An inconvenience we will easily get through and learn from.
Well, my friends, it's time start those rib-eyes and make the most of our Christmas 'camping' experience!!
Merry Christmas to All !!
Yesterday, on Christmas Eve morning I awoke to discover that we had no water. Overnight, the temperature dropped to a record -5 degrees and the well-head froze. The well is insulated but the pink fiberglass had deteriorated over the years and I was too complacent to check it or take proper precautions against freezing. Shame On Me.
Ironically, we are so 'green' at neoTerra that we don't have any incandescent light bulbs (that get hot). It was a bit of a scavenger hunt to find something to defrost the well. Ms. Terra suggested the iron... you know for ironing clothes (I'm surprised the Democrats haven't banned them yet).
200 feet of extension cord, an iron, an old beat-up blanket and several hours later the pipes were defrosted. Then, the BAD news... the pipe had fractured and water was gushing out. NO WATER.
I called our 'well guy'. I was honestly surprised that he called me back in less than 10 minutes... on Christmas Eve and I could hear his family talking and preparing dinner in the background. (that is one of the great benefits of living in rural, traditional America).
The bad news is that he had 80 calls ahead of me and we won't get our well repaired for at least 5 days. The good news is that there are at least 80 other people as dumb as me :-).
Fortunately, we have awesome friends and neighbors so I was able to get 20 gallons of water for flushing toilets and washing dishes... which allows us to reserve our 10 gallons of distilled water for drinking/cooking.
Ironically, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's like camping in the desert. No laundry, no showers and restricted flushing... but it is definitely not as bad as what people in the UK or Germany are going through. The sun has warmed the Great Room to 77 degrees... we have LOTS of firewood (firewood is now illegal in Blue San Francisco), and we have rib-eye steaks ready to go into the broiler.
This makes me realize that our 'disaster' is merely an inconvenience.... an inconvenience that could have been avoided. An inconvenience we will easily get through and learn from.
Well, my friends, it's time start those rib-eyes and make the most of our Christmas 'camping' experience!!
Merry Christmas to All !!
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