I was just reading Middle Aged Mormon Man and I realized that I was on Blogspot. Then it occurred to me that I also have one of these accounts which I never use. Shame on me.
We have been dealing with a lot of crazy stuff lately. As usual our ability to be grateful is constantly being tested. I have told Chris that I think life just continues to be difficult. Until you learn to show sincere gratitude in times of difficulty, things will continue to be difficult. I think gratitude is key to opening those windows of heaven.
We have for what seems like forever had a drip in the tub, which lately has been more of a steady stream than a leak. I hate dealing with plumbing because I have more than once made problems bigger than they originally were. After months of climbing water bills, I finally got my tools and set to work on the drip. I changed the seat and washer on the cold side, which is where I suspected the problem was. I tried to get to the hot side but could not get the handle off. When I turned the water back on, the stream was still there. A day or so later our craft/junk room flooded. I figured it was because I had got the seat in crooked(yes, I have done that before). So, I started over, used my finger to carefully put the seat in, cleaned up the water, and did some research and found out about a cool little tool to remove the stuck handle. I love the handle remover. It is so clever and it works.
I checked the seat on the hot side, saw nothing wrong there, replaced a badly damaged washer, and turned the water back on. The stream was still there.
A friend came over a couple of days later asking to borrow money. We have done projects together in the past and I knew he was like me, a jack of all trades, master of none. I told him about the problem. He checked it out and could find nothing wrong. He called Home Depot and they suggested I replace the entire stems. So I did. It turned out that the ones I removed were too short and probably not making a good connection (my conclusion, not an expert's). After I replaced the stems, the old handles didn't fit. It was the day before Thanksgiving and Chris had the car so I couldn't do anything about it but wrap the ends with rubber tape and use a wrench. Everything seemed fine, until I turned the water on for Hope to take a shower and noticed water running along the stems. I don't know much but thought maybe the parts needed to be tightened. I stewed on that for a day or so until I came home and found Chris standing in the front yard shaking his head. Two rooms were flooded and he had been dragging stuff out of the house. The mess was annoying but necessary. I was able to get to the back of the pipes now and see better what was going on. I removed and tightened the joints on the stems and replaced them. I didn't know what else to try. That was last Friday. So far so good. I have kept the back panel clear so I can keep checking it. I am really paranoid now.
We still have a drip. I don't know why. It is not as bad as before and it is preferable to flooding, but it is there. Anyone have any ideas?
