About Last Night

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So, we went to the movies last week and saw The Avengers – with half of Dallas, or so it seemed. But we wanted to stir our stumps and put our minds on autopilot in a crowd, so off we went.

All I can say is WOW! Whatever troubles were on my mind before we went into the film vanished in the drama, noise and action. Evil will not stand in the face of friends who finally ignore their differences and work together – even if there was a wee bit of collateral devastation of New York.  Moreover, if these superheroes are needed on earth again, they will return. 

The promise of a returning helper is a big deal – and we’ve had one in the person of a kind plumber. We’ve been having quite a few plumbing glitches in the past two months.  First, some innards in our toilets needed replacing; then, I inserted the refrigerator’s water filter a wee bit askew – lodging it firmly, half in and half out of its holder; and most recently, the toilets backed up and were overflowing in the back yard. Maybe he felt sorry for us – or maybe he just wanted to see what else we had broken around the house.  He showed up last night around 10:30 PM to answer our latest emergency – and he drove about thirty miles to get here!

What we did was inadvertently create a fountain of water by the side of garage.

Watering after 10 PM has become a pleasant little ritual for the past several weeks. Even though the pots have been placed strategically to catch the sprinkler’s spray, several more need a drink. Doug was helping and gave the hose a tug, not suspecting the faucet was not on cooper, but thin PVC pipe – that was worn and cracked. Imagine his surprise when water gushed, full force from the remains of the broken spigot.

That was a lot of water! 

How do we turn off the water? (!) The city had reworked the access, and we were at a loss. So we called the city – whose 24 hour dispatch responded. The first help arrived within minutes as a policeman arrived with a long-handed socket wrench to unscrew the manhole cover in the alley, shut off the water, stopping the gusher, and cutting off water to the house.  He wished us well, and hoped we knew a plumber.

Well, we did – but we didn’t know his willingness to make the trek from so far on a Friday night! Although he told Doug, our call rescued him from a bad ball game, he was like our own Avenger . . . fighting against the plumbing calamities in an old house that can be caused by its maladroit owners – maybe not as critical as finding a missing Tesseract, but plumbing emergencies at night or on the weekends can be pretty upsetting.   

We had another spewing water problem two years ago – only in the winter. (A Faulty Faucet)  This time the plumber promptly came – and his readiness to help us was a great help! And fortunately, he didn’t make the mess the Avengers did in New York City.

But this little adventure reminded me there’s a lot about home ownership I still don’t know, and I’ve been doing this for quite awhile. Knowing where cut-off valves are is important – knowing helpers who show up is more so.   Be willing to help is as important as being ready to receive it, and I am grateful for another object lesson in what that looks like.  

From the quotegarden today:  

Daily Harvest for 7/7/2012:
Our deeds determine us as much as we determine our deeds.  ~George Eliot