Busy, busy.

Boy, oh boy, no time to write the last several days. Things at the homestead have kept me busy. Aside from taming the weed farm (otherwise known as my yard), my plumbing has yet again challenged me. Seems I baited it by thinking a simple mastery of toilet repair would foil it. Don't make your plumbing angry, folks.

After a couple of water bills that seemed a bit high, I got hit with one that was through the roof. No leaky toilet was causing this one. So, I did a little research on how to discover if you've got a leak in your lines somewhere, and with dread I performed the simple tests. I have a leak. My simple "handy homeowner" repairs were no longer an option. So, I called a plumber, and he came out and did his Plumber Tests and said, yes, I have a small leak. He thinks he knows where it is, and if he's right, it won't be too bad. If he's right, it's outside between the meter and my outside faucet, meaning we just tear up the yard a little and replace the pipe. Since my yard is crap anyway, I couldn't care less abou digging it up, and that's WAY better than what will ensue if it's under the foundation or in a wall somewhere. If the plumber's guess is wrong, things get a lot uglier and a lot more expensive in a hurry.

The plumber was supposed to come back on Friday and commence digging (giving me an answer to what exactly I'm facing), but his truck went out. Can you believe it? So, now it'll be at least Monday. Meanwhile, I'm trying not to let it stress me out, because as I type this, God knows how many gallons are streaming out of my pipes and into the earth around (please not under!) my house. I'm afraid to spend any money. Until we get the leak located, I have no idea what I'm looking at here financially. I hope I'm not about to buy this guy a pool.

Oh, and after I get this all squared away, I get to call the water company and beg the reconsider the "winter averaging" they're doing for me. "I had a leak! See! I really WASN'T using 2,000-4,000 gallons a month by myself!" My water company averages your monthly use between October and February and that determines your rate for the rest of the year. So, I pretty much had this happen at the worst possible time. I'm sure they're going to say something like, "No problem, ma'am. We completely understand. We'll just use the save average we used last year. That's how much we value you as a customer."

Homeownership really is the most fun anyone could ever have.