Sunday, November 7, 2010

Night Security Doesn't Do Plumbing

On Monday night I decided to tackle the abundance of spiders that lived in the bathroom, next to the toilet tank. With a mop in hand, I quite offhandedly swiped at a bunch of webs and, oh dear, the hose that connects the water supply to the tank broke loose. Water from the loose end of the hose started squirting all over the bathroom. While trying to direct the hose to the toilet bowl, I told Shanon we had trouble. There was no turn-off valve by the toilet; she grabbed a flashlight and found no valve outside.

Shanon called Moses, our Go-To Guy, and found he had been gone all day and had not returned home yet. His wife Lucy advised Shanon to get the Security Guard. The guard came in to survey our watery mess and promptly dislodged the hose from the wall, causing water to shoot horizontally across the room. The only way to channel it was to put the hose back over the hole and hold it, very much like putting your finger in a dike. We took turns pressing the hose to the wall and pointing the water toward the toilet bowl.

About 15 minutes later, we heard a knock and Moses wandered in. It was the best news possible as neither of us had any idea what our next move would be (like when we went to bed). Moses explained that the water for the john is gravity fed and cannot be turned off. He then went outside, got a stick, and whittled it to a point. He put the pointed stick in the hole in the wall and the water was off.

We bailed the bathroom; I am happy to report that using a dustpan is a great way to get lots of water off the floor. We filled the tank to flush only as needed, and Moses came by Tuesday with a new hose. The spiders are still lurking as they were not on the floor, where the flood waters accumulated. I vow to be more careful....

2 comments:

  1. Plumbing in Redondo Beach will be a pleasant welcome home. Life will seem too cushy after all this. See you soon!

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  2. Roxanne,
    My computer crashed about 4 months ago and I lost your blog for a while. I just got it again from Anna Randall (whom I gave it to in the first place!!)I have caught up with many of your blogs. What an amazing experience. I can't believe you will be coming home in the near future!! It's hard to believe you have been there nearly a year. Are you excited? What will you do next...how do you top that experience? Must be life changing. I do hope that once the dust settles for you, you would consider having people over so you can share photos and experiences. Congratulations on your other granddaughter. She is beautiful!! I hope you are well. Happy Thanksgiving!!
    Love,
    Debbie Taylor

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