The rusted, corroded, severely leaking galvanized pipes
under my 40-year-old mobile home have become my latest challenge.
Things are moving along. With prayer, I have found ways to
keep calm and avoid stress as much as possible. It is not as bad as it might
have been. I have chosen to see it as a warning, a helpful hint from the Lord
that I've got to pull my head out of the sand and do something about this
before it's a real mess.
Contractors came yesterday. I had already cancelled my yard
sale and cleared access to the skirting for them.
This is something I've dreaded for quite a few years. It is
time.
For now, I cannot run the water. I go outside several times
a day (morning, mid-day, and evening) and turn it on long enough to fill the
bathroom tanks and do a few things like attend to dentures, change dishwater,
or a quick shower (very quick). The boys suggested no more than a half hour.
I'm keeping it to 20 minutes.
At first, I had planned to heed a neighbor's advice. He's
afraid the pressure of turning it on and off will weaken and shake the pipes
and make them really snap open (instead of a strong, audible leak). I tried
that yesterday. Did not turn it on and off at all, except when the boys did
that for about 3 minutes while checking it. But this morning, early, I did. And
it was rusty at first. I do not want more troubles. I have decided to trust my
contractor and take my chances. We're talking about a possibility of 2 to 3
months, here, until I get enough funds to re-pipe, if that soon.
Meanwhile, I told the fellow who was going to help me carry
tables this weekend that the yard sale was "off" and of course he
asked why. When he realized I was without running water, more or less, he
popped up over here an hour later Thursday evening with 10 one-gallon bottles
he had, and he had filled them with water for dishes, etc., to cut down on the
number of times I need to turn-on/turn-off. What a blessing.
For me, the most difficult part will be when they do the
work because they must come inside and take a panel or two from the walls in
two places, to connect the new good pipe to the connectors inside. I hate folks
working inside my home, and the cat will be terrified. But it will be for just
a few hours, when and if I get to that point.
All in all, God is still, as always, watching over me.
More
than this, I pray for blessings and help for all those in the path of Hurricane
Matthew - now that, my friends, is big trouble, not the inconveniences I am
facing. They are in big, big trouble.
For now, I do ask for prayers for wisdom, patience, and
stamina. It's not that bad; I've lived through worse, but I was much younger
then, of course.
Sweet Jesus, I ask for your help and understanding. I realize you did not have running water and what I am going through would have literally been a luxury during your days on earth. But I trust in your love and compassion and ask that I may see the answers you place before me and that I am not blind to them. Meanwhile, please, please watch over those in the hurricane's path.
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