call 1-800 rotorooter

Around here you know it was not a great day when the morning hand line irrigation changing was the best part of your day. I had a nice list all made out and I was determined to get a good start on the week. I have mentioned before that we live in an old house that my grandfather built. It is small but as far as I am concerned it serves the general needs well enough. A large or fancy type house is just not anything I have ever really had any desire to own. As well as this house serves its purpose in general its age and issues related to age would make me pull my hair out if I had any to spare.

We had a new roof put on the house the first fall we were here. I hated to spend the money especially since the roof was not leaking yet. I did however know that the roof was last done the summer between third and fourth grade because I helped my grandfather do it. When the job was finished, as had been previously agreed, my grandfather bought me a toy tractor that I had my eye on in town. It was my first toy tractor with a cab on it and for $13.99 I felt like Grandpa Paul had WAYYYYYYYY overpaid me for quite a few hours of work. Knowing my Grandpa and how he was with money he probably thought he WAYYYYYY overpaid me as well!

The home is cinder block construction and is pretty well insulated. When the windows are closed you won’t know someone has pulled into the yard until you hear them scream as they run away from Festus. Even though eastern Washington is a desert we live basically in a swamp. Even in the driest part of the year you can dig a hole a few feet deep and have water. My Grandpa did have the insight to use that water to his advantage. The home has a geothermal type furnace that in the winter takes in the 50 plus degree water, removes the heat and uses it to heat the house very efficiently and cheaply. It does the reverse in the summer and does an awesome job of cooling but the system has some issues. It is basically like that high maintenance woman you have had (married to, dating, purchased, taken from neighbor, whatever) at some time as a man. Heck I am sure even a few women who think like men (lesbians) probably know what kind of woman I am talking about.

You know the kind. She is so pretty and has a body that is smoking hot. She also lacks the intelligence to know that what you are having her do in the bedroom really is the “new” CPR and if she gets it down she could be on Baywatch as a good point. But that same lack of intelligence and whinyness drive you nuts. The girl who will decide if the date goes well mainly based on how well her hair stays curled and if they remembered to not put her salad dressing on the side. The temperamental, overly emotional royal pain in the ass type. That is this heating and cooling system, it works well if it has constant attention. Even this I can live with as long as I can usually fix it without professional help and if it keeps the electrical bill low.

The electrical is a whole other thing. My grandfather knew enough about electricity to wire this house himself. I know enough to make sure that we keep fresh batteries in the smoke detectors. Once again it is not perfect but it is good enough and now that the kitchen light no longer has its wires connected with first aid tape (obviously Grandpa did not have electrical tape that day on hand) other than a tripped breaker now and again it serves us well enough.

The plumbing as it pertains to water delivery works for the most part. The first night we stayed here in June of 2008 the pressure relief valve blew off the water heater and covered the new linoleum and some carpet with water. Since replacing the water heater even on the coldest days the water delivery system has been consistent with the source being a community well. The problem is in the water draining. I do not know who makes Drano but the stock of that company must have tripled in the last two years just from what we have used in this home. I started working on a plugged kitchen sink drain at 1 pm today because of a build up of dirty dishes and I needed an excuse to cuss all day. Dakota, Chris and I spent all evening washing dishes in the bathtub and despite my best efforts the sink has drained about ½ an inch since I finished “fixing” the clog at 4 pm. Tomorrow or sometime this week depending on when we run out of paper plates and plastic utensils I am going to have to call a professional. How was your Monday?

Today’s real environmentalist species found on the ranch is Blue green algae aka Cyanobacteria. Several species found in eastern Washington.

Today’s picture is a picture I took last week. If I am going to deal with water systems at least make it outside where I can get my boots soaked and laugh about the fish head that popped out of the pipe.