The plumbers are in the basement at this time. The water is shut off at the street, and there is a big hole in the sidewalk.
This just in...the plumbing job is finished, the water is back on, the inspection of the work is done, the shower is calling my name. Launch sequence begins!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Conehead
Our little girl came home yesterday morning, as scheduled. Her little stitched-up incision is curled in like a little inny belly button. They put a cone on her head to keep her from worrying the sutures and to slow her little frantic self down some.
She can lick her sutures if she works at it long enough, and she can still jump straight up on the stove, so I believe that the entire effect of the cone is to make her uncomfortable. It's doing a fine job of that.
She can lick her sutures if she works at it long enough, and she can still jump straight up on the stove, so I believe that the entire effect of the cone is to make her uncomfortable. It's doing a fine job of that.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Surgery
Our little kitten is growing up. She went into heat a week ago - was it from the Sam Cooke valentine? - and this morning we took her to the vet to be spayed. It was hard to watch her being taken into the bowels of the animal hospital by a perfect stranger. They'll call later when she wakes up to tell us she's doing fine, and to make an appointment to pick her up tomorrow morning. I hope she forgives us.
I also hope Professor Remus J. Lupin will still love her like he did before. Will she smell different? On the bright side, he'll be happier if she never goes into heat again. She tried all of her womanly wiles on him, and he was totally clueless. She persued him until he had to hide in the basement sometimes to get a break from her. He was fixed seven and a half years ago and has never felt the urge.
Meanwhile, the house seems very empty without her boundless energy. I can actually work in the kitchen without having to put her back on the floor every ten seconds and then wash my hands again. Otherwise, she would be running around, swatting every potential cat toy - meaning every thing - in the house, including The Perfesser. He has been looking for her around corners, expecting her to pounce as usual. I think he misses her. Me too.
I also hope Professor Remus J. Lupin will still love her like he did before. Will she smell different? On the bright side, he'll be happier if she never goes into heat again. She tried all of her womanly wiles on him, and he was totally clueless. She persued him until he had to hide in the basement sometimes to get a break from her. He was fixed seven and a half years ago and has never felt the urge.
Meanwhile, the house seems very empty without her boundless energy. I can actually work in the kitchen without having to put her back on the floor every ten seconds and then wash my hands again. Otherwise, she would be running around, swatting every potential cat toy - meaning every thing - in the house, including The Perfesser. He has been looking for her around corners, expecting her to pounce as usual. I think he misses her. Me too.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Worms
About a month ago, MAWA came to the house. Meadville Area Water Authority wanted to install a new meter in our basement that can be read from outside, eliminating the occasional necessity of being allowed in for readings. Carmen was kind of hinky about it, but let them in anyway. They installed their meter and left.
A couple of weeks later, we got a letter from MAWA in the mail. Our plumbing, it seems, is not up to snuff. They require a backflow preventer, and a shut-off before and after the meter. So I looked at the installation and ascertained that I needed a backflow preventer and a shut-off after the meter, and that it was all threaded connections I could deal with myself. So I went to The Home Depot and bought my parts, then commenced to attempt installation.
W e e e e l l l l - the valve before the meter would not shut off the water, only cut the flow in half, and to replace that would get into soldering and sweating and stuff I have no clue how to do. So I began the long process of coaxing our plumbers, who did the work on the upstairs bathroom (and still have not billed us for it) to come do the job of replacing and installing the valves. They finally returned my calls on Wednesday and showed up Thursday. They looked at the situation and ascertained that the water needed to be turned off at the street to replace the faulty valve, and while we were at it, the copper pipe leading from the basement floor entrance to the faulty valve is corroded and needs to be replaced as well. We went out to the curb and searched in vain for the shut-off valve out there.
I called MAWA and they vowed to send out a representative to shut off the water the next morning. Lo and behold, he was there bright and early. It took him about fifteen minutes to find the spot with his handy dandy metal detector. The plumbers arrived just as the MAWA guy had ascertained that the access to the valve is bent and broken and needs to be replaced before the water can be shut off. He marked the location clearly with two colors of spray paint, and vowed that it would be replaced in three days, which I took to mean Wednesday, since it was Friday at the time. The plumbers will do their work while this magic is being done, they say.
I am waiting with great anticipation to see what additional worms crawl out of this can that opened when Carmen allowed the meter replacement. It's a beautiful new meter, though.
A couple of weeks later, we got a letter from MAWA in the mail. Our plumbing, it seems, is not up to snuff. They require a backflow preventer, and a shut-off before and after the meter. So I looked at the installation and ascertained that I needed a backflow preventer and a shut-off after the meter, and that it was all threaded connections I could deal with myself. So I went to The Home Depot and bought my parts, then commenced to attempt installation.
W e e e e l l l l - the valve before the meter would not shut off the water, only cut the flow in half, and to replace that would get into soldering and sweating and stuff I have no clue how to do. So I began the long process of coaxing our plumbers, who did the work on the upstairs bathroom (and still have not billed us for it) to come do the job of replacing and installing the valves. They finally returned my calls on Wednesday and showed up Thursday. They looked at the situation and ascertained that the water needed to be turned off at the street to replace the faulty valve, and while we were at it, the copper pipe leading from the basement floor entrance to the faulty valve is corroded and needs to be replaced as well. We went out to the curb and searched in vain for the shut-off valve out there.
I called MAWA and they vowed to send out a representative to shut off the water the next morning. Lo and behold, he was there bright and early. It took him about fifteen minutes to find the spot with his handy dandy metal detector. The plumbers arrived just as the MAWA guy had ascertained that the access to the valve is bent and broken and needs to be replaced before the water can be shut off. He marked the location clearly with two colors of spray paint, and vowed that it would be replaced in three days, which I took to mean Wednesday, since it was Friday at the time. The plumbers will do their work while this magic is being done, they say.
I am waiting with great anticipation to see what additional worms crawl out of this can that opened when Carmen allowed the meter replacement. It's a beautiful new meter, though.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Thaw
It's forty degrees here in Meadville, Pennsylvania. It has been above freezing for a day and a half, and the world outside is melting. Of course, there is still over a foot of snow out there, so the melting will take a good while - unless it rains like it did over new years weekend. But the driveway and sidewalk are clear of snow and ice. The furnace is taking a well-deserved break after the minus fifteens of January, and the basement is returning to the wetness of spring, summer and fall. It's always something.
It's Valentine's Day. I found a beautiful card that plays "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke, one of Carmen's top 1,000 favorite songs (I know because I recently loaded it onto her new MP3 player.) The surprise was that our little girl Lucia (Little LuLu Two Claws) was fascinated by it. She ran back and forth over it, under it and through it, trying to find whatever was making that strange sound coming from the card. Left alone, she would have dug into the secret chamber and pulled the chip out - I know because she tried. The card had to be put out of her reach, like so many other "cat toys."
It's my day off this week as well. That means that after Friday, Saturday and Sunday being pretty much church-related busy-ness, and Saturday evening digging out of a six inch snowfall, I can do my laundry and clean the house today. Woo hoo! Look out, kitties, here comes the Kirby vacuum!
It's Valentine's Day. I found a beautiful card that plays "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke, one of Carmen's top 1,000 favorite songs (I know because I recently loaded it onto her new MP3 player.) The surprise was that our little girl Lucia (Little LuLu Two Claws) was fascinated by it. She ran back and forth over it, under it and through it, trying to find whatever was making that strange sound coming from the card. Left alone, she would have dug into the secret chamber and pulled the chip out - I know because she tried. The card had to be put out of her reach, like so many other "cat toys."
It's my day off this week as well. That means that after Friday, Saturday and Sunday being pretty much church-related busy-ness, and Saturday evening digging out of a six inch snowfall, I can do my laundry and clean the house today. Woo hoo! Look out, kitties, here comes the Kirby vacuum!
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