I proved myself to be a woman who can survive without running water on Sunday.
(OK. Not all day Sunday, just all afternoon and evening.)
Our kitchen faucet has become irreparably corroded due to the fact that a.) it's old and b.) the faucet has been almost imperceptibly been leaking water while in use for who knows how long.
After finally determining that the faucet is indeed leaking, my husband spent the better part of Sunday replacing the faucet with a brand new one!
With a house as old as ours, it is never as simple as following the instructions included with the product for installation. No, it's a matter of: shutting off the water to the entire house to complete this project because the water shut-valve for this particular plumbing apparatus in our home is stuck open, maneuvering around cabinet doors that awkwardly open so as to leave as little space as possible to work under the sink, and resorting to a hammer and a rusted plumber's helper to unscrew the water shut-off valve (because for some inexplicable reason the new hose will not screw onto the old water shut-off valve pipe so we have to replace that, too).
It was mostly my husband working on this project while I took a Sunday afternoon nap, did some reading, and accompanied him (once) to the nearby builder supply store.
I do believe he made at least four trips to that builder supply store on Sunday, the final one being minutes before they closed. He took my advice and bought every part that could be close to the part he needed because this was his final chance of the day. Thankfully one of the parts was a perfect match and we will be returning the other items next weekend.
So, I felt I should make a nice dinner for my tired, frustrated, sweaty husband. (Because we all know that in these tough economic times eating out is a luxury. OK. It's always been a luxury for us because we're cheapskates. Thankfully I like to cook.)
Armed with no running water and only two pitchers of water, I commenced the dinner-making. With careful organization and planning I prepared and cooked with the least number of needed hand-washings while still keeping the meal completely sanitary. In the end, we had steak, twice-baked potatoes, and spinach. My husband was duly impressed that my mess was contained to one corner of the kitchen while he used the rest of the kitchen as his "work area" and that I accomplished this feat with only one pitcher of water.
For a second, I thought, "I could survive if the terrorists decide to attack us (in some other way apart from our economy and world political standing)."
Um. Then I remembered that I was only without running water for 2/3 of a day. And we still had electricity, vehicles filled with gas, a working heater, money, and relatives in town who still had running water and to whom we would have gone to take shelter for the night had the state of our house not changed for the better.
Anyway, no disaster ensued. My husband is a genius at fixing things...plus he's about a hundred times more patient than I am.
And now I know I can cook a meal with one pitcher of water and access to only 20% of my kitchen. I shall keep that in mind next time I need to update my resume.
After finally determining that the faucet is indeed leaking, my husband spent the better part of Sunday replacing the faucet with a brand new one! 
With a house as old as ours, it is never as simple as following the instructions included with the product for installation. No, it's a matter of: shutting off the water to the entire house to complete this project because the water shut-valve for this particular plumbing apparatus in our home is stuck open, maneuvering around cabinet doors that awkwardly open so as to leave as little space as possible to work under the sink, and resorting to a hammer and a rusted plumber's helper to unscrew the water shut-off valve (because for some inexplicable reason the new hose will not screw onto the old water shut-off valve pipe so we have to replace that, too). It was mostly my husband working on this project while I took a Sunday afternoon nap, did some reading, and accompanied him (once) to the nearby builder supply store. I do believe he made at least four trips to that builder supply store on Sunday, the final one being minutes before they closed. He took my advice and bought every part that could be close to the part he needed because this was his final chance of the day. Thankfully one of the parts was a perfect match and we will be returning the other items next weekend. So, I felt I should make a nice dinner for my tired, frustrated, sweaty husband. (Because we all know that in these tough economic times eating out is a luxury. OK. It's always been a luxury for us because we're cheapskates. Thankfully I like to cook.) Armed with no running water and only two pitchers of water, I commenced the dinner-making. With careful organization and planning I prepared and cooked with the least number of needed hand-washings while still keeping the meal completely sanitary. In the end, we had steak, twice-baked potatoes, and spinach. My husband was duly impressed that my mess was contained to one corner of the kitchen while he used the rest of the kitchen as his "work area" and that I accomplished this feat with only one pitcher of water. For a second, I thought, "I could survive if the terrorists decide to attack us (in some other way apart from our economy and world political standing)." Um. Then I remembered that I was only without running water for 2/3 of a day. And we still had electricity, vehicles filled with gas, a working heater, money, and relatives in town who still had running water and to whom we would have gone to take shelter for the night had the state of our house not changed for the better. Anyway, no disaster ensued. My husband is a genius at fixing things...plus he's about a hundred times more patient than I am. And now I know I can cook a meal with one pitcher of water and access to only 20% of my kitchen. I shall keep that in mind next time I need to update my resume.
1 comment:
We will always share our water with you! Just bring the steaks!
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