My Plumbing Is Excellent

One of the things I was waiting for this week was to get my SECOND plumbing checkup.  Not me personally ... my plumbing is excellent ... but the house hot water unit.  Even though it was working, apparently my well water is pretty hard, creating problems with calcification inside the unit.

As with the first one, there was lots of banging in the attic.  He said he broke two wrenches (I can hardly believe that, but what do I know) so he had to cut the line in order to install the flush out valve.  That part didn't sound good at all, but at least it's guaranteed and he's licensed in case something should happen.  I think I'll turn off my water main when I leave for Tucson next year.

At long last, it was up and running.  Unfortunately, I didn't use THAT shower that night.  I trade off around the house so everything gets used.  When I got back to the original shower, my water flow was 1/3 what it used to be.  This is NOT good.  I called the Plumber.

He thought I just needed to remove the shower head and clean it out.  After thirty minutes of wrangling a too big wrench, I found he was right.  Lots of gunk came out.  I'm back to that shower this morning, so we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, there were a couple of big Thanksgiving dinners the Elks provided for challenged adults and children.  It calls for an early arrival at the lodge since we bag up a full ham, potatoes, green beans and stuffing with all the fixings, to feed a family of four.  All 100 people got a bag in addition to the delicious turkey dinner we provided that day.

Clean up is a drag since there seems to be as much food on the floor as the tables.  No matter, they are very appreciative with every single person saying thank you.  That's a first!!

In between all that, the guy on the far left in the above picture is Mark ... the one who volunteered to fix my diesel truck.  He's a retired fireman and can build a house or a car ... you pick.  That's pretty handy, for sure!!  He stopped by with some little rubber seals to see if that would fix my truck.  

The dealership wanted to replace the entire unit for $450.  Mark wanted to replace the seals only ($15) that were allowing air into the fuel line.  In twenty minutes he was done ... the truck started and I was saying hallelujahs!!  I've got my truck back.  Yes the bottom seals should probably be replaced too, but they will have to wait until after the holidays.  

Next up was the Challenged Children's Bingo.   It again required an early arrival (I'm beginning to feel like I'm back working) in order to fill another 120 bags with donated items like candy bars, cookies, chips, apples, bananas, oatmeal bars ... lots of goodies, including a box of my Halloween candy.

The kids arrived at 10:00 and played a simple version of Bingo for two hours.  If they get a Bingo, they pick a toy from three huge tables.  They will continue with the same card until the next person wins, and so on.  If you didn't win, you STILL get to pick a prize before they hand out the next card.  

It's a madhouse!!  In the meantime, the volunteer Bingo crew barbecues hamburgers on the outside grill and hot dogs on the inside, along with all the fixings, some chips and finally a cup of chili.  Lucky for them, I didn't cook this time, I set up the buffet line.

We had so many people we ran out of food, which is a first.  It was probably because I saw MANY kids coming through the line a second time!!  It's lots of hard work, but worth it in the end when practically every single one comes and gives you a big hug!!  Nancy's bad ... that's how I got sick last year, so this year I hid in the kitchen!!

SO ... because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'm off again this morning to the Elks Lodge where we will cook another full Thanksgiving dinner for 100 Seniors from the Living Facility several blocks away.  This cooking I can do ... it's mostly boil the water and stir in a packet.  After the first dinner, I've figured ways to make it much more palatable ... like a packet of Ranch dressing mix in the potatoes and (roasted in the oven) turkey  juice in the gravy.  They DO buy high dollar food, but it's still from a box and needs a little help.

Turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie will be delivered at 4:30 to their facility, where we will serve those who can come to the central room and deliver to those who cannot.  All of these dinners are paid for by the Elks Lodge.  We will do it all again (with a couple extra meals added in) just before Christmas.

Then there's Bingo again tomorrow night.  It's okay, in spite of the problematic people, there's always several who come and tell you how happy you make them while giving you a big hug.  Besides getting me out of the house, THAT'S hard not to enjoy.