Month: December 2008

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If Not the Weather, the… Cats

I had water at 6:30 this morning, but not at 8:30. I got the heat gun, set it up, opened the tap in the bathroom sink, and went out to open the guest facilities. I wound up getting tied up there and didn’t get back home for twenty minutes.

That was just long enough for:

  • the heat gun to work its magic;
  • water to start gushing out of the bathroom tap;
  • one of the cats (probably Neelix) to leap up onto the counter to get at all that fresh, yummy water, and;
  • knock a washcloth into the basin where it stopped the drain.

*sighs*

I suppose that’s one way to wash the floors. I used a heater to dry out everything and the room looks okay. I hope that the water didn’t have time to infiltrate.

In other dismal news, I believe that my loft is now leaking. I’ve got a nice chunk of ice in one corner. Inside. I’m going to get the heater up there next, but I’m sure the damage is done. Caulking will have to wait until the weather warms up.

In happier news, it was SUNNY today!!! I went out to do the cleaning this afternoon and switched to a light sweater and a kerchief, instead of the sweater, coat, and tuque I’ve been living in. Sure, it was a tad ‘brisk’ (-11) walking around the park like that, but it felt sooooo nice to be unencumbered by a million layers of clothing. Of course, the sun is already setting (can’t believe it’s four, where does the day go?!), but I definitely got my vitamin D quota for the day.

This afternoon, I managed to run my errands in preparation for Thursday’s dinner with the guests. My contribution is mashed turnip (rutabaga for you purists) with brown sugar, which I will have the pleasure of serving in a bowl that belonged to my dad. I couldn’t tell you the number of times I served mashed root vegetables in that bowl over the past twenty years and I am very happy to bring a piece of my father with me to this traditional Christmas meal he would have enjoyed so much.

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Trying to Lull Us Again…

At 7PM last night, it was minus twenty-one. My water froze again in a matter of minutes and it took forever to get it going. I was chilled to the bone and miserable; I hadn’t felt my feet in two days and the night promised to be brutal. When I got the water running again and was able to take a very long and extremely hot shower, I felt better. By the time I went to bed at 10:30, it was minus seventeen. Yes, the temperature was going up…

I had a fantastic night. When I woke up around 5:30, my first thought was that the bedroom was very cozy!

I rose to minus sixteen and about six inches of snow, which I just spent two hours moving out of the way in areas where people walk. Apparently, a snow plow is on its way.

It’s supposedly cold out there, but a dry minus sixteen with no wind is perfectly bearable.

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The Fighting Resumes

Yesterday evening, I suddenly found myself without water once again. It’s presently -16 and we’re looking at another long stretch of deep freeze. The forecast continues to change and while we’re looking once again at a long period of sub-zero weather, they are no longer announcing nights at twenty below. Small blessings, I suppose.

I’m trying to figure out where the water is frozen. My compartment is well heated and my heat tape is working. All I can fathom is that the problem is once again in the pedestal, but that was insulated. So, perhaps the problem is underground…

At times like these, I start to dream of Las Vegas, but Las Vegas got more snow than we did this week, so I am starting to wonder if there are any warm havens left!