Sorry it has been so long. The most recent peril is more in the nature of a nuclear disaster. Although it doesn't contain any radiation, the amount of dust and mud that have resulted are almost as far reaching. Last week, on Tuesday, I was very happily completing the tasks of the day. One of the items read "call Rescue Rooter". Our bathroom shower drain was really slow. The "rescuers" arrived about eleven o'clock. They explained that they didn't want to do anything until they ran a camera through our system to learn about the blockage. So they took the downstairs toilet off and started their little magic trick from there. But what did it show? The pipes were cracked and there was regular old mud in them. The further that it went the worse it was until they came to one joint in the sewer pipe under the house that was completely apart. There was washing water running around the outsides of the pipe. The result of their inspection was that they had to call in their manager for a second opinion and to help them figure out the best solution.
Allen talked to the manager that evening and the next morning a crew came to start dismantling our sewer system. That was Wednesday. That was the day we learned the full extent of the plan and the cost. That was also the day that they learned that our house isn't all that easy to destroy. The jackhammer just wouldn't break the cement in the basement. When the King of Diamonds came with his concrete saw, they learned that it isn't just cement but cement with rebar. Yesterday was the worst of all. There was a backhoe working in our back yard. There was a jackhammer pounding away on the side walk by the air conditioner. And there was a cement saw screaming in the basement. What a racket! All in all, by the end of this stint, we will have a new sewer pipe from the storage room across the basement that will exit the house from the bathroom, run under the sidewalk, go along the sidewalk to the slope, go down under the slope and into the street sewer. There will be new grass on the slope and upper lawn, a section of new cement in the basement and a nonleaking sewer. We are spending a fortune and will have nothing to show for it except the dust. Ah, life really throws curve balls. Just when you think that things might lighten up!