They say that home ownership is the American dream. It's a bit more like a nightmare at times if you ask me. Sometimes, I really do pine for the good ol' days, when any malfunction whatsoever could be fixed with a call to the landlord. We have a pipe that leads into our utility room and pump. That pipe is firmly embedded, ensconced and totally stuck in sidewalk cement outside. It is also PVC, which isn't supposed to be exposed to the elements. But it is, cuz copper costs plenny kala and we've pretty much concluded that our house was a no frills kind of construction project. Anyway, the pipe coming up from the cement elbows at a right angle then goes through a hole in the siding and into the utility room. Several weeks ago, I heard a hissing sound coming from what I thought were our gas tanks, located right next to the pipe. At first I thought it was a gas leak. Yikes. Thankfully, it was not. Instead, the elbow in the pipe had sprung a tiny leak and was misting water. Ron did his usual repair/Jerry rigging and was quite pleased with the results after much gluing, taping and clamping. Just Wednesday morning, he commented on how well his repair had worked. About an hour later, I heard that familiar sound again. This time it was louder. We went outside and found the pipe not misting, but spewing. Spouting. Erupting. We had our own Italian fountain. So we turned off the water and made our way to Ace for some piping.After some consulting with the expert there, about five hours of sawing, hammering, wrenching and more, we fixed it. Sort of. It's not a bad fix, but it's not perfect. I have to say though, that we made a pretty good team. There was no swearing. We took turns sawing, hammering and holding the flashlight, as our project took us well into the night. (We had to record Lost.) It will need to be redone by a professional who can replace one or both of the original pipes and refit the elbow properly. Fortunately, I have a friend at the gym who works as a plumber. He's the plummer at the Military Camp, but he does some work on his own as well and he agreed to come check it out. I'll give him a call next week.
I actually poured a wine tasting for someone from Gunnison this week. His wife was my optometrist there. Small world, eh? It made me a little homesick.
The weather's been very nice the past couple of days. I stopped in the park yesterday on my way home from work to take a couple of pictures at sunset.
Today, I heard a beautiful song on the radio. I'd heard it before, but it really struck me today. Keali'i Raichel has a lovely voice and this is such a sweet, mellow melody. Hmmmm... I guess that makes it a mellow-dee. I've attached a link to a sample of the song. It's called Ka Nohona Pili Kai The title translates roughly as "The dwelling near the sea." Or it could mean "A home by the sea." The word nohona literally translates to either life or dwelling. So I think here it conveys the concept of home. I think....
Hawaiian music is nice, but I found bluegrass helped me pick up the pace on the treadmill today. Nothing like a little Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Flat and Scruggs) to get the feet flying.
Here's an irony for ya. In Hawaii, as everywhere across the nation, the local police have embarked upon an aggressive click it or ticket campaign and are issuing citations with fines of $92 for people who neglect to fasten their seat belts. Seams reasonable, right? After all, seat belts save lives. So when you're driving or riding inside the steal casing of an automobile, you must be buckled in. In Hawaii however, it's legal for humans to ride in the bed of a pickup truck. They do so, of course, without helmets or seat belts. Go figgah.....
A hui hou. Aloha.
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