Tell-Tale Signs

How can you tell when it's time to call the plumber?
1. When you do the laundry, does the water in your toilet get really low? Or bubble?
2. When you do laundry, does water come out onto the bathroom floor under the toilet?
3. When you do laundry, is there evidence that stuff has come up the drain in your bathtub?
4. When you shower or bathe, does the tub drain slowly?
5. When you flush the toilet, does the water start to go down, but then comes way up?
All of these are tell-tale signs that something is up with your plumbing, and all of them have happened to me in the last week or two. I wasn't desperate. I mean, nothing had overflowed...yet...but I did stand, plunger in hand, with every flush, just in case... Although I can scarcely afford it this month, I decided to call the plumber before something DID overflow and before the poor guys would have to work in freezing temperatures to clean out the "clean out".

The problem most always is roots in the sewer system. The company I call is out of Mooresville. They are quite reasonable in fees, and it is a testament to the plumbing problems I have here that I no longer have to tell them where I live. We are practically on a first-name basis! According to them, they have had a large upturn of calls for sewer roots because it has been so dry. Apparently, plant roots--with their actively reasoning little brains--say, "I'm thirsty. I think I'll invade that sewer pipe over there." Don't know whether to believe that or not, but who knows? In any case, another crisis averted...I hope. I need to get religious about using copper sulphate in the sewer system. A bottle of it costs about $7. If I used a bottle a month, I could do 17 monthly applications just to equal what the sewer rooting cost today. The guys were just here last November for the same problem... (I can't believe that my blog post today has to do with sewage!!)

I spend so much time in my garage room, and the place is the repository for things that have no other place in the house, so I decided to "start to commence to begin" working on cleaning up the disarray. Of course, when I deep-clean one room, I mess up another. This is a project that will not happen quickly. For now, the top of my dresser is cleaned off and my jewelry box (and stray jewelry) is on the kitchen table for organizing efforts. I can do this! I just need to find happy homes for things I can't throw away...such as my father's VFW and American Legion hats. I wonder if my grandson would like to have them? He isn't even 7 yet. Or maybe my grand-nephew Jeremy? I don't want them to go to trash. It is sad how treasured possessions get so scattered in two or three generations. I will always wonder what happened to my grandparents' dining table after I donated it in order to make room for my daughter's things here.

Another year, another FFA tragedy. Students from the Future Farmers of America descend on Indy every year for their annual convention. They are great kids. Everyone in Indy loves having them here. The media talks about the "blue jacket" invasion. Last year, one of their numbers fell several floors near an escalator at the big downtown shopping center. (He survived, but barely. A year later, he is in a nursing care facility in Texas, still on a feeding tube.) This year, one was hit by a car (but okay)...and another, who wasn't an FFA member but accompanied a group (an exchange student from Afghanistan) has disappeared. Looks like he planned to disappear. In any case, it never makes Indy look good for these things to happen. Ugh!

Lovely day here. I should have been raking leaves. I need help!