You never should have told me plumbing was your specialty, your mistake...
Most of the plumbing works, but the water cannot go down the kitchen sink because there has been a clog there for several years.... Don't ask why it has been that long or you will get a long story about the rental house nightmare with the level II sex offender we rented to who tried to sue me, and the lady that moved in afterwards who wanted better homes and gardens when I advertised a "rustic country house on the river."
These tenants and the other house precluded us getting anything done at OUR house.
But the primary problem we have right now is the septic, because we do not know what is wrong yet. It backed up last March and we did not know it had backed up because we never go downstairs anymore to that bathroom. then we saw it had backed up when we went down for something else.
By then it was all dry and brown, on the vinyl floor and sewage was in the toilet and shower stall. So after that we knew we had a problem but we did not know what it was because the septic was inaccessible, buried under a tree that had grown over it since we moved here. So once last March I tried to do a load of laundry and it backed up, clear water... I have not done laundry since...... But because of the rental house nightmare, I could not deal with this so we just adjusted, using buckets for doing dishes and other things and dumping it outside since we have a secluded acre in the woods, with no neighbors nearby....
Then last summer we had another problem with the bathtub fixture valve that would not shut off so the water was running constantly to the downstairs and apparently it was getting into the bathroom and not going into the septic tank... We did not know it had run downstairs and flooded the bathroom and the hallway and part of the bedroom until after it had happened.... But the contractor was busy working on the rental house but when he was done we finally got him to fix that valve and then it stopped running and we dried the bathroom up and had fans going constantly to dry all the carpet.
Then after that I had my arborist cut down the tree that is over the septic so now we know where the tank is, but the septic company said we would have to dig all of it up and some of it is under the cat fence. Also, they said there might be two more trees that need to come down because they are where the drain field should be. I have been unable to deal with this psychologically, so we have just adjusted.
I take showers at work but finally my husband had to take a shower at home and it did not back up. Now we have started to take a shower every few days and nothing has backed up. But we still do not let any more water go down. That is why my husband has a big job doing dishes, he has to use buckets to do them and dump water outside.
If you were a religious person I would ask you to pray for me.
A better solution would be to get someone over here. I know what we need to do and I have people I can hire, I just cannot deal because I am too busy working and I don't have the time. Of course, some of it is also fear of what could be.
I have a four week vacation coming up in February so hopefully I will be able to deal with it then.... either that or when I retire which could be soon after that.... It is all up in the air, as is my life, but as long as the cats are all okay, it's all good.
Our new tenants in that house are really great but our seven year tenant at the ocean house still owes me thousands. He has done this before so I am hoping he will pay it down again as he did before, but as long as all the cats are okay, it's all good.
I guess you can tell where my priorities are... God even has to step aside for the cats.
Houses, I hate houses, almost as much as I hate cars, maybe even more.
Did I mention that my husband is not a handyman? All he has is a Phillips screwdriver, as he lost his hammer.
If he dies before me and I get married again, the ad on EHarmony will read "handyman required."
