IrishAyes
IrishAyes's JournalI haven't done it yet because the town rolls up the sidewalks on Sunday. But tomorrow
morning after I clean up and don my last clean outfit, I'll hike the 8-block round trip to the hardware store to buy some. Rash as I can be at times, I am perfectly certain it will work. At least the knot in my stomach has disappeared. It will do me good to be forced out of the house, too, no matter the weather.
Yes, I've bought the non-toxic antifreeze, but it's too late to undo the situation. Will be a
valuable preventive in the future, though. I'd thought buying a little drop-in coil heater would be cheaper than electric pipe wiring, but apparently this time I was penny wise and pound foolish. Someone also told me a plumbers trick of wrapping the pipe in heavy duty tin foil first to help spread the heat around.
Once I've learned the proper routine, things will be fine. It storms like hell here every winter, but after 8 years we've only been w/o power a very few times, and that not for long. Only once did it last several hours. Underground utilities - odd for such an old town - and a local power plant help a lot!
I've even found a new handyman to add to my short list. A blessing indeed. He installed my new dishwasher for only $40. Does everything a house needs. So he might not always be available, but he will always be the first one I call. He makes his main income for the year in 3 months as a unionized construction worker in a town almost 70 miles from here - it's seasonal but carries him the rest of the year and allows him to be merciful with his charges for little old retired ladies needs. I've always wanted to replace the original brick foundation in the front half of the house with poured concrete even though the present one's perfectly okay - for now. But it is a hundred years old. Best to do that before other interior renovations and then I won't ever have to worry. A stitch in time.
Update to post 16:
For several days all my formerly successful methods of dealing with that occasional ice jam came to naught. After a great deal of grief and groaning, I stumbled across a perfect solution: (removed by poster)
Then after that, when really hard freezes loom, I can put half a cup of equally non-toxic RV antifreeze down the drain ahead of time after doing my laundry in big batches instead of spaced out as usual. Means I'll have to run the dryer because there'll be too much to air dry indoors, but that's a small price to pay for clean clothes.
(As a preventive, the non-toxic RV anti-freeze remains a good suggestion during extended periods of heavy freezing. Erase everything I said about de-icing salt - that was a bummer.)
'Never Again' has a certain Russian art sensibility. I really like it. Almost got to tour Russia
with one of her own, but other matters intervened. I wouldn't want to go w/o a citizen guide.
New-to-Me website alert! You'll love it. (LATER EDIT- DON'T DO WHAT I DID, THOUGH)
1/8/2014 WARNING: If you put more than the tiniest bit of de-icing salt in an open ice-jammed exit pipe, you're likely to compound your problems rather than solve them. IT CLUMPS. ONLY USE NON-TOXIC LIQUID ANTI-FREEZE. I'll never forgive myself if my bad advice causes anyone else more problems than they started with.
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Removeandreplace.com - where I grew giddy just reading the subject titles. One especially good tip I picked up about telemarketers who ignore the DO NOT CALL list; when you're talking to them, press and hold down the number 9 pad on your phone. This sends a message to the other phone to remove you from their call list. I imagine it would work with legal callers such as charities and political organizations too, if indeed it works at all. Worth a try. Lots of other good stuff there too.
In this extra hard winter, my notorious washing machine exit pipe trap managed to form another ice jam. The previous successful methods did nothing to help. Then I found the most remarkable solution: de-icing salt, preferably the non-toxic kind. That's guaranteed to find its way to the ice jam and undo it. (SEE ABOVE WARNING!!!!!!) I'm so happy after almost a week of no laundry that I feel like doing a Snoopy jig. In a couple days when I can get to the store, my woes will be over. After that, when severe freezes threaten, a half cup of non-toxic RV antifreeze to nestle in the trap will keep it safe. What a relief.
We'll see 20 below tonight. Same gardening zone as southern Maine.
And - wahhhh!!! - the ice jam remains in the trap of the pipe where my washing machine empties. Haven't been able to do laundry for days. House is colder in spots than what I'd prefer, though it's amazing what 3 layers of clothing can do.
So I try to remember how comparatively easy I've got it. My nerves might wear a little thin, especially when I make the mistake of watching Sunday political shows, but a little Xanax and behavior change takes care of that. I'm basically okay. Just a little overdue for scrubbing down, and people a hundred years ago only changed clothes once a week if that ... so I'm going to stop whining. The ice jam will work its way out soon enough. No worries about burst pipes since it's an open system. Maybe the non-toxic RV antifreeze I put in there will do some good soon. I've got everything with a faucet on drip, a thermometer under my kitchen sink - the only place next to an outside wall - and no worries about the most important things.
Well, I love Dennis Kucinich too, from the bottom of my heart -
but even if he were rash enough to run for president in '16 and it would take a lightning strike for him to win a single primary, never in my wildest dreams do I want him on the ticket. I can absolutely adore all sorts of people, but I'm only going to vote for one kind - the candidate with the greater chance of moving America forward in the best direction. Step by step, inch by inch if that's what it takes. That's why all the charming and tempting siren calls for a third party fall on such deaf ears.
Back when I ordered one of my Obama/Biden campaign tee shirts, I had the option
of what to have printed across the back in big bold letters - anything at all. I chose "PROUD DEMOCRAT".
Nobody here in RedNeckLand is going to mistake me for a part timer or someone who just happened to vote a certain way one election. I even wrote in one my letters to the newspaper that the Democratic Party is my family, and when somebody attacks them, they'll hear from me. And they do. That's why I'm so damned popular here I couldn't get elected dogcatcher if it was a volunteer position. But I don't give a damn. (I'm also aware of a certain undercurrent of very guarded approval.)
I appreciate and saved all the graphics on this page
But the 'Never Again' ranks right up there with, if not above, Rosie the Riveter. Its power is incalculable.
Not only to avoid inconvenience to others, but to avoid drawing undue attention to himself
on an occasion marked for spiritual worship. According to the Bible, those who pray on street corners to gain the praise of men receive their reward on earth, not in heaven. So the attention-seeking Bible thumpers had better enjoy it while they can, because it won't mean squat later on.
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHome country: US
Current location: retired to MidWest
Member since: Mon Feb 18, 2013, 10:15 PM
Number of posts: 6,151