Glamorous Life

I've been MIA for several reasons:  work has been busy, Christmas decorating like a crazed Elf, buying presents, wrapping presents, etc.  But I couldn't let it pass without reporting about the super glamorous life I lead.  (this is where sarcasm font would come in so handy).  No, it is not all decorating, shopping, and travel around here...

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I got up and jumped in the shower to get ready and go down to Dallas to celebrate Christmas early with my Uncle's family.  I noticed toward the end of my shower, that water wasn't draining so well.  I thought to myself "better go pour some Liquid Plumber down the drain", and once I dried off, that is exactly what I did.  Then I went to flush the toilet, and it didn't flush.  I went into the extra bath, and water was on the floor around the base of the toilet.  HOUSTON!  WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

I looked up plumbers who provided 24/7 service.  They couldn't get me in until 4-6 p.m., so I went ahead with my plans for the day.  The plumber came and tried to snake out my main sewer line, but unfortunately, he pulled out roots in the process.  Roots are NOT suppose to be in your sewer line.

He thought that it was likely on the city's portion of the line, so I paid him a chunk of cash, and held off doing anything else until I called the city.  Luckily, he was able to get my line clear just enough for water to drain through.  No toilet paper.  

On Monday morning, I called the city and they came right out.  I was in court, but they called back quickly to tell me that in fact it was my problem not theirs.  I got several estimates, but because of Thanksgiving, many of those were slow to come.  They ranged all over the place from a handy man and his "too good to be true" to real plumbers and their "anyone know where I can sell a kidney?" estimates.  I selected a (real) plumber and they were finally able to come out yesterday.  Let me tell you, it is so nice to be back to living a First World life again!  YUCK!

Since I spent my entire savings for my next vacation (and then some), I will have no pretty pictures to show for a while, so let me entertain you with pictures of my sewer line!

The hole had to be dug way deep.  It was about 6 1/2 feet at its deepest.

See the green pipe?  That's city pipe.  I was so, so close to it being a city problem and not mine!

How close?

Inches.  Mere inches.  

Now, to top it all off, I have a big ugly dirt spot in my yard!

In all seriousness, I know that many people have lots of problems that no amount of money can fix.  My problem was a little disgusting, but fixable.   But still, this was a rotten time of year to have to spend a load of cash, and really, is there ever a good time to have your vacation fund go right down the crapper (literally!)?