Water you talking about?

God has been really good to us this week.

He wanted to teach all of us to be thankful for the wonderful things we take for granted - like running water. We have a leak...the water is not leaking into the house but it probably would be if I didn't turn the water off at the meter. I have had two full days now of having plumbers come to the house and give estimates. Some of them don't just give estimates, some charge $25 for their estimate. They also let you know this after they've given the estimate. They tend to forget to tell those things before they come out to the house. I understand why they need to do that, I just like being told beforehand, otherwise I feel that I have been tricked a bit. I paid it, but it did make me a little bit more negative-minded toward their work proposal/bid. I am a little overly sensitive, but so often the little things like that tip you off to a company or person's overall credibility. Like they say, little things mean a lot.

All in all, being without water isn't too bad, I can turn on the water for washing dishes, doing laundry, and for showers. It's a matter of planning ahead, and I'm really thankful that I wasn't behind at all on laundry when all this started. It's a big inconvenience to our teenage daughters of course, and when one of them brought up what a pain this is, I filled them in on what people in our family in the not-so-distant past had to do to get water. They'd have to pull it up from a well, and then carry it, among other chores. All we have to do is turn the water on again at the meter.
So I think we can cope with it! My main concern is getting it fixed so it won't harm the house.

The two plumbers that I have narrowed the job down to have vastly different quotes. One will replace pipes with Polyethylene (also called PEX) for $1,850, and the other plumbing company would do it with copper for $3,200. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but I think the PEX will do the job for us. At first I wasn't going to hire a leak detection service, (tack on there another $325 for 2 hours with a $35 trip fee) ...it seems excessive, but I think now that I might have that done, just to make sure we get to the root of the problem. One of the most disconcerting things is having so many different opinions on the same problem. I do care a lot about the amount of money, but I know that cost isn't the only factor to be considered. I have spent a lot of time today reading about PEX versus Copper pipes, the pros and cons of each, and finding the most unbiased opinions I could. I think I know entirely too much about it now. I will be available for dissertations at universities on this topic within a few days. My brain can't stand to deal with much more about it. I am thunk out.

"Dangit Jim, I'm an artist not a plumber!" (that was added for benefit of Star Trek fans)

Now...If the Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol would show up on my porch the same day the plumbers are here to do the work, that would be great. Just a little hint there...just throwing that out into the world wide web....