A week ago, the city decided to tear up a part of my home street to repair or replace some water pipes, I think. I am not exactly sure what they were (and still are) doing, except that one day there was a tag on my front door which said they had to shut off the water supply to my house until the mysterious problem was fixed. It was not a big deal to me since I was heading out to work before they had to shut off the water. When I got home, it seems the repairs were made and my water line was back on. For the next day, as I turned on a faucet or flushed the toilet for the first time, there was a hiccup in the system until the air pressure was released. All worked fine except for my troublesome upstairs toilet which has had a variety of minor grumbings over the last couple of years.
Upon flushing the toilet, it would literally burp with air at the start of the flush. Plus, the bowl was not filling up to the previous level. Of course, in my laziness, I really did nothing about it, thinking it would magically go away. A week later, it did not...until today!
Thank goodness for the internet and specifically for google. I simply keyword searched "toilet flush burp" and the second click gave me the answer. Amazing.
Owning a house is filled with these little moments of excitement. My other concern these days is the fear of an ice dam build up on my roof, due to the heavy snow over the last 8 days. I never knew a thing about ice dams until my neighbor rang my doorbell about 3 years ago and asked if I wanted to borrow his roof rake. I had no idea what he was talking about until he explained its purpose. Since then, I have used it twice. In fact, I used another neighbor's roof rake the other day. Then, I noticed that there was a yellow-ish icicle hanging from the corner of my house on the eave. Argh! I think there is moisture somehow getting under the shingles at this spot and leaking a bit into my roof. It does not seem bad but I think it is caused by a minor ice dam buildup. I will probably have to fix this "leak" in the Spring.
Given that the home was built in 1923, I am sure there are plenty of little things that need repair. Were I a handy man, it might be "fun" or "purposeful," but instead it's just a pain to me. I have to get my chimney tuckpointed as the cement between the bricks are loose and needing repair. I also need to replace some plumbing in the lower bathroom to remove some rust that builds up otherwise. There are probably a few other things to do to upkeep the home. And then, of course, there are the squirrels and chipmunks that are the bane of my existence.
Yet, I love owning a home. I am fortunate and thankful to be able to afford a lovely home. I love waking up without the nuisance of neighbors walking above me. I love being able to watch tv loudly, host late-night parties, and have a permanent mailing address. It's the little things that add up. Sometimes, they add up in terms of fixing this or that, but mostly they add up in so many good ways.
Posted by richlee at March 3, 2007 02:09 PM