Well, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to kill myself.
The leak in the ceiling proved to be the classic case of "good news/bad news".
The "good news"?
A plumber came out and quickly replaced the problem pipe. Not only that, but he surveyed the rest of our plumbing and said it looked to be in pretty good shape.
And then the "recovery team" showed up from our home warranty company.
This would be the "bad news".
We were under the assumption that the problem area was the section of ceiling that collapsed. We were wrong.
They wielded a cattle prod like device that detects moisture. And as they probed the ceiling in frightening larger circles, it was determined that most of the ceiling on that side of the house has been soaked. The leak may have been small, but it had evidently been going on for a long while.
The ceiling has to come down.
They've now cordoned off that side of the house like we're in quarantine. See above. They've started removing the ceiling which has filled the house with the lovely odor of 40 year old wet drywall and insulation and opossum poop. It needs to dry, I've been told, before they can begin re-construction... in a week.
And it's all happening just above the only cable outlet in the entire house.
We will have no TV... for at least a week.
Where was that bookmark for the Hemlock Society...
