Let me preface this by saying it's never my intention to be Debbie Downer when I sit down to write these posts, really it's not. I'm just trying to chronicle the unplanned detour of our lives, the ups and the downs, and lately the "ups" have been few and far between.
For today, Christmas Eve, I had actually composed a heartfelt and touching message in the spirit of the season. But after yesterday, fuck it.
Although the boyfriend and I aren't giving gifts to each other this year, that doesn't mean life can't drop a couple of lumps of coal on top of your unassuming Friday morning.
Lump #1 came in the form of a 20 foot length of pipe. That's what had to be replaced yesterday morning when yet ANOTHER pipe burst in our family room ceiling. I walked into the kitchen to refresh my coffee and heard the sickening sound of running water. When I looked into the family room I saw a steady stream of water pouring down in front of the Christmas tree. It wasn't coming from the ceiling; we don't have one. It was coming from the heavy gauge plastic that's blocked off the exposed attic from the rest of the house since the last leak took out the ceiling. The plastic was sagging under the weight of about 5 gallons of pooled water which was slowly draining from a tiny hole. I quickly grabbed some trash cans and widened the hole to try and drain the water before the whole thing came crashing down.
As you can probably imagine, finding a plumber on the Friday before Christmas isn't an easy undertaking.
Or cheap.
The plumber who had done the original repair, the one who had been foisted on us by the insurance company, couldn't be bothered. He offered to come out next week. I called just about every plumber in Bako and only one returned my frantic call. Luckily, it turns out he's considered one of the better (and honest) plumbers in town and he and his crew were out within the hour. They made quick work of the repair, and he helpfully pointed out what he believed would be the next two pipe failures. It looks like we'll be doing quite a bit of business in the coming months. An hour (and $550.00) later, it was fixed. For now.
Now, the whole ordeal isn't without it's bright sides. Had we actually been able to re-drywall the ceiling, install new insulation and paint the repair after the last leak, we'd be spending this weekend tearing it all out again. And this leak narrowly missed the new TV and stereo which were replacements for the TV and stereo that were destroyed the last time.
Speaking of the new TV and stereo...
Lump #2: Walmart found me.
To be honest, I'm actually relieved. Contrary to what you may have gleaned about me from the blog, I do in fact have a conscience. Although it wasn't my fault I'd fallen through the cracks, it was getting increasingly difficult to justify my Walmart windfall, and really, any way you slice it, it's nothing more than theft. So I actually welcome the chance to make it all right. Besides, I did in fact fill out an application and sooner or later it was bound to turn up. Maybe in a month, maybe a year, maybe sometime in a distant future where our lives our back on track, there would always be the specter of the Walmart SWAT team bursting down the door and hauling my ass off to the Walmart gulag somewhere deep in Arkansas. So at least I'll be able to sleep somewhat sounder.
So between those two events, what little Christmas cheer I'd been able to muster this year vanished. But I'm not without hope. I saved the nice post I planned for today and with a little luck, I'll be able to run it next year. So with that in mind, here's to wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.
