"A Winter Visit" by Mike Owen(Click picture to enlarge.)
We had water in half of the house (bathroom) when we arrived at 12:30AM on December 23rd. Had to stop in Keweenaw Memorial for Melisse - ear infection. Also could not get supplies as Pat's had closed early on the 23rd. Got in around 1AM and discovered the water. Too tired to do anything (and there was no water on the floor) I decided to attack the problem the next morning.
Upon inspection, I decided to call a plumber and have them fix it. I had no idea I could supply someone with such a humorous request as I apparently did when I asked them for assistance. Anyway, I decided to give it a go.
Got the cold water side working quickly (ok in the crawl space, ok above the floor, so the cold draft must have been in the floor) and moved to the hot side, which I my limited plumbing experience, should have been the easy side. Wrongo. Got the water going and experienced a great, albeit short-lived, feeling of exultation when the water came forth through the proper oriface. Then, and quickly, the pipes began to shudder and shake and water gushed forth onto the floor.
So began a brief (and fortunately successful) career as a master pipe fitter. I did not have the parts but was able to assemble them after talks with Jim Boggio. Clarence Bach had the parts and took the time to give me opinions. Jim also, but he was on another mission and thus took off. The Roche's, Bogart's, Ellis'and others stopped by to offer encouragement.
One thing that was interesting was the tolerance between the floor in the hole and the OD of the pipe. Having been a harbor guy for over 40 years, I realize that a correct tolerance between parts in Eagle Harbor is typically within 1 to 2 inches, depending on how many "Delaware Shortys" had been consumed prior. Anyway, this tolerance was within 1MM and thus the pipe would not come up or go down until a proper EH persuader was applied. In short, got the plumbing back on track an ventured forth to help others in the community. Kept at it all day and eventually came in exhausted.
My good neighbor Schubert offered to cut a tree for us (it was beautiful) and we prepared to celebrate Melisse's birthday that evening. Decorated the tree and were ready to leave for dinner (at Roche's as we still had no supplies) when the tree toppled down. Rebuilt the stand while Melisse held it up and then roped it up to the wall. Another adventure.
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