Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Frozen

I am trying really, really hard not to whine. Or over-react and freak out. Because my pipes are FROZEN. When I got up this morning, I turned on the tap to pour water for coffee . . . nothin'. After googling "what to do about frozen pipes in a mobile home" I was reminded once again that a mobile home is a completely different animal than a bricks & mortar home. So I called the plumber.

Remember when I had the little incident where I had to replace my water heater? And I had to first find a plumber that actually works on mobile homes? Well, at least I still had their number. Unfortunately, I'm one of many with frozen pipes, so I was put on "the list" with an estimated thaw date of tomorrow. The very kind office lady (who we figured out was actually in my listening class several years ago - small world!) advised me to close my registers and crank up the heat so more warmth would be forced into the belly pan of the trailer, which might help the pipes thaw. I figure my heating bill is going to be a bajillionty dollars anyway, so why not turn my heat up to 72. (I usually keep it at 64.)

In the hour between discovering I had no water and getting through to the plumber, I had to work really hard at not having an anxiety attack. I breathed deeply. I prayed. I kept telling myself that I had done everything I could, so I needed to let it go. I had appointments for a chiropractic adjustment and the massage therapist, and so I headed out. (By the way, brushing your teeth with no running water is awkward.)

It wasn't until I got home from both appointments, I realized I had completely overlooked the biggest impact of having no water . . . I needed to flush the toilet. The good news was, my sewer line was just fine - not frozen! But I needed water to flush. There was no way I was going to buy a dozen gallons of water just to flush my toilet.

Then it hit me like a snowball upside the head. Snow! I had a whole freaking yard full of it! So, this happened:
 

That's right, folks. I melted snow so I could have water to flush my toilet. I felt very pioneer-Laura-Ingalls about the whole thing. And in case you were wondering, it took 5 buckets of snow, melted down, to fill my toilet tank.

Hopefully, the plumber will be here tomorrow and get everything thawed out. I'm going to keep my anxiety in check until then, perhaps with the help of some meds (definitely with the help of some meds.)

In other news, the cats can't stop talking about how pissed they still are over the car ride back from Ohio.

2 comments:

  1. Can I just say, your solution of using snow to flush your toilets was brilliant! The snow that froze your pipes helped you in the end! That could get you through while waiting for the plumber, who is expectedly busy with all of the pipes freezing at this weather.
    George Fryer @ Plumbing-LongIsland.com

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  2. Thanks George! We've had much colder weather since my frozen pipe incident, but the mobile home plumbers did a great job with the heat tape and I have not had any more problems. The snow is staying in the yard - thank goodness! LOL!

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