If ya hold your mouth just right....

Life has been kinda less than wonderful lately. Still don't have a job, panic attacks happen if I even attempt to go someplace to fill out an application, and I have to force myself out of the house to go grocery shopping.
My son & his girlfriend were supposed to come for a visit this month, but after I'd nearly worked myself into the ground getting ready for their arrival, he called me the night before cancelling the trip. I was really looking forward to it.....partially because I haven't seen him since August of 2005, but also because he's so incredibly handy at fixing stuff around the house that need a little work.
One thing I was hoping for was a hookup for the battery on my motorcycle so I wouldn't have to take the seat off when it needs a charge. Yep...I am hopelessly challenged in that direction, but he could do the job in a matter of minutes.
Another little project was replacing the bolts that attach the water tank to the toilet downstairs. They've rusted almost away & if I were to lean on the tank it would probably let go of the base & I'd have a flood in a hurry. He's good with the plumbing stuff too.
But the biggest project showed itself about a week before he was due to arrive. I got my latest water bill in the mail & it had almost doubled! I don't use a lot of water, never have more than the minimum bill, so I was pretty surprised at seeing one for nearly $32. I called the water company to have the meter re-read, just thinking maybe somebody had transposed a number or something, but the guy came & told me it was right......but.....did I have any water running right now? I didn't...so he informs me the meter is running slowly & that most likely means it is leaking somewhere. OH JOY!! We turned the water off right at the house, went down & looked at the meter & it was still running. Conclusion being that the leak is between the meter & the house.....what fun! NOT!
See, my house is on a hill. It's about 300-400 feet from the meter to my house. No wet spots showing on the ground anywhere....hmmmm. Two choices....dig up the entire length until the leak is found, praying that this doesn't mean the pipes are getting old & this would just be a temporary fix until it sprung another leak a few months down the road. The other choice is just forget it & run an entire new line to make sure it won't become a problem later. The safest option is the second one for a major reason....turns out that the original line was run when my neighbor between the meter & my house was living in a mobile home. And it was run behind the trailer & straight up the hill. But now there is a regular house sitting there & it's on top of the pipe. But that means now a new line would have to run thru his driveway since going behind the house isn't an option.....what with it being backed right up flush with another part of the hill and all. Now my neighbor is a nice guy & probably wouldn't mind, but this project is starting to look pretty expensive to me. Getting a plumber, renting a ditch-witch, new pipes & fittings and repaving part of his driveway.....not how to start off the year's budget!

This is where the "holding your mouth just right" part comes in. Since my son's visit was cancelled, I knew I wouldn't be saving any money on a plumber by having him do the job so I was pretty much putting off doing anything until the next bill arrives....hoping that it wasn't much higher than the last one, meaning it was a pretty slow leak & would give me some time to figure out how I was gonna pay for this project. But the gods smiled on me today, in spite of the forecast for a downpour!
The previous owner of the house showed up as he does every now & then to see how the single city girl is getting along with life in a log cabin. He mentioned that he'd heard about the leak problem & we were standing on the deck yacking about solutions when my other neighbor (the Mom of the guy at the bottom of the hill) happens to be going down the drive past my house. She stops & hollers up at us that her son was coming out of his shed yesterday & noticed a big, wet mushy spot right in front of it & he's wondering if that's where my leak is. She meant to call me this morning about it, but got busy & nearly forgot....but since she saw us standing on the deck it jogged her memory.
So the old owner & I go down to take a look. He gets a shovel out of the shed & starts digging up the wet spot....nice & easy since it has fortunately warmed up enough for things not to be frozen like they were all last week. Of course, in spite of trying to be careful, he hits the pipe which cracks completely open & starts shooting water out in a big hurry. I mad dash it to the water meter, throw myself on the ground & pry open the cover.....stare at it for a couple of seconds while I can hear the dial & see the numbers just whizzing by....then remember how to turn the valve off....finally.
But happily, now the leak is located & once he does the bucket thing to get all that water out of the whole, we see that it's not gonna be a big deal to fix it. I call my usual handy man who happens to be off duty from his regular job as a fireman & is still right down town, about 15 minutes away. He comes by, looks at the situation, runs over to Lowes & gets a new section of pipe & the fitting joint thingy....bingo....repaired & I have water again....nasty looking, brown, sandy water, but once I run it for a few minutes all is back to normal. Which was really good, since I'd had to use the bathroom 3 times since I shut the meter off & didn't even have any drinking water......and ya know how thirsty ya get when suddenly there is none to drink!!
The best part of all this was that the pouring rain we were supposed to get starting early this morning held off until the job was all done.....AND.....the grand total (including the handyman coming back in a day or two just to double check & make sure everything is still ok, plus fix the bolts on the toilet downstairs) came to a more than reasonable $35!!!! Whew!!!!
Now the nightmare vision of it costing me anywhere from several hundred to a thousand has drifted off to hell....where it rightly belongs....and I can breath again. There is just that small, teeny, niggling thing floating in the dark recesses of my brain....reminding me that the entire pipe hasn't been replaced & another leak could rear its ugly head sometime down the road. But I refuse to listen to that for now!! Of course I haven't yet received the current water bill & it was leaking for a few weeks since the last one & the leak had obviously gotten severe enough to show itself nearly 3 feet up to the surface.....could be another little less than pleasant surprise.....but at least I will know to shut one eye before I look at it!! Maybe if I hold my mouth just right.......???????