Wednesday, March 31, 2010

But No Eurydice

I have spent the last couple of days crawling on my stomach beneath my house trying to repair my water well system.  It's been rapid cycling and noisy for some time now (the water system, not my stomach) and I figured I oughta try to do something about it.  So, striving for the Stoic ideal,  I would gear up - dust mask, coveralls taped tight at the ankles to keep out vermin,  snug cap,  good light -  crawl through the small opening to the underworld, and  squirm along until I got to the water system.  Then I would shine my light on it, try to trace tank, pipes, gauges, valves, and figuratively scratch my head.  Crawl out and scratch my head some more.  Go back in.  Back out.  Went to the hardware store and bought some tools, an air pressure gauge and an electric circuit tester, and did it all again.   Finally today, I figured out that the bladder itself inside the water tank was shot, gave up,  and called the pro's.  Heck, they had the entire old system out and the new one installed in about the same time it would take me to get my coveralls on, smoke a cigar, and ponder on things.   I am sure there is something to be learned here but I can almost guarantee that they considered neither Cerberus nor Eurydice while I had my eyes open the whole time just on the off chance.  Still, it's good to have it fixed.

3 comments:

Charles said...

she was there with you

i loved the story

well written

JRH said...

Of course, at about $150/hour, they better have kept focused on the job at hand!

Anonymous said...

Too funny!