In the dark

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It is nighttime, you have locked the doors and turned out the lights.  Teeth brushed, jammies on,  you are tired and ready to sleep.

Laying your head back onto the pillow, you pull up the covers and try to relax to sleep.  The house is dark,  your breathing slows and then you hear it.  Sometimes it is in the kitchen, sometimes in your bathroom, but wherever it is you will not sleep until you silence that annoying and rhythmic

drip

drip

drip!

There is simply nothing so annoying as a leaking faucet when you are trying to sleep.  You may try several methods to temporarily silence the leak, but sooner or later you will have to call the plumber and that my friends is expensive.

MoneyFaucet

Those of you who have known me for a while know how I feel about paying a repairman to fix appliances.  Especially when they want to charge $75 to $80 dollars just to give you their opinion about what may be wrong.  Really?   I would much rather spend that money on parts and do the job myself.

And so it is that I have challenged myself to fix that crazy making, sleep depriving leaky faucet in the shower!  It wasn’t so bad in the beginning, but over time it has become unbearable.  I have armed myself with Delta’s and others Youtube videos, gone to the Delta website to find the right part, and spent over $20.00 to buy a strap wrench that I may only ever use once.  I know that sounds crazy, but I reasoned that expenditure out like this:

The strap wrench          –          $20.00

The Delta replacement part – FREE  (a “$50.00 value on Amazon” [list price     $86.00])

Total                     –                      $20.00

The plumber plus the part  –  $150.00 to $200.00

I’m goin’ in!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe offending drip!

The tools: 

  • Manufacturers instructions included with the part
  • One Phillips head and one blade screwdriver
  • One pair of needle nosed pliers (not indicated in the enclosed instructions, but absolutely necessary to remove the old adapter assembly!)
  • One [way smaller next time!!!] *new strap wrench.

Following these instructions it was mostly easy.…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  Trust me, the enclosed instructions are lacking some steps.  If you should want to try this at your home, then watch the video.  A couple of times.

The first and most important step in this procedure is to turn off the water to the house, and then open the faucet in the bathroom sink and the shower to release the pressure in the pipes.  Now I am ready to begin!  😉

Cap off, remove screw, pull off lever/handle, slip off chromed sleeve, use strap wrench to loosen the valve bonnet nut (TIGHT) remove old valve, and then reverse the process to put it all back together.

Old parts out, new parts in, and

DONE!

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOld parts

Thank you Delta for your free replacement cartridge, and for the online audio visual aids!

*If I had watched this video before I went out for the strap wrench I would have known exactly what I needed!  😉

~*~~*~*~

Now if only I were younger, less stiff and more brave, why, I could save us thousands by doing all the new plumbing on the Mountain Farmlet!

And…

This leads into today’s second post…

Stay tuned!

Sometimes it just isn’t pretty

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Recently, the Little Dog was diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease.  We put him on his meds and he began to show signs of improvement.

Then he lost 2.5 lbs in about two weeks, which is a massive drop when you only weigh 15 lbs.   He was listless and his energy had taken a nose dive.  We thought he was dying.  I made an appointment with his Vet and we discussed his symptoms.

These were:  A return to drinking gallons of water and having to pee A LOT,  also, lethargy, massive weight loss, and this was very weird ~ his breath smelled like contact cement or nail polish remover.  (No he didn’t have access to any such thing!!!)

The Vet grabbed a test strip put a drop of urine on it and we watched it almost instantly turn brown.

Diagnosis?  Diabetes.  Apparently, this is also brought about by his Cushing’s disease.  His blood sugar was in the 600 range!

He has only been on insulin for two days now, but he has begun to want to play and interact with us again.  😀

That said, it is a bit hard to stick my little dog with a needle two times a day, but then, I guess we’ll both get used to it in time.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAEven with a party glass to try to take the ugly off, well, diabetes is just not pretty, now is it?

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Friday Fictioneers: spinner!

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Usually I don’t write for Friday Fictioneers unless I have a storyline that pops into my head right away.  This week I have challenged myself to come up with something to tell you about this photograph!   As always, thanks goes out to Rochelle for encouraging us, and a special thank you to Renee Heath for the use of her photograph.

I hope my story works for you.  😉

SpinnerCopyright -Renee Heath

~*~ Spinner! ~*~

He tried to pretend that she wasn’t there, but to ignore her was futile.  Loud, hyperactive,  ever-present,  she was the visual embodiment of hyperbole.   An extravagant exaggeration of annoying adoration.  He couldn’t wait for graduation so he could move on and attend college.  Anywhere.  Anywhere but here!

He had it mapped.  Med School, internship, a practice on the West Coast, then wife and family.

~*~

Home for his  15th reunion, he stopped at the entry table, then froze.  Too late.

Quietly she approached him,   “You came back.”

Taken by her calm demeanor he blurted, “Carrie, you’ve changed!”

“Ritalin” she replied.

Words:  100

For more stories from this prompt go here!  🙂

NOTE:  I was asked what Ritalin is for/what it does.

Methylphenidate (Ritalin) is a prescription drug that treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy (sudden attacks of uncontrollable sleepiness [Which was not Carrie’s problem]).  This medicine is a stimulant, which seems a non sequitur when you consider how it is used, but in individuals with true ADHD it has a calming effect on them. 
 
Strange, but true!

This morning on the Farmlet

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I always see Bob off to work in the mornings.

With slippered feed, and bleary eyes I walk him out the door, have a good hug,  and then sit on the bench to wave as he drives down the road.  (I’ll be seen wearing a thick robe, no matter the weather, to ward off those dang mosquitoes too!)

This morning had a little surprise in store.  In the half-light, I saw a small thing stuck to the wall by the front door.  Peering closer revealed this!

All this rain has brought us more than annoying mosquitoes.  It has brought us beautiful little green frogs to eat them!

It was a good beginning to the day!

How is yours going?

~*~*~*~

NOTES:  Apparently, my little frogs are Squirrel Tree Frogs, and they will only grow to be just under two inches long.  For more information on the Squirrel Tree Frog look HERE!

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