When I got home from Texas, I was pleasantly surprised to discover there was a geyser in my backyard. Apparently, turning on the sprinkler system just two days before heading out of town is not the wisest thing to do, even if you did spend half a Saturday playing in the sprinklers figuring out how the sucker works.
So this weekend, I finally finished the repair job (I hope). You’d think that dragging around a hose (for over two weeks) would be unpleasant enough I would have gotten the job done sooner, but, you see, Zekers isn’t always the bravest guy out there…and I avoided doing the job because I was worried I’d totally screw it up. Also, it looked to be a lot of work. It wasn’t just a simple broken pipe, but the crack occurred on an elbow joint in a rather inopportune location, and so instead of having just a couple of connections to make…I had eight.
Fortunately, it looks like I figured it out. I won’t know for sure until tonight when I turn the water back on (after the recommended 24 hours setting time), but I’m hopeful.
And, actually, I am a little nervous about something else.
On one of my vacation days (I think the only day I didn’t spend hanging out with my family) I chopped down a cherry tree. Okay, it was more like a chain saw a massacre. There’s something rather virile about operating a chain saw (first time I’d every used one…rented from Home Depot), and cutting down a tree definitely feels like an accomplishment. But the real accomplishment came last weekend, when I removed the stump. Removing the tree was actually pretty easy, as it had been dying for some time and was already about two-thirds cut down. The stump, on the other hand, was very much alive…and very, VERY big with about a billion pesky roots. So, I went back to Home Depot and rented a Sawzall (first time again too) and this big ass pry bar. Well, five hours and five Sawzall blades later, I finally got the stump out. I’ve got to admit, at four and a half hours I was very tired of digging, cutting, digging, cutting…and well, not a very happy camper…but eventually I could see the stump wiggle a bit when I jumped up and down on the pry bar, and after a bit more digging and a few more cuts...the job was done…and DAMN did that feel good.
So the other thing I’m nervous about. There is a possibility that in cutting blindly (and ferociously) at the tree roots I could have hit a sprinkler pipe. Unfortunately, the thought of such an outcome didn’t even occur to me until I was about half-way done removing the stump, but…fortunately…I never actually saw the saw make contact (or an actual pipe for that matter), so hopefully no damage done.
I guess I’ll find out about that tonight too:)
Wish me luck!
The Stump
