Thursday, June 29, 2023

My turn to prop up the economy!

 Guess it's my turn.  I have noticed others who had storm damage, had a car totaled in an accident (rear-ender), or are struggling to sell their business or a house, etc. are propping up the economy. My turn today.  

My water pressure has been flagging, the past few days.  The last time it did this, SparkPeople was still active.  I went on a week-long Summer Camp that year, living without water, filling buckets to flush, etc.  My water softener had "exploded", spewing little resin beads throughout the plumbing in the house.  Some of you may remember that series of blogs!

In any case, I decided I'd best be on top of it this time, and at least get on their schedule.  I didn't expect to get someone in before the holiday, but I called my old faithful firm that does all my HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work this morning before I went off to work out with the trainer.  I was shocked to discover that they had a free slot this afternoon!

So... I came home, sponged off, and waited for the guy to show up.  Sure enough, it's the water softener again!  This time I don't need to replace the whole unit.  

Jad (that's his name, and he swears it is not short for anything) measured the water pressure coming to the house.  It was high (100) and could be contributing to the short life span on that water softener.  Apparently, those floods we had a few years back resulted in the city adding more chlorine in to the city water supply, too.  This can cause the resin to break down faster.

We addressed both issues.  He put the water on by-pass, and installed both a regulator and a holding tank that will limit the water pressure to 60 pounds or less.  And they took my machine away to replace the resin with beads that have a higher resistance to chlorine.  I'll be living with hard water until they bring it back next week.

The cost?  Yikes!  So... yeah... working on boot strapping the local economy.


Life is good.  Spark on!

16 comments:

  1. Oh boy. Not a fun way to prop up the economy, but . . . has to be done. Good luck!

    hugs
    barb
    1crazydpg

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    1. Agree. But taking care of the infrastructure is not something to be put off... it only gets worse. Would be a lot more fun to prop up the economy with a trip, right?

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  2. Our hard water (well water) here stinks...literally. It's filled with sulfur smells in addition to copious amount of iron and lime. When the softener goes out, from time to time, getting rid of odors and cleaning lime scale after repairs is not a nice job. City water should be a bit easier.
    Propping up the economy is never pleasant. 🤗💕

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    1. Nope. This propping up the economy may not be fun, but I'm grateful that I CAN do so, when I need to. I just cleared the screen of my bathroom sink... little beads... so, guess the weekend will have at least some of this clean up activity!

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  3. Congrats on the new plumbing items. I agree a trip might be more fun, but a nice hot shower and a good hair wash without chlorine (or beads) is a good thing.

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    1. Ah, yes... knowing it's OK to shower is a good thing! Especially when it's hot and sticky out. We got rain this morning! Hooray!

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  4. Yup, it is great that you CAN get these things done when you need to. We are kinda stuck with the hard water in our apartment complex but there are other pluses so all is good. Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. There are always those pluses and minuses to the whole rent/own thing! A big old house with just me and two cats? Leads to clutter (unmade decisions).

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  5. It is truly always something when you own….anything, really?! I hate when that stuff happens BUT am always grateful that someone knowledgeable can come in a timely manner and remedy the situation….now the cost…I agree, yikes!! Yep, a trip would be so much more fun! Eissa7

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    1. Yes! Here's to the workmen and women who come out and fix things! They are on my gratitude list every year. And every year I get older the more I'd rather pay them than attempt to fix something myself. When I was younger... yeah, I looked stuff up and made attempts!

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  6. I’m looking on getting back in to the workforce. People seem to like reminding me that I am too young to be retired. Late July/early August seem to be a realistic goal.
    -RunKeeper Dee

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    1. I sincerely hope that you find a perfect fit! We spend so much of our lives working, it should be a mutually beneficial thing!

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    2. I hear you on the “mutually beneficial thing” after giving so much of myself pre-2020… made me realize I need to put myself first.
      I’ve also got some big purchases in mind as goals to look forward to.

      -RunKeeper Dee

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    3. Money saving for big purchases is a fine motivator!

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  7. Oh no! It's always something, isn't it? I'm glad you got it fixed, but the prices are so high.

    Have a great weekend! (((BIG HUGS)))

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    1. As long as it's reliable (as this firm has proven to be over the past 24 years for me), I'm OK with paying the price. Tighten the belt in other categories, use the "emergency" fund... and be grateful it's there.

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Plans versus actuals

  This is one that could have been predicted:  I got out the hose and filled the kiddie pool while Ember was finishing one of her puppy naps...