We Are SO BLESSED

          A couple of months ago the light between the closets had gone out.  Richard changed the bulb to a brand new bulb that would blink on occasion until finally it went out leaving us to believe that it had something to do with the wiring.  Finding those that repair (such as electricians, plumbers, etc) is like pulling teeth.  Even before the gas price increase, it seemed a difficult task to find someone committed enough to come. 

          After two months Richard climbed up the latter to check what might be the source of the problem.  He had me turn off all the electricity.  Apparently it was the bulb.  How blessed were are that it was something simple.

          Next problem.  We were no longer receiving hot water through our taps.  How can that be?  Well the house is over 20 years old and the hot water heater is probably the same hot water heater that came with the house. We weren’t thrilled with the idea of replacement but knew it would/will have to be done eventually.  Two days without hot water and realized when all the switches had gone off for the electric – there was one that was missed when we switched back on.  Simple fix.  How blessed were are.

          The fridge has been a problem for some time now – with constant scraping of ice build-up and added feature of door not sealing properly.  It is over ten years old and has been moved from house to house – I thought that may have added to the problem.  We have looked into replacing the fridge.  The problem is the space for the fridge is smaller than the new fridges we have been looking at.  And it doesn’t seem feasible to try and widen the space. 

          Richard saw an advertisement for Umpqua Appliance and we called them to come out.  It wasn’t an outrageous expense and we were given many options on how to save money.  It is so nice to have the freezer part working again.  How blessed were are that it was something simple.

          On Saturday morning I took a shower.  Richard and I went to the temple and came home to a leaky driveway.  Neither one of us noticed the leak until later.  Weekend.  We didn’t know where the leak was even coming from.  We left our number with every plumber we could find.  We ended up turning off the water and calling Tri-City Water to ask if they could investigate.  We were told about a plumber who we hadn’t contacted as the name did not come up in our research – but Yeager’s Plumbing came out right away and replaced a tiny plastic part that had somehow dammed the water over time and had finally broken off.  The leak happened beneath the drain of the shower.

          Richard and I had both predicted that we would have to replace all the pipes.  He was thinking 4,000 dollars and I was thinking 7,000.  But we have been told we’re good to go though we should really contact our insurance and ServicePro to dry up the water that has accumulated under the house.  The damage is not as bad as we had anticipated.  How blessed were are that it the expense was in the hundreds rather than the thousands.