That tool box

Well, dang it!  Apparently I need to grab my toolbox and head back under the house.  It’s raining cats and dogs now (along with a couple of hop-toads) and I’ve not heard the sump pump go for several hours.  This sometimes happens at the start of the season.  Over the summer things dry out, shift around, critters get in the pipes and stuff can clog the pump.  I shudder to think what is stuck.  I also am not happy about crawling under there in a down pour.  It’s not too bad right now, but is supposed to get pretty wild by late this afternoon, so I guess I’d best hop to it.  I already got pretty wet going out to see what the trouble was about an hour ago.  I just couldn’t bring myself to take the thing apart just then.  I’ve had my second cup of coffee (Happy National Coffee Day, BTW), and I’m ready to face it.

I’ve got a big quilt on the frame and am doing a rather intense design on it (One Song Needle Arts‘ Gypsy Feathers), and had hoped to knit while the machine completed each row.  Instead, I will don my elegant elbow-length plumber’s gloves and head back under the house.  Where’s the landlord when you need him?  Oh – that’s right – I’m the landlord!

It’s coming!  I’d best get out there now.

Phew! The joys of a job well done

I have to tell you that the memories of crawling under the bushes and under the house in the mud and the rain from last year were enough to make me really dread going back out there this morning.  I put it off as I sipped my coffee and, fortunately, there came a break in the clouds and I decided there was nothing for it but to go out and fix the thing.  I grabbed the pruners, as I live in blackberry country, and the entrance to the sump is down under the rhododendrons.  I also brought along a nice large black trash bag.  I stopped at the breaker box to make sure I hadn’t tripped a breaker on the pump.  Once I got the area cleared of snagging blackberries, I put my trash bag down and crawled under the bushes.  When I lifted the lid to the sump pump, I could see it was nearly full of water — it’s been really raining.  I thought to myself, “I spent way too much time under here last year for there to be anything major wrong.”  Fortunately, I was right!  I unplugged the pump, cleaned around the plug, and plugged it back in.  I then pushed the red button on the ground fault interruptor, and the pump immediately sprang to action!  I am so relieved.  It’s nice to know I did the job the correct way first time.  I think I may have tripped the fault when I used the outlet with the weed whacker this summer.  It was so nice not to have to take everything apart and crawl down in there again!  Here you can see that the water is all just about gone.  I’m hoping all will stay dry for the winter.