Water goes where it wants to, part 2,372.

"You do know you have a leak in your ceiling, don't you?" Daughter-in-Law Becky asked one afternoon around 3:30 pm.

No, i told her, i can't know about such things unless someone tells me.

"Yeah, the ceiling is dripping in the laundry room, almost right above the water heater."

She led me down the stairs, and sure enough, there was a tiny drip from the ceiling.

Let's see if there's any water turned on in the bathroom upstairs, i said.

"Are you sure it would be that?" she asked.

If there wasn't another floor above the laundry room, i explained, then we'd know the roof was leaking.  Because there's a bathroom right above the laundry room, there's probably a leak in a pipe up there somewhere.

"Well, someone was just up here and flushed the toilet," she said, when a search of said bathroom proved everything was turned off.

That could be it, i said, and sat down to call the home warranty company.  It was interesting, i only had to hold for about 3 minutes, and the representative on the phone not only told me exactly which plumbing contractor they would send, she put it in for them to call me back that afternoon and get me on the schedule.  A leaky pipe can bring down a ceiling, and they want to minimize damage.

After all the trouble we'd had getting help this past summer with the A/C, i was pleasantly surprised it all went so smoothly with them.

The plumber called within the hour and promised to come the following morning, which was fine.  As i would be at the shelter cleaning cat boxes, Sweetie was on high alert to let him in.

He was on time, this plumber, and he and Sweetie called me to ask exactly where the leak was.  As best i could i described the location, and told Sweetie to go upstairs and flush the toilet and see if that got anything going.   He asked me to please run home and help, so i left the shelter.  By the time i got to the house, the flushing had highlighted the problem and i came home to a small hole in the ceiling of the laundry room (i can live with that).

Back to the shelter i went to finish my work, while the plumber replaced the wax ring for the toilet.  We all have high hopes that this repair will take care of it, but the fixtures in this house are old and if we start seeing signs of a leak again we are going to need more extensive work.

This was covered by the home warranty, if it needs more extensive work (part of the pipe under the toilet removed and replaced), it won't be. 



Today is:

Advocate's Day -- India

Bartender Appreciation Day -- with a guide to help you show your appreciation to the Heroes Behind the Bar 

Caldwell Country Christmas Parade & Fireworks -- Columbia, LA, US

Cape May Christmas Candlelight House Tours -- Cape May, NJ, US (tours of homes, b&bs, guesthouses, hotels, and churches for 3 consecutive Saturdays)

Chester Greenwood Day Parade and Celebration/Ear Muff Day -- Farmington, ME, US (celebration of Farmington's most famous resident, the inventor of the ear muff!)

Christmas Candlelightings -- Coshocton, OH, US (Roscoe Village opens for Christmas fun for 3 consecutive Saturdays)

Christmas on the Prairie -- Wahoo, NE, US (Christmas 1800s prairie style; through tomorrow)

Clerc-Gallaudet Week begins -- celebrating the pioneers in education for the deaf

Coats and Toys for Kids Day -- ME, US (charity drive across the state; even if you aren't in that state, there is probably a charity near you that would love to have your help)

Day of Remembrance for Bogatir (Great hero) Svatogor -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar

Fairy and Goblin Taunt-and-Tease Saturnalia -- Fairy Calendar

Festival for Bona Dea -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of chastity, fecundity, the earth, and fertility; a women's festival)

Festival for Serket/Selket -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (scorpion goddess, who healed from their sting; date approximate)

Holiday Happiness -- Upper Arlington, OH, US (Christmas fun for the family at the local public library)

Hollywood Beach Candy Cane Parade -- Hollywood, FL, US

International Day of Persons with Disabilities -- UN

International Day of the Basque Language

Live: Family Christmas at the Benjamin Harrison Home -- Indianapolis, IN, US (Christmas as it would have been during the life of the 23rd US President)

Make a Gift Day -- internet generated, and go ahead, 'tis the season

Natchitoches Christmas Festival Parade -- Natchitoches, LA, US (the biggest day in the Festival of Lights in Natchitoches, parade day and the first fireworks of the season)

National Apple Pie Day

National Ice Cream Box Day -- internet generated, for those who love ice cream that comes in the rectangular box, and being the first to dig in

National Roof-Over-Your-Head Day -- be grateful you have one

Norskedalen's Old-Fashioned Christmas -- Coon Valley, WI, US (log home Christmas and fun for all; through tomorrow)

Pompaia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (procession dedicated to Zeus; date approximate)

Reinvigorate Your Brain by Reading Something Day -- internet generated, and good to do every day, don't you think?

Shaker Christmas Fair -- Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, ME, US (traditional holiday church fair)

Shalako Festival -- Hopi and Zuni Native Americans (dates of main festivals and dance ceremonies vary by area, but usually the weekend nearest the 49th day after the 10th full moon)

SKYWARN Recognition Day -- National Weather Service, NOAA, and Amateur Radio Operators, working together to report dangerous weather conditions

St. Francis Xavier's Day (Patron of African missions, foreign missions, missionaries, navigators, parish missions, Agartala, India; Ahmedabad, India; Alexandria, LA; ) related observance
     San Francisco Javier -- Navarre, Spain (special observances)

Takata no Inoko -- Sakurai, Japan (offerings for peace and good harvests)

Tamale Festival -- El Centro, CA, US (tamales and arts and crafts, a fun way to holiday shop; through tomorrow)

Telescope Day -- marking its invention by Galileo in 1621

Tinsel Day -- remember when this stuff used to contain lead?


Anniversaries Today:

Illinios becomes the 21st US State, 1818


Birthdays Today:

Alicia Sacramone, 1987
Amanda Seyfried, 1985
Bruno Campos, 1974
Holly Marie Combs, 1973
Bucky Lasek, 1972
Brendan Fraser, 1968
Katarina Witt, 1965
Daryl Hannah, 1961
Julianne Moore, 1961
Julianne Moore, 1960
Rick Ravon Mears, 1951
Ozzy Osbourne, 1948
Jaye P. Morgan, 1932
Jean-Luc Godard, 1930
Andy Williams, 1927
Ferlin Husky, 1927
John Backus, 1924
Nino Rota, 1911
Carlos Montoya, 1903
Joseph Conrad, 1857
Charles Alfred Pillsbury, 1842
Gilbert Charles Stuart, 1755


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Camelot"(Musical), 1960
"Troilus and Cressida"(Opera), 1954
"A Streetcar Names Desire"(Play), 1947
Alka-Seltzer, 1931


Today in History:

Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England, 1586
In an uprising over mining licenses, which came to be called the rebellion at the Eureka Stockade, more than 20 goldminers at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia are killed by state troopers in what many claim to be the birth of Australian democracy, 1854
The trial of Jefferson Davis starts with the first blacks on a US trial jury, 1868
Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah, Israel, 1878
The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine, 1904
Neon lights make their public debut at the Paris Auto Show, 1910
The Quebec Bridge, after almost 20 years of planning and construction, opens, 1917
The first successful Technicolor movie, "Tall of the Sea," premiers in NYC, 1922
Chinese refugee ship "Kiangya" explodes in E China Sea, killing 1,100, 1948
Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast, 1950
At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human, 1967
Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter, 1973
In one of the worst industrial disasters ever, a methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills thousands and injures hundreds of thousands, 1984
In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries, not including the US, Russia, or China, sign The Ottawa treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines, 1997
XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California, 2005
The Nissan Leaf, one of the first mass marketed electric cars, is launched, 2010