running water

So, I just washed dishes in my kitchen sink. And I was pretty excited about it... I mean, I was almost celebratory. If I had champanade, I would've drank some! It's been a week... yes, a full week, since we had water running and draining in our kitchen. And, it's one of those luxuries you never think about.

See, our kitchen is in our basement, and our house is built on a hill, so underneath the kitchen is just a big gap. You can actually crawl up in there (it is bricked in and it has a door on it, but... you know). And, it's not exactly insulated in there. At all. So, when it got down to -18 celcius last week, boom, everything froze. Well, actually, the drain froze first. Then, when I couldn't leave the water dripping from the tap, the water froze too. Yesterday it warmed up, and all of the sudden I heard my hot water heater kick in fiercely. I hoped that it meant that my pipes were open again, but it turned out that it just meant that my hot water pipe had split. Big time... Anyway, the landlord -- and he's a good one -- sent the plumber, who promptly had things back up and running.

It is funny, though, the things that we take for granted. I watched a video where Mr. Cuthill recorded Matt and Ruth show how they heat water. It involved a fire and a big metal container. Folks, we are blessed.

Snow in WV

So, it's winter in West Virginia. Normally, it looks about like this outside. You know, light dusting of snow, about eight degrees above zero so that it melts by ten am, and everything is hunky-dory.

Now, the past 24 hours have been slightly different. By slightly different, I mean... Holy Canada Flashback, Batman.

This is what I found when I left my house this morning. Five inches of snow, with a lovely layer of ice on the top. Cleaning it off the car actually gave me a little bit of tennis elbow. Breaking through the ice was a pain, but I refuse to drive around with five inches of snow sitting on top of the car. Not going to do it. Wouldn't be prudent at this juncture.

Anyway, my wife got to work, and now I'm home, looking for work. And hoping my pipes will thaw.