Not really about sailing but.....

This post is more about the fun and excitement of being a home owner and a parent of a teenage man-child than sailing. Though, it may affect my boat project list a bit...... 

On Thursday (January 19th, 2012) I put the year in just in case you are reading this in 2052.... I stepped in to the shower to get ready for work and lo and behold, no water from either the hot or the cold. Now it was currently -11F out side and I thought the obvious, froze up. So I tried all the other faucets in the house and they were all good. So I went downstairs and cleared the stuff out of the way of the closet where the tub plumbing is and felt the hot water pipe. Sure enough, it went from warm to very cold along it's length. So I grab my daughter's hairdryer and proceed to heat up the pipes. Sure enough after about 10 minutes on each the water starts to flow. But, hold your applause until the end please.... Now the water is not draining, well I guess the drain is froze up too. So back down the stairs and OH CRAP, missed that last step for some reason and roll my right ankle under me and down to the floor in pain.... Oh yeah, hmmmm, yep can put weight on it so maybe not all that awfull.

I proceed, limping, back in to the previously mentioned closet and start to thaw out the drain pipe. After about 10 minutes I stop and I hear running water from the other side of the wall. Well the trap for the tub drain is PVC, and as we all know, when water freezes it expands.... yep, bust the trap and the water that was in the tub is now all over the couch in my son's room. A few choice words for me not checking the obvious. 

At this point I realize how this little event came to pass as I have never had any issues with any pipes freezing in the 7+ years I have lived in my home. Let alone, pipes that are interior to the house, no where near the walls. My son's basement window no longer had glass on it. It was covered in duct tape and a blanket. Apparently that "repair" was attempted the night before without my knowledge. Well the top 1"-2" had nothing covering it so as the cold air blew in, it traveled in the small space between the drop ceiling and the joists. Reaching my tub water lines and drain. Hence the freezing. Guess it got down to about -13 or so that night. 

I made a list for Home Depot, they are literally a block away and I put some Styrofoam in the window and stapled plastic sheeting over it. That problem solved. Put on a new tub trap and then that problem was solved. So all in all not too big of a deal, got the day off after all because of it.

Oh wait, that ankle thing. Around 4pm I go to finally take my shower and I look at my right ankle. It is a wee bit larger than the left and has been starting to hurt more and more. Off to Urgent Care!!! Only took about an hour there as we were first in line, nice series of X-Rays and in the words of the Dr, "This small line here could be a fracture. I will call you in the morning after the Radiologist has a look. In the mean time, have this boot to wear." Now I am sure some of you know what those boots are like to wear. I drove home with it on but after we got home, I took it off. Took a handful of Ibuprofen, elevated my leg, and iced it. 

 Got a call from the Doc this morning and the Radiologist said "Possible non-displaced hairline fracture." Possible..... not even the Radiologist can tell... Doc says, wear the boot for 6 weeks.... Awesome. 


I will now be walking around with this thing on and even better, walking around the Chicago Strictly Sail Show next weekend. As my boss said, maybe I can get a wheel chair... yeah, she is funny... So no climbing around on the boat for six weeks. I have a cyst on a bone in my left hand, broke that last year is how I know, so I may have that surgery now so I can be all set once it is warm enough to work on Papillon..... Never a dull moment.