More Whining and a Little Fun

Plumber came yesterday and today. Yesterday's visit was useless since the guy didn't bring the right size camera and basically did nothing. Today, we had a proficient plumber who found at least part of the problem and a big one at that. The main line has to be replaced which means taking up carpet, Pergo-type flooring and going 2 feet into the concrete foundation. We're still trying to figure out what insurance will and will not pay. Whatever it is, I did not like the first estimate of $6,900 (which only covers the plumbing, not replacing flooring). This is going to be a long process. Everybody is booked for at least 2 wks. The plumber said I can run the washing machine at half-load. I just did a load and the walk-in closet started flooding again. I'm afraid to run the dishwasher. The insurance adjuster who was supposed to come 2 days ago is finally coming tomorrow. I've got some issues to bring to his attention:

1. Will you pay for us to move into temporary housing while this is being done (demo and/or installing new flooring)? We've been living in stench for 6 days now. The stench is not going away because each time we do laundry or dishes (which is often with a family of 9), water floods back into the room.

2. We have children who have been exposed to bacteria on the carpeting, wood flooring, etc, and a baby who only knows how to crawl. This is a health hazard.

3. The carpet in the family room appears dry now, but 1/3 of the carpeting was sopping wet from this waste water as well as underneath the cabinets. The carpet must be removed because it is a health hazard and how can we verify that it is dry underneath the cabinets? We do not want to deal with mold as we have mold allergies.

4. We homeschool, how can we continue schooling with all the work being done and the stench?

5. We are concerned about the water line from the laundry room down - this part was not looked at with the camera. The walk-in closet was flooded with only a half-load of laundry after pipe was supposedly cleaned out.

Back to the plumber - he said that the pipes could have corroded from powdered laundry detergent and highly recommended that I switch to liquid detergent. Have you heard of that before? I use maybe 1/4 cup per load because I've noticed it doesn't make a difference when using more. He said the damage could have been from the previous owners.

Knitting sanity: Tonight I left the children downstairs watching Green Acres (what a weird show) went upstairs to peace and quiet (and no stench) and started working on a Christmas stocking for Bunny (4-yr old). I ordered a kit and love it. The kit uses Bartlettyarn from Maine. Bartlettyarn was one of the first yarns I used when first learning how to knit and living in Maine. The rich lanolin smell brings back great memories.

On a much nicer note - this baby is such fun. Here he is only 9 months old and his favorite pasttime is to climb on the wicker rocking chair. He loves to stand on the chair holding on to the back while rocking back and forth - b . . i . . g rocking, not little rocking. He smiles and hums while rocking. He's like little Tarzan.