Day 3276

"And now we wait," I thought as some severe weather rolled into town early this afternoon. I didn't have to wait long. In less than an hour after the thunderstorm arrived, I started hearing a familiar drip in the hallway. My roof leak had returned. Evidently, yesterday's repair efforts were a total failure. I wasn't really surprised. The actual source of a water leak on a flat roof can be almost anywhere. I haven't been up on the roof yet, but it doesn't really matter. Either my temporary patch failed, or my ability to locate leaks is worthless.

The roof leak wasn't my only water problem today. It was time to use the wet/dry vacuum to suck water out from under the tile floor of the shower. I have to do this at least once a week now. Just like the roof, I don't know where this water is coming from. The tile grout still looks pretty good. I think the shower pan is keeping the water under the tiles from getting into the rest of the house, but the leak is still irritating. The only way to fix this problem is to get a tile guy to completely replace the bathroom tile. Since gravity causes water to flow to the lowest point, water could be getting in through a crack in the tile walls or it could even be caused by a slow plumbing leak. Water is not my friend this week.

I must have been really tired last night because I didn't even wake up when Dash pooped in the bed. Janet told me about the mishap in the morning. I'm glad that one of us woke up. The poop is relatively easy to clean up if you deal with the mess while Dash is still asleep. If he wakes up, twirls around to reposition himself, and then sits down in the poop, you've got a real mess on your hands.

We were able to give Dash a morning walk before the thunderstorm arrived, but today was basically a cabin fever day. The weather was nasty and the thunder and lightning only made things worse. Dash is still a storm phobic dog, but he doesn't hear as well as he used to. He didn't even notice the thunder until is got really loud. Actually, Dash was calmer about today's storm than I was. With leaks in four different places, I was worried that I'd run out of buckets.

The rain has stopped for now, but it's supposed to start again around midnight. There's no point in removing water from the roof until the rain stops. These leaks are really unfortunate because Winter is the worst time to replace a roof. I'd much rather deal with this in the Summer when the weather is clear and dry for months at a time. I can't really ignore the problem though. This looks like a pretty serious leak.

There are so many things to fix around the house that I don't even know where to start. The roof leaks. The dryer makes an awful squealing sound when it is running. The sliding glass door to the atrium is jammed. The sheetrock near the roof leaks needs to be replaced. There's even a big pothole in the driveway. It's so hard to find good repair people too. You always hope to get someone like those guys you see on This Old House, but the reality is quite different.

I'm glad this day is almost over. The trash has been taken out to the curb. Dash is calm. I've taken a heartburn pill which should help me sleep tonight. I'll empty the buckets in the hallway before I go to sleep. I'm not even thinking about breakfast tomorrow. I've kind of lost my appetite.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day