Drip, Drip, Drip

At about 9:30 on Tuesday night, Mrs. Mosley and I found that our ancient water heater had developed several leaks and was slowly flooding the laundry room. Given that a previous flood had destroyed most of the carpet in there, this wasn't a huge concern. However, all the stuff in the den next door (including the expensive new tile work) was a huge concern.

I cut off the water going into it, leaving a little less than 30 gallons left to leak out. The faucet valve on the bottom didn't seem to work, so draining it that way was out. Since the leaks came from the bottom of the water heater (which was itself propped up on some cinder blocks and a square piece of wood), this meant that the only real way of catching the water was via dixie cups: Fill them for two minutes and then dump them in a bucket. And this was for the leaks we could reach. One other that was unreachable we had to handle via towels that were wrung out every thirty minutes. Mrs. Mosley initially handled the dixie cups while I took care of the existing water that had already leaked and the towel regimen.

By midnight, my pregnant wife's back was very sore and I told her she should go to bed as she had work the next morning (and it was clear that I would be taking the day off). The plumbers had already been called and would be there between 8am and 9am. I decided I would stay up until then and manage all the leaks.

So from midnight to 8:30 (when they eventually showed up) I alternately laid and sat on the floor and bailed out the leak via dixie cup and also did the whole towel thing. Once the old water heater was out and the new one in, I went to take a nap (which lasted all of ninety minutes as my dentist called to remind me of my Friday appointment). I stayed awake for the rest of the day and finally (finally!) went to proper sleep at about 8:30 last night.

So, in the end, I stayed up for about 27 hours without sleep. On one hand, it's nice to know I am still able to do this (I think the last time was 1995) at the ripe old age of 35. On the other hand, my aching bones and muscles from sitting on the floor all night have me feeling about 10-20 years older.

In the end, I think we'll call it a draw.