August 08, 2004

Falling Apart

1. The landscape watering system. A solenoid has become defunct in the front sprinkler box, and requires replacement. We knew about it, but not the extent that this small piece of plastic and wires was having on the drip system. I looked out this morning and called to Calvin, "Hey, what's wrong with the vines? They look all wilty." Come to find out, the drip system has been getting no water pressure, and as a result the plants have not been getting watered. In August. In Arizona.
   
   
2. The clock in the truck has been randomly resetting itself. And the controls in the driver side door have been (also randomly) disappearing down inside the door - some doohickey has broken off, I suppose, that braces the controls up to within fingers reach. Finally, there's some creaking, thumping noise going on when the wheel is turned hard to the left or right. So we have to drop off the truck at the dealership sometime this week - thankfully, we've got a full warranty on the beast.
   
   
3. The faucet handle on one of the dual heads in the shower broke, or sprung a leak, or something. The handle wasn't fully shutting the water off, and as a result we've had a steady dripdripdrip coming from one of the heads. Which causes massive mildew growth in the shower, to the extent that I'm going to have to go to war and arm myself with five different kinds of cleaning products and fumigate myself in the process of cleaning. I anticipate that it'll take approximately an hour to wage the battle. A deed I do not look forward to. Because, you know, ew. Mildew and soap scum.
   
   
4. The television in the bedroom has developed a humming buzz that is growing progressively louder and more annoying with every passing day. It's getting to the point that we have to turn the volume WAY up on the TV in order to hear anything. I have no idea what it's going to cost to fix *that*.
   
   
5. Back to the yard. We have bower vines lining the entirety of the back wall. They're getting damn big, and because of that are becoming a challenge to keep upright. Up until this point we've been using hooks that are liquid nailed onto the wall, then using twist ties to secure the vines to the hooks. Except that the hooks keep coming loose, and Calvin is WAY losing patience with the whole deal of having to re-fasten the hooks and heave the vines back up into place. If anybody has a tried and true way of keeping these things secure, I'd sure love the advice.
   
   
6. Other things that are going on, but not necessarily in the last week. All the tiles on the stairs are coming loose and we'll either need to re-grout the tiles or replace the stairs with wood. Marie poked a hole in the wall with the end of a pool cue during a game a few weeks ago, and the patch needs to be textured and painted. The washer and dryer are on their last legs and will need to be replaced, with our luck probably soon. The carpets in all the bedrooms are gross and in desperate need of a shampoo. The tree in the front yard is dying by degrees and needs to be removed and replaced with something.
   
   

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