Last Tuesday we had a dusting of snow that I swept off the sidewalk. The next morning I looked out the window and noticed there was a wet spot on the walk I hadn't seen the day before. I hadn't put any ice melter on the walk so there was only one other possibility. I went out to confirm it and sure enough, the water stop-box at the sidewalk was leaking. The water was bubbling up from about six feet under the boulevard. I dug a little trench to divert the water from the walk into the gutter and called the city. A guy came out to confirm and flagged the location of the stop-box. It was the day before Thanksgiving and he told us that we'd hear from someone the following Monday. He also told us that we were now one among 42 locations in the city with leaking water lines.
In the mean time the trickle became a small stream and with temps on Thanksgiving at 0° the water in the gutter was freezing. By mid-day the ice was almost to the center line on the street. We called the city to express our concern it was becoming a safety issue and before long trucks were spreading salt and trying to clear the gutter so the water could run to the storm sewer. We're about mid way on the block so it was a pretty big mess. Over the course of a few days the city spread enough salt to make an inland sea in front of our house (look honey, is that a beluga whale?).
This continued through the weekend and on Monday morning the pay-loader finally showed up to get real with the ice. In about an hours' time the operator scraped up a truckload of ice. Then a very nice man from the city stopped by to confirm what was going on and explain what was next. The city will contact about a dozen contractors for bids and give us a choice of the three lowest. Expected cost - $5,000 to $8,000! I was so stunned I couldn't even become outraged. The very nice man explained that in 1991 the city transferred ownership of the water line to the home owner. As the home owner we own the water line to the main so we pay for all - digging, replacement of the water line and street repair. We are also required to replace any remaining lead pipe with copper.
That's my tale of woe. Could have bought a nice boat for that money, or a large TV (not as big as Jim is getting though!). Could have taken a vacation to someplace pretty warm and had enough $ left over to get some new fishing stuff. I'm doing my best to keep an "is what it is" mindset, because it is and there's nothing I can do about it. It's hard though.
Oh, forgot to mention - the reason it took the very nice man till Monday to get here is that he is the only person in the city (our population is about 400,000) who does this job. No one else will do it. By the time he arrived at 10 on Monday he'd already been at 3 other houses to deliver bad news. He said it's all he does. Arrives, confirms, dispenses bad news and goes on to the next house. I almost felt sorrier for him than myself.
I know how much everyone likes pics...I took it through the window as it was +1°.
In the mean time the trickle became a small stream and with temps on Thanksgiving at 0° the water in the gutter was freezing. By mid-day the ice was almost to the center line on the street. We called the city to express our concern it was becoming a safety issue and before long trucks were spreading salt and trying to clear the gutter so the water could run to the storm sewer. We're about mid way on the block so it was a pretty big mess. Over the course of a few days the city spread enough salt to make an inland sea in front of our house (look honey, is that a beluga whale?).
This continued through the weekend and on Monday morning the pay-loader finally showed up to get real with the ice. In about an hours' time the operator scraped up a truckload of ice. Then a very nice man from the city stopped by to confirm what was going on and explain what was next. The city will contact about a dozen contractors for bids and give us a choice of the three lowest. Expected cost - $5,000 to $8,000! I was so stunned I couldn't even become outraged. The very nice man explained that in 1991 the city transferred ownership of the water line to the home owner. As the home owner we own the water line to the main so we pay for all - digging, replacement of the water line and street repair. We are also required to replace any remaining lead pipe with copper.
That's my tale of woe. Could have bought a nice boat for that money, or a large TV (not as big as Jim is getting though!). Could have taken a vacation to someplace pretty warm and had enough $ left over to get some new fishing stuff. I'm doing my best to keep an "is what it is" mindset, because it is and there's nothing I can do about it. It's hard though.
Oh, forgot to mention - the reason it took the very nice man till Monday to get here is that he is the only person in the city (our population is about 400,000) who does this job. No one else will do it. By the time he arrived at 10 on Monday he'd already been at 3 other houses to deliver bad news. He said it's all he does. Arrives, confirms, dispenses bad news and goes on to the next house. I almost felt sorrier for him than myself.
I know how much everyone likes pics...I took it through the window as it was +1°.
