THE INSTALLATION

Murphy has been hanging around the house since last week. Once the new water heater is installed, Murphy can get his butt on down the road!

Yesterday, the garbage disposal motor just hummed; not grinding anything. So, after locating the handy garbage disposal wrench and using it in the proper place, she was once again running and grinding. What next? I had a feeling that I shouldn’t have asked this question but at least, I knew how to fix that problem!

My man B arrived with my water heater at 10:00 a.m. today. We unpacked it only to find the top had been mashed on one side so back in the box it went and was taken to Lowes for an exchange. We unpacked the new one and it had not a scratch or dent.

The old heater had been placed on a four-legged sturdy metal stand which has to be hacked off 2 ½ inches since the new heater is too tall and this will be easier than relocating the pipes to the heater. The new heater sans the stand would have been too short. The old heater has been drained and disconnected and B is still hack-sawing away at the stand now so we’re not done yet! The outside temperature is rising as I write this and is supposed to be the hottest day of the week. At least, the garage is shaded and there’s a slight breeze.

After making a second trip to Lowes for some new washers and stuff I know nothing about, B is back at it again. The new heater is on the stand and is ready for hook-up. Looking good so far (quietly trying to stay out of his way, keeping fingers crossed and praying that Murphy has left the building).

It is 1:15 p.m. and the water is heating. The installation is 99% complete. The overflow pipe must be extended a few inches and then we can say goodbye to Murphy (hopefully). The old tank is on its way to the recycle shop.

BTW, Richard got the front brakes on the truck fixed this morning for half of what was quoted and was a reasonable amount. We are safe in that respect for the time being.

Thanks to my family and B, we can now breathe easy for a while.