Life with Joe

It's time for a Joe story. Every now and then he does something so, so, so whatever that it has to be written about.

When I got home from the shop on Wednesday, I knew I had a lot to do and places to go. Things seemed fine until as I was cooking dinner, I could hear the sump pump -- running and running. I asked Joe if it had been running all day and he said, no he hadn't heard it.

I went down to check on it and knew I needed to put on my junky clothes to really make sure it was ok, but I didn't have time to do that. So I gave it a shake for a temporary fix (that actually works some times) and left for my two events.

First, I went to Weight Watchers where I had lost 3 pounds. Hurrah for me. Then I went to Kai's fourth grade choral concert. While waiting for it to start, I noticed that my son-in-law was on the phone. It was Joe -- asking Jason to come over after the concert to fix the sump pump--something was wrong with it and he had had to turn it off. Hmmm. That wasn't the case when I was at home. I told Jason not to come over but that I would take care of it when I got home. Kai's concert was great and they all looked so cute!

Ok, now I'm home, in my grungy clothes, and in the basement with the sump pump -- which is turned off because Joe has accidentally disconnected the pipe which carries the water from the pump to the outside. He went down after I left and broke the sump pump.

The pipes can be reconnected, but I will need a new clamp "thingy" to hold the two pipes together. The old one is so rusted I won't be able to turn the screw which tightens it. In fifteen minutes, I am on my way to Lowes (Still in my grungy clothes as Lowes expects you to look like that) with the old "thingy" in my pocket for comparison. I ask when I walk in the door and am told those thingies are in Aisles 14 or 15. I find a two pack of thingies and then go in search of a larger screw driver as my flat screw drivers are all too small to get any torque on them. Twelve dollars later, I am on my way home.

Back in the basement, I shove the two pipes together with a new clamp thingy around them. Joe is still insisting that I won't be able to fix it by myself. I place a paint roller pan under the elbow of the bottom pipe to support it while I tighten the clamp with the new screw driver. The two pipes are now connected, crooked, but stuck tight together. I adjust the setting of the sump pump (which was its original problem). I always get all wet when I do that which is why I needed the grungy clothes and didn't want to do it before I left the house earlier. The sump pump is turned back on! TaDah! It works.

Another Joe crisis over!