Demonstrating my 'Butt Crack' Skills

It felt good to crack an eye somewhere near 530am and realize that I could go back to sleep without guilt. That extra sleep lasted just 45 minutes, or until Mindy got up for work around 6:20am. Once she turned on the bathroom lights and started running water I could no longer sleep. But that was fine, I needed to get up and going. I was downstairs and engaged in morning exercise by 6:30am. And by 6:50am I was back home after walking Ykraps. It was a star filled morning sky, something we haven’t had a lot of lately. I was most appreciative. But with the clear skies came frosty temperatures. It was about 35 degrees with lots of scattered frost. Because of my parental duties, I couldn’t squeeze in a run until after the kids were safely on the bus. I knew that early on, however, and planned my morning as such. Instead, I used the time between 7-8am to play on the computer. It felt good. Mindy left at her usual time of 730am. She advised that the kids were going to Noah’s after school so evening golf wouldn’t be a problem. I appreciated that. But as much as I wanted to golf, replacing the hot water tank was my top priority. Mindy asked how long I expected that project to take. I guessed as little as 2.5 hours provided everything went smoothly, but most likely longer. After all, there were a number of obstacles I had to overcome. I was in a great mood at the bus stop. How could I not? It was sunny and I had the day off work. After the kids were gone I returned home and readied and left for a run. It was a good run. I wore hand and ear covers to combat the chill. Even though the temperature was expected to reach into the 60’s it was a cold morning. I was home by 850am. Before getting started on the water tank project, I placed another call to officer O’Connor of the Hilliard police department in an attempt to close the loop on the accident report debacle. I also sent an email to my insurance company keeping them in the loop. That didn’t take long. It was just after 930am when I got started on my project. I reviewed everything that needed done. There are three main areas of focus: water, gas, and venting. The first thing I did was turn off the water and natural gas. I had to turn the gas off outside at the meter due to the configuration M/I Homes used when they installed the original dual water tanks. No biggie, just something I hadn’t done before. Next, I drained the old tanks. To do so, I had to remove the venting and detach the gas lines first. I had to unscrew/remove the drain valves entirely since both were seized up. That took some elbow grease. I wasn’t sure how fast the water would drain out doing it that way. Lucky for me, the floor drain is just 8-10ft away. They drained fairly quickly creating quite a big puddle. I kept the area clear to avoid damage to anything nearby. I figured out that I could control the water flow by placing my thumbs over the now exposed ¾” copper water inlets on the tank’s top. Draining and detaching the old tanks took about 75 minutes. The calcium build-up that comes out last is nasty. I would liken it’s consistency to vomit, although it didn’t stink. I spent the next hour reconfiguring the gas line for one tank and then carefully visualizing how much of the old copper plumbing to leave in tact for the new tank. I spent another hour waiting for all the water to drain from the feed pipes since I planned to sweat on new shut-off valves. Because those pipes were at the lowest point in the house, I had no choice but to wait. There was no where else I could open up a valve to encourage the flow away. Anyone who’s ever done this knows what I am talking about. The water just keeps dripping. And you can’t sweat copper properly with any water in the lines lest you risk leaks. Suddenly, it was approaching 1pm. Where had the time gone? For a bit, I felt in a little over my head. While waiting for the pipes to stop dripping, I readied the gas line for the final connection and then sweated the two new on/off valves to the adjoining plumbing config. But still, the hot and cold water feeds were still dripping/draining at a slow methodical clip. I used the extra time to double check my measurements where I planned to sweat the final connections and to finish plumbing in the gas feed. Kenny showed up around 2pm. He was ready to golf. I shared that I had to wait for the pipes to fully drain before I could proceed any further. After considering my dilemma, Kenny offered that we try sucking the remaining water out with a shop-vac. Good idea, or so it seemed. I configured my shop-vac to suck water. I removed the filter & bag. It took about 15 minutes but that idea worked. At the same time, we used a combination of opening and closing all the water valves upstairs to help with the suction. I’m quite sure the water would’ve dripped for hours longer had we not used the shop-vac. We probably sucked out another 2 gallons. Having Kenny there to hold the copper pipes in place while I sweated the final connections was a huge help. After sweating both sides, we attached the mesh tank hoses and then turned the water back on. No leaks!!! Kenny headed home for a spell while I turned the gas back on and lit the water tank’s pilot. I also made sure the furnace came back on without any assistance. At the time I wasn’t certain if I had to light its pilot manually. I didn’t. It took a few tries to get the water tank’s pilot to ignite but it finally did. I double checked the gas line for leaks with soapy water, rechecked the water feed – no leaks, and made sure the 3” venting was secured. Check! Around 3:10pm the work was completed. I still had a mess to contend with but that could wait. Kenny and I were determined to take full advantage of the nice weather and time-off to get in some golf. I agreed to meet him at his place in 10 minutes. I skipped a shower and instead went with a “Brian Tippler” bath - splash some water here, and splash some water there. I picked-up Kenny just before 330pm and we drove over to Raymond. Lucky fur us, there didn’t appear to be anyone immediately in front of us for at least three holes. To boot, the guy in the clubhouse gave us the after 5pm rate - $21.50ea. w/cart. I paid for Kenny’s golf out of gratitude for all of his help. I didn’t golf that well but was hitting my driver good. We finished the front nine in record time – just over one hour. As we moved to the back nine, some thin clouds moved in and cooled things down considerably. There were a couple groups out there holding us up on the back. However, one group let us play through, which helped tremendously. We finished the back in record time too. Probably my most notable hole was the 550 yard par 5 #16. I was 20 yards short of the hole in two after a long straight drive and an absolutely perfect 3-wood. Sadly, I chunked my SW and ended up with a bogey. What a train wreck! But I wasn’t too worried about it. We had fun! We finished at 5:40pm and headed across the street for home. Mindy warmed leftover meatloaf for dinner. I was eager to show off my handy work in the basement. While showing her, I noticed that the cold water input was dripping ever so slightly at the compression fitting connecting the copper to the mesh hose. I wrenched it more securely temporarily stopping the drip. This is not an uncommon occurrence as the temperature regulates. The evening was largely uneventful. I hadn’t yet showered, but didn’t know that I even would. So, while the kids were upstairs hogging all the new hot water, I decided to put my stiff rear in the hot tub. And believe me, my legs were about as stiff as they’ve ever been. It started even before golf. Likely due to all the climbing I did up and down the step ladder. Mindy & the kids had no idea that I was in the hot tub. It felt terrific. I used the therapy jet to massage my right hamstring. That was amazing! By the time the kids and Mindy came back downstairs I was in my comfy PJs and had an IPA in hand. Mindy eventually asked why my hair was wet. The hot tub, honey. She wasn’t up much longer than the kids. She and the kids were still recovering from their recent illness. I stayed up watching Monday Night Football.