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Water, Water Everywhere ….

We live on an island.  We’re surrounded by water, but there is none at our house.  The do-it-yourselfers have thrown in the towel.  Professional plumbers have been summoned.  No word yet on their expected arrival or when our house might again be plumbed.

For now, we have a hose stretching from the neighbor’s place to ours.  I just drug the dang thing through the back door and into my bathroom.  I attached the spray nozzle to the hose and had a lovely cold shower and shampoo, but at least I am clean.  And, since it’s a bright sunny day, it is not like I am going to freeze to death.

Now, I am going out to pull the hose around the house and use it to fill the washing machine.  We need some laundry done.   When I’m finished, I’ll probably need another shower.  Happy.  Happy.  Joy.  Joy.

UPDATE: 4:00 p.m. — a plumber came and attempted to repair the pipe. No go. It is too rotten and the entire house needs new plumbing. These are 60 year old steel pipes and they are crumbling.

41 Comments

  1. Oh my. You seem to have a good attitude about the whole thing, or are we being sarcastic here. A cold hose shower is not something I would want to partake in. I am feeling your frustration. I think I would go back to the hotel. But then, we should look on the bright side…..is there a bright side?
    .-= Church Lady´s last blog ..Fun Monday – Feelin’ Fall =-.

    1. CL — good attitude– it could be much worse. A bit of sarcasm — we are paying a lot of dinero to camp in our own house. And, cheap hotels in Hawaii run $100.00 per night.

  2. Sorta almost nearly just like our ancestors had to do it! Only without the bucket! At least you ARE in Hawaii – and it IS still warm! I hope the PROs come rescue you soon!

    We only seem to lose power and water for loooooooooong periods of time during ICE storms… when it’s cold enough to be ICE! We would NEVER consider a hose shower… but it wouldn’t be an option anyway – cuz when ONE of us loses it — we ALL lose it! Besides… it would take a LOT of hoses to go across 3.5 acres…
    .-= Melli´s last blog ..RenFaire with Luz =-.

    1. Melli – -you posted this comment as I posted the update. The PROs have come and gone. There is no quick fix. The entire house needs to be replumbed.

    1. Thanks, Linda. There’s a plus side to everything. Except — did you read where I drug the hose in the house? We flush the toilet then fill the tank. 😉

  4. Oh boy….when are you moving back to the US?
    Or are they planning to get new pipes in while you still live there?
    I can only imagine the mess that will be…
    .-= Nicole´s last blog ..Watchdog =-.

    1. Nicole — Hawaii is in the US. 😉 And we aren’t moving to the mainland until January. And yes, they plan on putting new pipes in while we live here. I think we’ll cope. Life is full of adventures.

  6. I like your reply to Nicole’s comment, love your positive attitude! yes, you’ll cope and this is another adventure!
    (sorry about the situation anyways, we take everything for granted…)
    Wait: I sort of see a pattern here: Melli’s street, your pipes… Jientje is coming… Mmmmmhhh!
    Just kidding!
    .-= Mar´s last blog ..lighthouse =-.

  8. This is just me but I would have had the plumber there first thing. Of course I’m do do it your self fix it type of person and I rather pay and not have to drag garden hoses all around. That’s just plain ass dumb. People need to realize that time is money…so sometimes it’s much better to pay up front. But hey, that’s just me. Oh know…if Jientje is coming I’m getting tea leafs and surrounding my house with them.
    .-= Thom´s last blog ..Portrait of Words – #18 =-.

    1. Thom, I wasn’t calling plumbers. I am not paying plumbers! And the landlord is a do-it-yourself type and he usually does it pretty well!

  10. You’re much more positive than I would be. On the other hand, if you can’t do anything to change it yourself, you have to just make the best of it…now, putting on my lawyer’s hat…your lease should provide that if the house is uninhabitable (and even in HI no water = uninhabitable), they’ll have to put you up somewhere else. If it doesn’t, perhaps your renter’s insurance?

    A tree fell on the house we were renting a couple of years back. Our renter’s insurance was through USAA and they said, “go to a hotel, let us worry about getting reimbursed through the owners insurance co.” It was also December in Northern Virginia…
    .-= Southlakesmom´s last blog ..Visual Pun #4 =-.

    1. Kelley — they sent us to a hotel but two days in that tiny room, no internet, 3 meals a day out and we decided home without water was less of a hassle. 😉

  11. Heart – my – out to you – goes.
    Reassemble in right order. (Don’t let Thom do it, he’ll make a completely new meaning to the phrase…)
    Just thinking of you that’s all. Hope it gets fixed soon.
    .-= Thumbelina´s last blog ..authorblog’s Sunday Roast =-.

    1. Nessa — if the plumbers weren’t under my house as I type, I might have agreed. I need another shower and wasn’t looking forward to the cold water!.

  14. Poor you ! These are not the kind of antiques I like ! pipes ! I hope that your plumbers are not like ours, they promise to come and then you wait for ages ! All you can do is think positive ! you don’t have to wash yourself anymore and you will save money. I’ll tell Jientje to take some buckets of water with her ! BTW she is supposed to come tomorrow to Brussels, but I still don’t know when she arrives. I am waiting for her call.

  15. Go figure, but I’m with Thom on this one. My husband loves fixing things… I *don’t* love having to pay extra to have his ‘fixes’ fixed afterwards! LOL For something like plumbing a whole house, yeah, that’s a professional job. Quilly, I hope the landlord’s not too slow about this!

    Interesting about hotels, and I hope the lease comes through for you here. Cheap hotels were $40/night in West Virginia for the room, here in Ireland they start at about $150 (USD) *per person* and B&B’s aren’t much cheaper. But living without water in this day and age is terribly hard.
    .-= Susan at Stony River´s last blog ..Portrait of Words: Into the Rainbow =-.

  16. What an ordeal. It doesn’t sound like something that can be fixed quickly even with pros — but hopefully they can get going and get it done in good time. I’m assuming the landlord is going to have them start working on it soon.
    .-= Barbara H.´s last blog ..Bits and pieces =-.

    1. Karen – -we’ve all asked the “why couldn’t it wait” question. Now we don’t have to. The water is on and working!

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