One of these days, Alice! One of these days...

Vaughn McMillan

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...Pow! To the moon!

At our house in LA, the water supply to the sprinkler system includes an exposed section of 1/2" copper pipe with soldered joints. It transitions somewhere along the line to PVC, but near the front porch it's copper, and it's holding household water pressure. The valve to shut it off is at the street. This exposed pipe makes a handy place for my wife to tie up the dog when she's out front doing yardwork. I've mentioned several times that this is not a good place to tie a dog, especially a strong German Shepherd. Of course, whenever I mention anything like this, I'm picking on her. :rolleyes:

Yesterday evening I got a phone call from her, asking if we had any hose clamps. Hose clamps? :huh:

Turns out the inevitable happened, and the dog had pulled one of the pipe joints apart. The neighbor across the street (bless his heart) was trying to stop the rush of water with a piece of hose and some clamps, but didn't have any clamps of the right size. My wife asked if I thought she should call a plumber. Um....yes, you should call the plumber. Of all the times a plumber would be useful, this is one of them.

A few hours later I got another call, telling me things were fixed, to the tune of $290. She felt bad about the whole affair, and I did my best to avoid the "I told you so" routine, but once, just once, I wish she'd believe me when I tell her not to do things like this. :bang:
 
I tend to buy things like hose clamps in the large assortment packs. You never know when they will come in handy!

Just not sure I'd be able to tell Sharon how to find it over the phone :D
 
Why isn't there a shutoff valve where it attaches to the house plumbing? :huh:

The pipe broke between the valve and the house. We'd have been better off if she'd tied the dog to the PVC side of things. :doh:

I tend to buy things like hose clamps in the large assortment packs. You never know when they will come in handy!

Just not sure I'd be able to tell Sharon how to find it over the phone :D

Much to my surprise, I not only had the clamps, I was able to tell her where to find them. :thumb:

well kian isnt even blonde vaughn???? so it must have rubbed off from you:)

Her roots might not be blonde, but the rest of her sure is. :rofl:

The real hero of all this was the neighbor. He and his wife have taken my wife under their wing in my absence, and poor ol' Dave has had to handle all the emergencies that I would have typically been dealing with.
 
Don't ever move, good neighbors are really hard to find. I do have a good one, but his job keeps him away most the time. Fortunately his wife hasn't had any emergencies I've had to deal with.
 
I feel your pain Vaughn. Between the wife and kids I'm so tired of hearing "don't worry it will be just fine. you worry way too much" This is uaually followed up by a reduction of cash from my checking account :rofl:
 
Vaughn your story reminds me i am married to the female version of McGiver. Came home once from a business trip to find the pool vacuum hose protruding from the kitchen window.
When i got through the back door and entered the kitchen i found the hose hooked up to the kitchen taps. This was MrsMcGivers version of repair to tap washers that were shot. Vacuum hose extended across the yard and into the pool.

There are a collection of these "fixes" that have taken place over the years....her favorite material is not ductape but a kind of sticky putty made by Bostik. Its her go to fix for anything and the belief is if a small dab is not enough just use more until it holds. :eek::)


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