I feel so handy!

For the past few weeks we have been hearing constant running water in our apartment. Research showed that the 5-decade-old pipes had had about enough and were leaking somewhere under the house. Oh, so that's where that giant crack in the driveway is coming from. Today the contractors came to run a new line from the road and attach in to the house as well as to cap off the old line to prevent further leakage. Consequence: we are without water this morning from 8 till between 1 and 3. One of the guys had said at 10:35 that it would be back in about 20 minutes, but who ever keeps to such schedules? Needless to say, we were not surprised when that turned out not to be the case. I'm not sure exactly when it came back on, cause I gave up waiting for it at 11:30 & went to school dirty (I know, gross, but what is one to do in such a situation?).

Anyway, water's back and our unquenchable thirst and preoccupations with all the things we could not do without the water - shower, brush teeth, wash dishes, fill water jugs, make pasta, wash strawberries, etc - have disappeared. However, we noticed that as the afternoon progressed, the pressure seemed to slowly decline. After a call to the handyman/landlord/my daddy, I was told that the screen in the faucet was probably clogged with dirt and rust and just needed to be removed and cleaned. Tools, assembled. Attempt, failed. Mild frustration level, attained. Proper rotational direction for removal, verified. Attempt #2, success! And yes, as suspected, a fair amount of debris was interfering with the works. It was really neat to look at all the parts that are in such a small, taken-for-granted part of everyday life.

This means I have now taken apart a portion of both sinks in the house and am now on my way to bigger and better things! Adventure is out there!

Best thing I've ever seen!

I'm driving home from my choir concert (which went well, other than the fact that people seem to forget about dynamics as soon as they're faced with front sides of seats) and it is a gloriously sunny afternoon/early evening. I am at a stop sign and I happen to glance across the street and to the right. What should I see but this:


That's right - a cat hiding in the gutter. He's a big cat too, completely hidden except for his mischievous little eyes peeking over the top. Huh, odd. The car I am waiting for drives by him and all of a sudden he jumps out! At the car! I could just hear him, "Rawr! You better watch out, mister, cause I live here and I will not tolerate trespassers!" Then, as soon as he was sure the car was movin' on, he slinked back into the gutter. I wasn't sure I'd really seen it until I continued on my way past his jungle of a yard. What do you know, the little tiger jumped out at me too! Playful like, though, like he was pouncing on a grasshopper just for fun, but still the attitude. I. laughed. So. Hard!!

I wanted to play too, and I almost started peeking through my blinds and exploding out of the front door at passersby, but I had to save Nina from a meltdown. So, I ended up spending my evening with my new favorite addiction, Gilmore Girls! I adore Alexis Bledel, I think she's a brilliant actress and Lorelei & Rory's dialogue just tickles me, they are so witty. Sharpens mine. Oh, and sell-by-yesterday doughnut holes. Awful. Completely stale except for the sugary coating. Just the thing the sitch called for. Gilmore Girls and sell-by-yesterday doughnuts. Can life get better? I submit that it canNOT! Ok, two more weeks of nocturnal-ness and then it'll be early to bed, early to rise. Promise. Signing off! :)

Funny Story...

So I'm walking home from the library at midnight Monday night (Tuesday morning? Either way...) I would have still been there, but they kick everyone out then. I was working on this heinous paper and ended up spending ALL night on it. But that is beside the point. Back to the story, I had parked my car in the graduate parking garage, which is down this ramp next to the business building. At the top is this sign:


Ok, so maybe this isn't the exact sign, but it gives the same message. So there I go, minding my own business, trying to stay positive about my paper progress when I hear the noise of a coasting bicycle. I was about 3 feet from where the ramp connects to the parking complex so I decided to take 2 steps to my left towards it to let the bike pass. Poor moment of judgment on my part. Next thing I know I am listening to squealing brakes, a male voice exclaiming, "Oh, shoot!" and a dramatic crescendo of the violin section as I found myself tumbling to the ground. Yes, you guessed it. I was run over by a bicycle! I'd wager I'm am going to be champion of "Have you ever" from now on. :) After a 5.2 second self-analysis, I concluded that I was not seriously injured, scrambled slowly to my feet and turned around to survey my assailant. He turned to be a very attractive boy. I begged his pardon for getting in his way and he sincerely apologized for being so reckless. (Ok, not in so many words, but he was truly sorry) He asked if I was ok: yup. I asked if he was ok: yes, yes. Ok...now what? For a split second I thought about giving him my insurance info, but I didn't think the situation was that drastic. So I just walked away with "Have a nice night!" Ignorant me, I didn't even get his name. But the next time I decide that the eyes in the back of my head are better than the ones in the front of the extremely good looking cyclist's head and end up putting myself right in the line of fire, I will have a much better game plan prepared. Hopefully my keester will be on board with that.