A New Year but with the same old house and the same old problems lending to new learning experiences. That is, after all, the point of Doing It Like A Woman. So why does it sound like a whine? Frankly, it is. The hot water tank stopped making the precious stuff one morning. It's winter, it's cold outside and a long hot shower is one of the small pleasures I give myself a couple times a day. The world looks and feels more manageable after standing under my new rain shower shower head pounding hot droplets on my hard working body. When that stops happening, I stop being happy and turn into a cranky defeated wimp. I work a job now and need my showers to recuperate. So pay attention anyone with a hot water tank, especially those living in highly mineralized locales. This is important.

This is a bucket full of crud (technical term for minerals and dirt) that came out of the bottom of my water tank rendering the lower element unworkable long ago. When the top element went out there wasn't anything to heat water. This sludge is also what eats out the bottom of water tanks.

Not being able to take the day off from work to deal with the problem, my brother-in-law Mike and my sister appeared on the scene to assess the situation and do a fix. He used a shop vac to suck this muck out. By putting a short piece of lawn hose on the end of the vacuum hose, he was able to reach into the far "corners" of the tank to get it really clean.

There aren't many things that can go wrong with a water
heater but the elements or thermostat so I tested the heating elements for continuity. I started at the source to find
the fuses where good and that power was entering the tank. By using a
volt meter set to ohm1, the power to the tank turned off and the wires
unhooked from the element screws, I could see no movement of the
meter's needle when touching a lead to each of the two screws on the element.
No reading means no continuity and no current flowing. No current no hot water. Simple. No, not really. Finding replacements for such an old unit is challenging. Doing the best we could with what was available in the hardware store, he replaced the top one to get me back up and running hot water.

So why not replace the bottom element as well? My electrical service isn't up to a standard to handle anything more than two 2000 watt elements of this tank and we had one new 3500 watt. Finding two matching elements might not be possible and I'd rather change out my panel to accommodate a new tank-less heater than sink any more money into the old one. It's on my list of to-dos for 2007. Time to update for 2008.

Again, I am blessed with an expert in the family who was relentless in his pursuit of fixing my problem. After braving the blistering cold winds today to pump heating oil into the furnace tank, I will be found standing under a shower of hot water once again.

The little mower seized up. I had put a quart of oil in during it's initial tune-up but it had been sitting unused without oil for quite a long time so it's not a surprise. Someone told me if I could get the fly wheel turning there was a possibility that it could still mow. That sounded like it would take some strength and was the job for a man so I let it sit to attract one. "A man magnet" I told my sister who felt badly her gift wasn't still cutting grass. Well, it worked. A man showed up, without me even asking, and got it going. The power of intention works again! Next time I'll say "a single man magnet" because this one is James and he's very married.

After chasing out two mice, one baby rabbit and removing a nest, James took off the housing cover of the fly wheel, removed the spark plug and using the shaft of a screwdriver, turned the flywheel until it moved freely. He sprayed some WD-40 into the spark plug opening, installed the plug and started it up.

When it cools off and the fire danger isn't as high, I'll go out for the grass and weeds. Yah, let's git 'em.

I'm still working on it. I brought out the remainder of the starter cord and put a new handle on the end, lubed all the moving parts and cleaned the spark plug. I got it started but only for five seconds. A new plug is certainly in order. The throttle cable reconnected but the handle is broken. Still looking for a replacement wheel. I'm not giving up just yet.

We have a saying in our family of eternal optimists. When confronted with something that seems beyond repair we just say, "All it needs is the front, back and the works." It was first stated to my great grandmother by Claude Knight, age 8, when asked about the retaining band of an old pocket watch he had found in the barn. He happily carried it around in his pocket with the vision of it so easily being made whole.

I'm Claude Knight's incarnate. I find a lawnmower abandoned in the barn and I see myself happily mowing down weeds in the yard. This, despite the fact I can't stand yard work. Doesn't matter. The challenge of making something work; something that is seemingly beyond repair, is a thrown gaunlet that gets my attention.

A cursory glance says it needs a new wheel, the clutch cable replace, the pull rope replace and probably a new spark plug. Do I dare take this challenge? Oh, why not?! It might actually work afterall all it needs is the front, back and the works.

There are lots of rabbits here on the ranch. Wild rabbits that like to crawl up into the engine compartment to hide. I gave one a ride into town one day and found him huddled on the top of my battery when I popped the hood to prop it open. The hoods are always propped open to discourage rabbit retreats. While they sit there they tend to gnaw on the wires. All three vehicles have had new wire sets replaced. Today I repaired all the other broken wires that had been bitten in two by bunnies. I now have a working cruise control, water temperature gauge and temperature sensor. The check engine light is no longer on and the idle isn't racing due to broken sensor wires. I encourage anyone visiting for any length of time to follow the same procedure or risk a dead car killed by bunnies.

The last 24 hours have been troublesome. The water pressure pump in the basement wouldn't stop running. I'd noticed that its running time had gotten longer so I knew something was up but until it broke down completely all I could do was stare down at it. From the picture it's obvious that there could be a failure at any of several points so I started at the cistern to see if it was empty due to my failure to run the well pump. It was lower than I had ever seen it as we'd been using more than the usual amount of water in the last few days. I turned on the well pump to replenish the water level but the system had gotten air into it so the trouble was compounded.

So where to start with the troubleshooting? I checked the pressure level of the pressure tank with a tire guage. At 35 lbs it was a little low but not empty of pressure. The water pressure guage was erratic and not registering a consistent pressure when the pump was on. The pressure switch didn't turn the pump off no matter how long it ran or what the guage was reading. I called a friend, Jim. He suggested the pump had air in it and needed to be primed with water. He also advised that it could take a lot of water. My daughter melted ice cubes, scooped water out of the toilet tank and we finally went to my sister's to fill containers. By the end of the night it still wasn't running but my brother-in-law had heard the tale and said he'd be over in the morning. He has lots of pump and priming experience so I had faith that the problem would be resolved.

In the morning we made coffee and waited for Mike. He removed both plugs off the top of the pump, added water and returned both plugs. I went into the bath and ran the tub water while he turned on the pump manually. As the air was expelled and there was a good supply of water flowing the pressure came up on the guage but the switch still failed to turn off the pump. We decided to try adjusting the switch as we discovered that it would turn off with a sharp rap to the side of it.

We adjusted the switch to turn on the pump at a drop to 35 lbs and to charge up and quit pumping at 45 lbs. It worked. The switch may need to be replaced in the future but for now it's good.

Mike was good enough to help me set the timer on the well pump so it will go on and off each day to fill the cistern. A big thank you!!

This light switch in the kitchen is a mystery. It doesn't do anything. I tested the wires and they are without electricity. Since it's in a handy place for turning on a light, I'm going to fix it. This means finding where the wires go and since I haven't found it going down into the basement then I'm going up into the attic to see what I can find.

I'll be back at the end of the day to let you know what I found.

Followup - I found the wires coiled in the attic above the switch so it was never connected to a light or device. There are two ways I can do this. Bring the electricity to the light fixture, over to the switch and back to the fixture or wire the switch from the basement then continue over to the fixture. I've decided to bring a hot wire up to the switch from the basement and then over to the fixture. It means a trip to the hardware store for parts. I need:
1 fixture - recessed pot light for 6" opening that is already cut
1 square junction box for the connections in the basement
wire nuts and wire

Being a surprisingly warm and sunny day, my daughter brightly announced she was going out the work on her car. Yes, the reticent auto mechanic was voluntarily gathering tools and parts with an invitation to join her. Heck, how could I resist?

It is recommended that spark plug wires or wiresets be replaced on a vehicle every 30,000 miles. Today my daughter replaced hers not only because it was time but rabbits had gnawed one in half. Wiresets have a great deal of current running through them so they literally burn away. Worn wires increase resistence resulting in less amperage to the spark plugs, decreased gas mileage and poor engine performance.

She also needed to do something about her plugged EGR valve and to replace missing or broken vacuum hoses. A new valve costs more than what the car is worth so our plan was to take it off and clean out the carbon buildup. It was plugged therefore breaking vacuum hoses.

I really didn't do much but help loosen stuff and work on the EGR carbon problem. By the time I was finished, she had replaced the distributor cap, rotor and had the new wires in place on the spark plugs. Clever girl. We both hunted down the missing or broken vacuum hoses and closed the hood. We were finished except for a test drive.

I could tell by the sound in her voice that everything was running smoothly. No more eratic idling but a smooth quiet ride. I'm proud of her. She's not only learned how to work on her own car but has worked on mine, helped in some of the most daunting projects here at the ranch, designed websites, started corporations and created astounding business plans. She's amazing.

The sun was brilliant today and the temperatures relatively warm so I resolved to replace the EGR valve on the truck. It wasn't a difficult job but an interesting one.

When I first opened the hood I found a mouse nest on top of the engine. The parent mouse fled leaving its brood of four babies. They were tiny with eyes not yet open. Cute but still mice. Moving them to a protected spot in the garden meant certain death and I'm not a person who wants to kill any creature. This wasn't a pleasant way to begin my project.

I was able to easily remove the old valve only to find the new one not exactly the same as the original part. The orifice protruded on the opposite side so the vacuum hose was too short to span the gap. No problem. My daughter's car sat unused in the drive and had lots of new vacuum hose. I opted to rob a section.

When I popped the hood of her car I stood staring at two rabbits huddled on top of the engine block. It took a second or two to understand what I was seeing and for them to realized their cover was blown. They'd been busily gnawing on the spark plug harness and had one wire completely cut in half. Oh well, that would have to wait. I needed vacuum hose and found a section the appropriate length.

I fitted the hose into place and started the truck. It seemed to be working just fine. The entire process took about half an hour.

On the other side of the state, my daughter was doing the same thing to a car I had loaned her. The difference is it took her about four hours without bunnies or mice but helpful men.

Everyone has a small quiet voice that speaks up to say, "hey, you might want to stop and think about this". It keeps us out of harms way or leads us to a safer existence. It's been called women's intuition but men have it too. They call it a gut feeling.

I have this little voice. It's helped me find my way in life. I listen to it and have a certain amount of comfort knowing it's there. Yesterday I left my truck only briefly to go into a service station mini mart and the little voice said, "lock the doors", so I did. While at the counter I turned to see a scruffy looking woman trying my truck door. My purse was sitting on the seat afterall. Finding the door locked she skulked off and disappeared around a corner. I realized she had ill intent and I was glad I had listened to that voice.

Many times in my pursuit to solve a problem, I've been hell bent on finding a solution. If there had been a feeling that I should stop and reconsider what I was about to do I obviously didn't pay attention. Yesterday was another one of those times. I cut the wire to the furnace thermostat rendering the furnace inoperative. This was no accident. I was determined to clean up wires dangling from the basement ceiling.

The same thing happened after I removed the antennae on the roof. I wanted all the unnecessary (and messy) wires off the side of the house only to have clipped the wireless internet antennae also. I could have sworn no voice warned me that I was about to create a problem for myself but I'm sure it was there saying, "whoa, slow down".

I've done this several times in my life. A pot of boiling water in the toilet to free a plugged pipe only to shatter the cold porcelain. I had read that advice in reference to unplugging kitchen sinks. Taking a thermos and smashing it against a coconut thinking it might crack it open only to shatter the fragile thermos. Holding out treats to monkeys in the wilds of Indonesia. They only saw me as a stepping stone to food. Pulling old wire out a wall before attaching a tether to the end so I could get a new one pulled into place. The list goes on.

That said (with some embarrassment) I think it's important to learn to listen to the little voice. Identify it and pay attention. If one of the steps in a project is to first turn off the electricity on a circuit and to test it to verify that it's off, do it, I know what I'm talking about.

For fun, listen to others' mishaps by checking out This American Life episode 306, It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time. Or my favorite episode 115, Squirrel Cop.