Water drama
Feb. 6th, 2015 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_prime(Did I not post this last night? Huh. Backdating it, I guess.)
In the afternoon, just before D. was about to come home, I showered and then put the toothpaste on my toothbrush, only to discover that suddenly my house had no water. Ack? I checked the kitchen sink, no water there either. I IM’ed J, who was home sick from work, and his water was fine, so I headed outside in the rain with my toothbrush, intending to use J’s sink. On the way I checked the hose, no water there either.
An older guy was crouched down in the driveway, no uniform, no repair truck. He had some long tool and was messing around in the access box in the middle of the driveway. I asked him what was going on, where was the water? Apparently he was a friend of Mercy, who lives in the third house on our “key lot” (sharing the long driveway with me and J). She had a leak from her water heater, and he was trying to turn off her water. He went over to the bit of yard near our mailboxes, and he had the covers open to the various access boxes for our houses. It was he who had turned off my water, and so he turned it on again. He wanted to turn off the water in the next box over, but I said no, that was the water for J’s house. In fact, I said it more than once. Our two houses had been built more than 10 years before Mercy’s. I didn’t see a box for hers, but I explained that her house had a pipe on the other end of the driveway. We looked over there, no panel visible. We didn’t know where Mercy’s water shutoff was. I went and explained to J, bringing him a can of soup, then I came home and brushed my teeth. The guy went to Mercy’s house and began talking to her brother-in-law, who’d had the house built for her, on the phone to figure it out.
An hour or so passed, and J. went to make his soup. Uh oh, no water. He went outside. Mercy was just driving away, and no one else was around. No water. I dropped by, can’t remember why now, and heard what had happened. Apparently the old guy had turned off his water after all. J. was sick, as I mentioned, so I went off to Mercy’s house and rang the doorbell. No one home. I went back to my house and used the property tax records and whitepages.com to find a phone number for her sister, and called. No answer. I left a detailed message. J. and I didn’t have the tool the old guy had been using to turn the water off and on. We debated. What if they’d succeeded in turning off Mercy’s water and she was gone for the night because of it? What if somehow their water was linked at the shutoff valve and separated later on, such that turning his back on would turn hers back on too? Where could we get the tool to turn it back on? We weren’t going to call a plumber. Should we call the utility company? An hour passed. Every few minutes I checked outside to see if Mercy’s porch light was on again, if there was any sign she’d come home. I went a few more times and rang her doorbell. It got dark outside.
Finally I went to check the access boxes myself, to see if I could figure out what kind of tool was needed. The one I’d seen down in when the guy was working, the one in the driveway, had icky grey water rushing around in it, so I didn’t bother with that one, I just headed over to the yard near the mail boxes. The lid to J’s house’s panel was still open! And I looked down in it, and it had an ordinary faucet-shaped valve, the kind on the outside of houses. So I cranked it open, just using my hand, and restored J’s water. Whew! Does this mean Mercy's garage is now flooding with water? We hope not! No way for us to check, though. But really. Turning off J’s water, not even telling him, and then leaving? Not cool, old guy.
In the afternoon, just before D. was about to come home, I showered and then put the toothpaste on my toothbrush, only to discover that suddenly my house had no water. Ack? I checked the kitchen sink, no water there either. I IM’ed J, who was home sick from work, and his water was fine, so I headed outside in the rain with my toothbrush, intending to use J’s sink. On the way I checked the hose, no water there either.
An older guy was crouched down in the driveway, no uniform, no repair truck. He had some long tool and was messing around in the access box in the middle of the driveway. I asked him what was going on, where was the water? Apparently he was a friend of Mercy, who lives in the third house on our “key lot” (sharing the long driveway with me and J). She had a leak from her water heater, and he was trying to turn off her water. He went over to the bit of yard near our mailboxes, and he had the covers open to the various access boxes for our houses. It was he who had turned off my water, and so he turned it on again. He wanted to turn off the water in the next box over, but I said no, that was the water for J’s house. In fact, I said it more than once. Our two houses had been built more than 10 years before Mercy’s. I didn’t see a box for hers, but I explained that her house had a pipe on the other end of the driveway. We looked over there, no panel visible. We didn’t know where Mercy’s water shutoff was. I went and explained to J, bringing him a can of soup, then I came home and brushed my teeth. The guy went to Mercy’s house and began talking to her brother-in-law, who’d had the house built for her, on the phone to figure it out.
An hour or so passed, and J. went to make his soup. Uh oh, no water. He went outside. Mercy was just driving away, and no one else was around. No water. I dropped by, can’t remember why now, and heard what had happened. Apparently the old guy had turned off his water after all. J. was sick, as I mentioned, so I went off to Mercy’s house and rang the doorbell. No one home. I went back to my house and used the property tax records and whitepages.com to find a phone number for her sister, and called. No answer. I left a detailed message. J. and I didn’t have the tool the old guy had been using to turn the water off and on. We debated. What if they’d succeeded in turning off Mercy’s water and she was gone for the night because of it? What if somehow their water was linked at the shutoff valve and separated later on, such that turning his back on would turn hers back on too? Where could we get the tool to turn it back on? We weren’t going to call a plumber. Should we call the utility company? An hour passed. Every few minutes I checked outside to see if Mercy’s porch light was on again, if there was any sign she’d come home. I went a few more times and rang her doorbell. It got dark outside.
Finally I went to check the access boxes myself, to see if I could figure out what kind of tool was needed. The one I’d seen down in when the guy was working, the one in the driveway, had icky grey water rushing around in it, so I didn’t bother with that one, I just headed over to the yard near the mail boxes. The lid to J’s house’s panel was still open! And I looked down in it, and it had an ordinary faucet-shaped valve, the kind on the outside of houses. So I cranked it open, just using my hand, and restored J’s water. Whew! Does this mean Mercy's garage is now flooding with water? We hope not! No way for us to check, though. But really. Turning off J’s water, not even telling him, and then leaving? Not cool, old guy.