Category: Glimpses of Life

When we were looking to purchase a house a few months ago, a friend of us warned us not to buy a house that was over 15 years old. His logic was “things start going wrong right about that time.”

We haven’t had too many problems with our 1993-built house.

But, one day we started hearing clicking noises throughout the house. It sounded like our water pump was trying to pump water so we would walk through the house listening for where there might be a water leak. Nothing was found.

Shortly thereafter, we noticed that some of our faucets were doing what I call quick-steps. The water would flow at one rate then give a little extra push of extra water. We always had water but it seemed to come with a unique flow pattern in some areas of the house (mainly the showers).

Compounding the problem, our Brita filter didn’t seem to be working as efficiently as it should have. I’d have to replace the filter once every 6-8 weeks instead of the “usual” 3 months that’s recommended.

After having a well tank specialist diagnose our problem (the tank is broken) we went ahead and had the well tank replaced with the same kind — a Challenger — which holds 62 gallons of water. There are different types of well tanks. Ours has a rubber piece inside that is called a bladder. This round piece separates the water from the air at the top of the tank.

When the water is turned on, the air compresses down on the rubber and the water is pushed out to flow to the hot water tank, the sediment filter and the water softener.

This requires (for me) quite a bit of thought.

The main problem was that the bladder in the well tank was broken and can’t be replaced. Too bad. I think they should make a well tank that has a removable top so that the rubber bladder can be replaced instead of having to replace the whole tank. But — that thought is from a novice thinker — me.

The specialist was quite efficient. He brought his own hose and drained most of the water out of the well tank — all except 15 gallons that wouldn’t come out. The water that flowed out was black. Yuck!

Because of this problem, the rest of the house has been impacted. It’s possible that our ice dispenser may be plugged because of it. We now have the task of cleaning out the filter in the basement that flows to the refrigerator. We’ll see if that solves the problem.

There is quite a bit of learning when you buy a house with a septic and a well as opposed to buying a house that has city utilities.

So far, we have had 4 inches of snow for the year. It’s all melted away now. If the temperatures weren’t in the low 30’s I would think it was still October. The “brown-ness” in the neighborhood fools me when I look out the window. Brown leaves, brown trees, brown deer, brown turkeys — brown and beige.

Last year, everything was a blanket of snow so everything was white.

I’m not complaining. I know that soon enough the snow will come. For now, I don’t mind being able to drive without ice under the tires.

A recent news report showed a picture of a tilted ice house on the lake. Must be a newbie who attempted this as any seasoned Minnesotan knows it is far too early for ice fishing as the lakes are not frozen yet. Hey — I guess I’m not a newbie anymore because even I know that!

The sun is back. Every time the temperature goes over 25 I think “it’s warm outside.” The sunshine makes all the difference.

That’s what I keep hearing — the war in Iraq is over. Announcement after announcement — the troops are coming home. But is it really over?

It seems to me that it’s just starting for the soldiers coming home. The adjustments they will have to make won’t be easy as they transition back into family life. Do they have classes for that?

The effects of war continue in the families of the approximately 4500 who died, in the lives of the 32,000+ who came/are coming home injured and in the number of Iraqis who died which is estimated at 600,000.

The effects of this war has left both physical and emotional scars that will be around for the rest of peoples lives.

Combine this with the idea that a lot of people still don’t know why we entered this war since no weapons of mass destruction were found.

To further add insult to injury, yesterday the news reported that the Iraqi government is controlled by Shiites who are friendly with Iran. Other sources are quick to discount that relationship — because the thought makes us all cringe.

It reminds me of a song …

“War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Say it again!”

Was this war really necessary?

 (Image courtesy of Microsoft Images) 

The rain in Spain is falling mainly in Minnesota ….

It’s not winter quite yet although by now Minnesota should have had a wee bit more snow.

Today it feels like I’ve been transported back to Seattle — cloudy, rainy and in the 30’s. Yesterday it felt like Seattle — cloudy, rainy and in the 30’s. Three days of clouds is making me bonkers.

I need sun! Minnesota always seems to have sun even after a good snowfall. I don’t remember the clouds in Seattle affecting me so much. I feel blah, bleh, blegh …

The weather woman was telling us about the weather forecast with an umbrella over her head. It’s quite different here. All the weather people seem to step “outside” to give us the weather report — even when it’s freezing cold.

Hopefully today will bring good news for the rest of the week. Come on sunshine!

For a while now I’ve felt quite cold in our family room. I thought I was the only one with the problem because my husband was warm. I’d walk around with cold feet, cold hands, and a cold nose. My husband had warm feet, warm hands and a warm nose. Quite the opposite of me.

Our beautiful fireplace works well in our family room but it still was not keeping me very warm.

Last week, one of my son’s came home for Christmas and he mentioned how cold our family room was. I decided to check to see if there was heat coming from the heat registers and when I put my hand over them, hardly any heat was coming out.

My husband, who has a genius logical brain, decided to go to the basement and do some sleuthing. Guess what? He found that there is a lever that can turn the heat duct to the family room off, on or in between. And — it was barely on.

With the adjustment made, the family room is now toasty.

(Apologies to our family who came to visit for Thanksgiving and probably were freezing but didn’t tell us.)

We are slowly learning about all the nice features this house has to offer, ie being able to have different heat settings in different parts of the house. Unfortunately, they are not “nice” unless we know about them.

Well, we have many years to learn.

Last year we had bought a small artificial Christmas tree because we were living in a small apartment. This year we live in a house with a family room that has a 12 foot ceiling so we decided to get a live Christmas tree.  It did not take us long to find one.

We saw a sign at the Guardian Angel Church parking lot advertising the sale of trees. We were hoping to get a 5-6 foot tree. Getting out of the car, we walked around and looked at every tree. Most seemed pretty scraggly and since they were $50 I had decided to try elsewhere.

Before leaving I asked the man leading us around, “Do you happen to have any other trees?” I really didn’t think they did but didn’t want to disappoint him in not getting a sale. “Yes,” was his reply.

The salesperson led us to the “back” where they had 3 very large trees. My eyes immediately went to the one I thought was just about perfect. I had the salesman hold the tree up for me, looked at my husband for approval, and said “we’ll take it.” Another family was standing nearby and had we not taken it I believe they would have.

So — how does one get a 10 foot tree on a Toyota Camry with no luggage rack?

The workers were very efficient. They “netted” the tree so it was nice and slim. Hauling it onto the top of the car, they easily tied it down.

The only problem we had at this Christmas tree lot was that they only took cash. We had to drive to an ATM with the tree on top of the car and then return to make our payment. (Minnesota has very trusting people.)

After waiting a day for our tree to dry, we hung the lights and decorations on it.

Standing back and looking at the tree, I wonder how tall the tree was that Christ was crucified on. I was thankful that I remembered the reason for this season.

I’ve been trying hard not to rant about Christmas gift exchanges. I’ve had several discussions with one of my sisters who is in charge of our family’s gift exchange this year.

Hard as I tried, I came across an article in the New York Times that talked about this very topic. It riled me up again.

I like the premise of exchanging names for Christmas in large families such as mine. This way, I can focus on one person and get them a really nice gift instead of trying to spread my money over 20 people.

This is the second year that we are participating in the gift exchange. The rules are easy. Pick a name of someone not in your immediate family, ie not a sister, brother, mother, etc. The dollar limit for a gift this year is $35.00. Easy enough.

My sister creates a spreadsheet that has 3 columns next to people’s names. The columns have peoples preferences of things they would like to get. One is not obligated to get a gift from this list but it makes life easier. This list is where it gets interesting.

A lot of things listed are gift certificates such as Target gift certificates, Kohl’s gift certificates, etc.

It feels like we’re just exchanging $35 with each other. I hand you a $35 gift certificate and you hand me a $35 gift certificate. I say we save our gas money and just call it a wash. Why don’t we just get together, listen to some good Christmas music and enjoy each other’s company? It would be less stressful.

Perhaps that’s not the Spirit of Christmas? Hmmm ….