Clogs, Hot Water and Four Wheel Drive

It has been a week, especially for Far Guy.

One day the kitchen sink clogged, just like that. It has been slow for years and we have fiddle farted around with it. It was slower this winter. We have both been trying to fix it.  I had been running hot water down it, Far Guy had been running hot water down it mixed with Automatic Dish Washing  Soap..we don’t have a Dishwasher but we have the soap to clean out the whirlpool tub.  Far Guy boiled water..he went and got Drano..he got a plumbers snake..he got a bigger plumbers snake.  We managed to plug the bathroom sink too..I am thinking I will have to close the kitchen forever.   I will have to carry the dishes upstairs to wash them or use the tub downstairs( different sewer lines.)   Six hours into the unclogging it finally gives up the clog ..and water disappears down the drain just like it is supposed too! I swear this plumbing nightmare was just like giving birth, when I saw the water disappearing and heard the gurgling noises coming from the bathroom..we both cheered.

Then we were short of hot water..we heat the water with wood..it is a complicated system..but we also have a hot water heater that is mostly shut off..well we turned it on and there was still not much hot water..Far Guy replaced the elements in the Hot Water Heater..what a guy ..he can fix most anything. It took him the better part of a day to do it, the fittings were stuck real good and he had to find a special wrench..but having hot water that goes down the drain is a good thing.

I am thankful for a husband that is a fixer. I am thankful for hot water that goes down the drain.

Did I ever write about my vehicle and how it fixed itself?  It had a check engine light that was on, we took it in, the mechanic said “It is just a sensor in your fuel tank and it will cost 400 dollars to replace it.”  HUH?  Don’t think so.  We had the oil changed at this place for years, and the light was continually on…then I had no 4 wheel drive ( That is an important feature here in Minnesota) took it in and they said nothing was wrong with it.  We finally put it in 4 wheel drive and left it there..and sitting in the garage it would mysteriously go back into 2 wheel drive. We must have garage ghosts.  Four wheel drive was hit and miss..working only on days above zero.  THEN we had our oil changed at a different place..our check engine light went off and our 4 wheel drive goes in and out slicker than snot even if it is 20 below zero..it must have fixed itself. Should I ask why..or should I just be thankful that it is fixed? 

I am thankful for a vehicle that has 4 wheel drive because some days the road looks like this.

See that dark spot..that is the only spot on this road that is NOT icy.  The ditches are full and any new snow that we get will end up either on the road or blowing over the road..welcome to Minnesota in March:)