Four days in to the new year and I can tell that my run of terrible luck that lasted all through 2009 hasn't broken yet. It's been achingly cold the last few days and last night I heard a horrible dripping noise in the kitchen. A few minute's probing under the cabinets and I find that water is slowly dripping down past a pair of mysterious copper pipes that run from upstairs.
This morning, I'm getting dressed in the kitchen (that's where Mr Tumbly-dryer lives and he has all my clothes) when I suddenly hear a horrible noise like the washing machine filling up, only from under the cabinets near where the dripping was.
Investigation shows that the dripping has stopped and that there isn't any obvious flooding, but that the strange noise seems to be coming from through the other side of the wall. I hate to admit how long it took me to remember that there's a tap on the outside wall for running a garden hose.
Sure enough, the outside pipe for the tap has frozen up and burst. Perfectly in time to make me late for going out. Well, last night I spotted a pair of mysterious stopcocks under the cabinets, so I try turning them off for the sheer hell of it. Happily, one of them turns off the outside tap, so the patio stops flooding and I can go out.
When I get back, I take a look at the pipe. After digging through layers of bubble-wrap and lagging, I find that instead of the pipe splitting (which happened a few years back), the solder joint has failed in a way that looks like I might be able to fix it.
Assuming, that is, I find a way to afford pipe-soldering gear.
Oh, and my car was a solid block of ice- the door seals had frozen up and it took me ten minutes to even get in. I'm beginning to dislike winter.
Edit: The stopcock that turned off the garden tap also turned off all the cold water in the kitchen, which I found out when I tried to make a cup of tea. I definitely dislike winter.
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