Smile-breaks
Please – no more rain
Last year the roof leaked. Last year I got it fixed. As he left, the roofer said, "I think I got it all, but you might want to check next time it rains." Next time it rained, the roof leaked. I didn't call him back.
It didn't rain much the rest of the year. No rain, no leaks. No roofer on my roof. But this year at the holiday season, it poured buckets of rain! Water leaked all over the mantel; all across the hearth and onto the floor. The wind blew; the rain rained; the leaks leaked. Adventure! ???
My grandson and his girlfriend arrived in the midst of the rain to stay and enjoy the wet indoors over Thanksgiving. We sat away from the pans and towels protecting the mantel, hearth and floor from the wetness, feeling cozy as the rain came down outside and inside. Enjoyed the best turkey dinner ever, cooked by my daughter, eaten by the six of us: Brett my grandson, Rachel his girlfriend, Christy the cook, my son Paul and son Craig, who braved the weather to join us, and of course, me.
The pans and towels did their job but cried for attention as they sopped up the rain. The splot, splot, splot of raindrops on the aluminum pans provided the musical background to our dinner. Later I provided the comedy as, carefully removing the middle pan filled with water from the mantel, I bumped into the coffee table and dropped the pan, splashing everything in sight. Off to the dryer with the soaked towels; off to the potted plants with pans of rainwater. At least the plants got something out of this.
Call the roofer! Call the roofer! Are you kidding? On Thanksgiving? Or the day after? And even if they come into the office the day after, their phones would be busier than a gal emptying pans full of leaked raindrips. Yes, raindrips. The rain was dripping down from the ceiling and dripping steadily from the fireplace doors and vents.
All's well that ends well and maybe this will end. Sometime. It appears it won't end for at least a month, prob'ly longer, so—please, no more rain! The first roofer I called had an automated voice telling me, "Don't bother. We're booked up. Not taking any more jobs. Sorry. Happy Holidays." The second one greeted me with the warning that they were booked up for the next 45 days so if you can't wait, don't bother.
But they were highly recommended so I bothered and they came out to give me an estimate a week later. You're gonna love this estimate—six grand! It wasn't just the flashing around the chimney; it was the entire section of the roof that had been redone when I bought the house, seven years ago. It had to be replaced.
And that wasn't all. The drips sliding steadily out of the fireplace doors and vents? They would need a chimney man. The chimney man greeted me with a cheerful, "We're booked through the second week of January. Please stay on the line to schedule an estimate."
I stayed on the line. I e-mailed pictures of the leaking chimney and fireplace. "Yes this is your chase cover that is leaking," Jan at ChimTech replied. I hadn't the foggiest what a "chase cover" was, so I Googled it and now I'm a reluctant chimney expert. Then I e-mailed the pictures of the outside of the chimney he had asked for.
"Wow this is installed wrong, the cap that is up in the air is supposed to be screwed down to the metal cover," he replied. The cost to replace the cover and the pan is only in the three figures—lucky me.
So now all I have to do is wait for the middle of January and hope—please, no more rain.
