The Worst Storm of the Season

If you think because we live in the high desert of New Mexico we would be spared the worst elements of the storm this past week, think again. The entire state of NM is in a state of emergency. Because of the high usage of natural gas for heat, they simply ran out. We are on propane so it didn’t effect us that way, still this has been a terrible storm for us. Our final low temp was 15 below zero. I’m sorry but this desert-bred child has never seen the likes of such cold temperatures. I even ended up with my big toe frozen to the point that there was nerve damage. Parts of it I can’t feel at all, and the rest tingles when I walk. It’s a very weird feeling. The poor little ones would go outside, and their little paws would freeze. Then they would ask to go outside again, I’d open the door, and in dismay they saw that nothing had changed. I think they thought somehow I could make it better, but it was just as cold, and icy as before.

We all survived the cold temperatures, and the rationed water. Once the jeep unfroze I made multiple trips into town for hay. It’s a small jeep, and I can only carry two bales at a time, but I got hay. Rudy never got hold of Chuck so the truck waited until yesterday to get fixed. Rudy had ordered the part so it was waiting when he came home. I’m the gofer, and even though the temps came up, so did the wind. He was in the truck, and I was outside bundled up like an Eskimo. He got everything back together just in time to get enough hay to last me through Monday morning.

His next project was the pump. We can’t really continue to buy water from the store, or have the horses eat snow. Eventually it’s going to all melt. His thought was that the fuses burnt out. Off he went this morning to get fuses, and a few other things. Well evidently one fuse burnt out when we had the last storm, and the one remaining fuse burnt out with this storm. He put the new fuses in, and low, and behold the pump was pumping the way it’s supposed to. It was like magic. I didn’t have to sit there turning the pump on, and off to get the pressure up. It went up, and then turned off all by itself. It was a beautiful thing to see. Unfortunately we still don’t have water several hours later, so either there is another broken pipe somewhere, or something’s still frozen. I can’t imagine that there are still frozen pipes when it’s a balmy 38 degrees out, but I suppose it’s possible. I’ve had a construction heater blowing underneath the house for days. It puts out 40,000 btu’s which should warm up the air underneath the house with no problem, but what do I know.

I woke Rudy from his nap, and he went down to the pump house. The pressure was at 45 psi, which is where it’s supposed to be, and as soon as he turned the pump back on, it immediately went back down to 5 psi. That means there’s a leak somewhere. He went down to the barn, and I went to look under the house. I looked for leaks before, but everything was frozen so there were none. Sad to say I found the leak under the flooring. The insulation was sagging, and dripping with the tell tale sign of a very large puddle of water beneath. I called Rudy on his cell, and gave him the bad news. I thought I found the leak. That’s why people call me the bad news bear. I have a knack for finding problems. I checked the water heater, which is right there, and thankfully it showed no signs of leakage. I know what a new water heater costs.

I told Rudy where to look, and then he checked the water heater, and the washer. Because the leak is beneath the flooring, of course you can’t see any signs above the flooring. We’re going to have to call a plumber. Ouch! Why is it when you have no money to spare everything goes wrong? We have had one disaster after another at a time when we can least afford it. Now Rudy is all depressed again, but as I told him it would have taken me forever to figure this one out. Well maybe not forever, but certainly not as fast as he found it. It’s a matter of being sad because your coffee cup is half empty, or rejoicing because it’s half full. I choose to rejoice. It’s the same amount of coffee no matter how you look at it. How you interpret what you see is what matters.

Rudy went to the store for taco fixings. When he came back the pressure built up again. I went to the house, let the water flow, till he said stop. Yes we have a big leak and indeed we need a plumber to fix the leak under the house. At least we have discovered what the problem is, and hopefully, get it fixed within a day or so please Lord. The plumbers have been very busy this past week with pipes bursting everywhere. It would have been nice if it had been in a place we could have fixed ourselves, but such is life. It is forever filled with challenges to overcome, and grow from. Rudy doesn’t quite share my sentiments, but I’m working on him. Someday he too will see that in his case, the beer can, is still half full and rejoice.