Wednesday Suckage

I recently read an article in the Star Tribune that Monday is no longer the number one day of the week to commit suicide. Now, it's hump day: Wednesday

Today has been one of THOSE days, and if I wasn't a naturally cheerful and zen-like in my approach to certain areas of my life, today's events might, at the very least, cause a serious ulcer.

My partner is off to Seattle today for a conference for work. Consequentially the household was awake by 5:30 am, which is a time of day I consider quite despicable for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which is that most of the time the sun isn't even awake yet. So why should I be, I ask you! That was, it turns out, only a minor inconvenience.

After doing her usual getting-ready morning bits, Shawn came upstairs and sat down on our bed. Her face looked ashen. She said in a solemn tone: "Bad news. Really, really bad news. We have a leak."

I don't talk much about them on this blog, but I own several fish in large tanks, and my first thought was, "Oh no! Not the fish tanks." So I was actually strangely relieved when she explained it was the kitchen ceiling. Oh, I thought, just the kitchen ceiling.

Wait. The kitchen ceiling? That's not good.

We live in a house that is approaching its hundredth birthday. There are any number of things we look at and think, "We're going to have to replace that one of these days." Most of those things obligingly chug along and we never have to worry. We've always KNOWN that these pipes are a problem. They're probably some of the last remaining lead pipes in our house *and* we had our handy-person gerry-rig a connection to the upstairs faucet because they were rotted. We were just doing that homeowner finger-crossing dance this whole time, waiting for... I dunno, a lottery win or something.

Alas, I'm now awaiting a plumber, and probably a huge bill. But, as we like to say in Minnesota, it could be worse. We have a working downstairs toilet (thanks to the same people who are coming today, and, really, someone could come TODAY. That's huge.)

I haven't gotten a lot of writing done yet today, as I spent this morning moving breakables and furniture out of the kitchen, since, watching the spreading water stain, I suspect much of the ceiling will have to come down for the repair.

Wish me luck... or maybe don't. Maybe break a leg or pipe or something.