Soon after the cancellation of cable (& therefore TV in general), we started experiencing oddities with our hot water. It just wasn't working right. Then, abruptly stopped working altogether. Coincidentally, we started smelling strong, nauseating gas from the garage [comments could be made about Paul at this point, but I'll refrain]. Our newly replaced tank-less water heater (since Ike) had apparently died from some unknown cause. The autopsy report from the chain-smoking plumber revealed an inherently flawed system, along with several gas leaks in the garage pipe lines. Great. 'So, what exactly is wrong with our water heater?' we asked. Apparently, our lovely system was operating something like a fiery jet engine under our house. Unbeknowst to us, each time we turned on the hot water the pilot light on the water heater was causing flames to spew out everywhere, much like a small inferno. Or, a jet engine. Spewing flames + nearby gas leaks = NOT GOOD. I'm not sure how this unfortunate situation came about, but Paul & I will forever be grateful that we (or the chain-smoking plumber) didn't blow up our precious little house.
So-- for 3 weeks in June, while we waited for the newer, better system to be available & installed, I (we) took nothing but COLD showers. Let me emphasize the word COLD. Because when you don't have a working water heater you are instantly forced into an uncomfortable situation. It took me about a week & 1/2 to adjust to the polar temperatures before I could take a shower without yelling certain expletives. I was quite proud of myself once I was able to quietly shower. And now, three weeks later, we are completely happy with our much superior,
outdoor tank-less water heater. And my showers are all the more satisfying too :)
This morning Paul, Stretch, & I headed out for a sunrise romp on the beach. Stretch LOVES to run on the beach. It's so much fun to watch him gleefully zip all over the sand. Talk about a happy wiener! Here are some pics...
Recently, the city works department of Galveston marked all of the dead trees from the storm that line the streets. These orange-marked trees are to be cut down & removed by the city. Much of the Historical District is lined with (what used to be) big, beautiful oak trees. Many of them date back to The Great Storm of 1900! What once was a shady canopy of trees lining the streets, has now become skeleton-like branches. As the city systematically removes the dead trees we've been reminded just how entirely empty a tree-less space looks. (It was definitely a visual adjustment for us last year when we lost all of the trees in our backyard.) Thankfully, our "marked" tree is not one we will entirely miss-- we're looking forward to replanting a Bottle brush tree in it's place. The trees in our yard that fared the best (as well as all over the island) are the Palms & Norfolk pine. We are especially thankful for our beautiful Norfolk pine that survived.... swimmingly ;)
