Bathroom Crisis '08

I can say without a doubt in my mind that the worst thing in life to be without is... (drum roll please)

RUNNING WATER!

Two days ago, I noticed there was a spot on my pants that was wet after having used our downstairs bathroom. After carefully probing the floor, I witnessed fluids bubbling up from the seams in our linoleum flooring. After I freaked out for about 30 seconds, I called Matt, who proceeded to tell me that there was nothing he could do about it at the time and told me to wait until he got home. Waiting is not my style, so I called the next person in the chain of command: Mom. After talking with her, she referred me to my father, who told me to go into the crawlspace and have a looksy.

So, I donned protective clothing (read: biohazard suit) and grabbed the not-so-useless giant flashlight that came with our drill, and set out to conquer the crawlspace. However, I was surprised by how dry it was and by the lack of life down there. I only saw a handful of tiny spiders ( one of my biggest fears is getting bitten by a very venomous black widow or brown recluse) . It was only after a few minutes of crawling and slithering that I found the spot where the leak was.

My only indication that there was a leak was a very small pool of liquid. Following the drips, I found the spot where our bathroom sits. The insulation was pretty thoroughly saturated and, not having gloves on, I could only see a little bit of staining. I crawled out, called our real estate agent and asked what we should do. He told us to call our home warranty company to send someone out to look at it. So, I did.

Now, upon entering the crawlspace earlier, I was met with an odor and a valve for the main water supply. Fearing any type of liquid being sprayed at me while I poked around, I shut off the valve. And when I left, I turned the valve back on. After I had called Brian (our agent) and the home warranty company (who promised to send someone out the next day), I decided to take a shower and get the dirt from the crawlspace off. I jumped in and started to rinse. It only took a few seconds for me to realize that the water pressure was dwindling down to nothing and I am proud to say that I got my hair completely lathered and rinsed by the time the water ran out (It's nice to know I can take a quick shower if needs be).

I went back to the crawlspace and turned the valve and tried all different positions for the valve, but to no avail. The water refused to flow. We were only without water for approximately 24 hours, but I can say that it was truly uncomfortable. We could not use the restroom, we could not wash our dishes or our clothes, we could not wash our hands and did I mention that we couldn't use the restroom? And because I couldn't use the facilities, I had to go even more (why is that?). Any way, I have been in situations without power or without many creature comforts that I now enjoy, but I can say with all surety that water is number one on my list of must haves.