Another Shot --

–right in the 'nads.  Woke up last week to a pool of water on the kitchen floor.  The water line that feeds the fridge icemaker had ruptured.  When I went down to the basement to cut off the water I found that it had leaked downstairs as well.  Boy, had it leaked.  That part of the basement is carpeted.  Well, it was carpeted.  And several tubs of items in basement storage (the kind of tubs with the hinged lids that you get at Costco or Sam's. with the seam down the middle) had been stored under the spot in the floor where the leak occurred (of course) and had several inches of water in them.  It had also spattered and splashed all over.  Much soggy cardboard, some wet old stuffed animals from my daughter's childhood -- you wouldn't have thought the pipe could spew this much water in one night.  Called the plumber, and he came out to fix it all, and at the end of the day I was $400 poorer.  Then he tells me that he noticed that the main shutoff to the house is oozing water from a slow leak.  So this Wednesday the water company has to come out — for a fee — to shut off the water at the street so that the plumber can put in a new main valve.  To get to said valve, said plumber has to knock out some of the wall because as the house has settled over the years, apparently it has sucked the pipe into the wall to where the shutoff valve is firmly pressed against it.  When he is done, assuming he finds no other complications, the water company has to come back out — for an additional fee — and turn me back on.  (Although, in fairness, the plumber said that he could probably turn me back on; it's turning the water OFF that apparently causes fits here in PA.)  Barring complications, another $600 out of my wallet.

Hell, this doesn't just kill my budget; it turns our vacation into a stay-cation this year.  Just not something I needed to happen this year (or ever, really, but this has been a specially rough year for me.)

Thanks for letting me rant, gang.  It always makes me feel a little better when I vent about crap like this here.