“Remoted” – Day 519 (Tuesday)

At 7:00 this morning, my Big Brothers Big Sisters donation bag was set on the deck, per donation pickup instructions, and all was quiet on the dead-end asphalt front. A plumbing crew was due around 10:00, scheduled yesterday after discovering the leak in the tank and the puddle on the floor. At 8:15, earlier than expected, a plumbing truck arrived with a different name on it and there was a moment of panic and confusion over which company I had called, but the truck was destined for the three-family house next door.

Knowing there was a crew coming, I knew I couldn’t leave for very long, but there was time for a quick trip to the hardware store nearby, or Family Dollar. While thinking about what errands could be done, I paced a lot, because sometimes that is what I do, and looked out the windows.

That’s when I noticed a police cruiser parked on one side of the street and a white van with blue government plates on the other side, a couple houses away. I was just last Saturday afternoon when there was a firetruck, ambulance, and two police cars on the street for the house across from mine, in response to guy sitting on the front steps, bleeding from the head. For a dead-end street, it sure can be exciting.

The cruiser was moved into the street at an angle, sealing off access, which seemed weird and made my decision making about leaving a bit easier. After a while, a doe appeared from the side where the van was parked (which was later seen to be marked as Animal Control).

The doe heads out of the hood.

The doe crossed the street into another yard, guided by the placement of the police cruiser which prevented it from bolting up the street towards the busy crossroad. It emerged into the street again, and headed past my house and towards the wooded growth along Beaver Brook. The poor thing looked like she had a bloody butt. 

A neighbor closer to the action said the doe had jumped a fence and then become trapped in an enclosed yard. After being guided by the vehicle placement and the Animal Control officer to the end of the street, she was left alone to wander the wooded trail which is blocked by a fence to the left, leads to city roads and the bridge construction to the right, and drops off into the brook the whole length. For a while, she stood in one spot, her head peeking over the privacy fence of the home across the street. I wondered how long it might be before the scenario played out again a couple streets over.

Once the official vehicles were gone, the rest of the neighbor’s plumbing crew invaded the street. A car arrived and parked in front of my house, followed by a bucket lift truck which parked across my driveway, sealing my car in the driveway. Luckily, I wasn't planning to leave, thinking I’d miss my own plumbing crew.

Plumbing job on high.

The morning ticked by. Next door, the bucket truck was moved into the back yard to load and unload materials through an upper floor window. More small household items were rounded up and added to the donations for pickup. Weeds were pulled in the back yard. At 11:15, there was a call from my plumbing company that the technician was running late and there was no estimate for timing to my house. Oddly, the urge to leave the house was growing. Odd, because I often go days without leaving, but as soon as I feel like I can’t do something, I suddenly want to do it. 

I waited. And waited. I went upstairs and dumped out the contents of my sock drawer onto the bed and rearranged it. I waited some more. I started watching a movie. At 1:10, a flower delivery arrived. As the florist was attempting to leave the driveway, the Big Brothers Big Sisters truck arrived to take the bag of clothes and box of housewares. It was like a mini Grand Central Station, but still no plumber.

At 1:30 there was a text message that the technician was on the way, and finally, around 2:00, four hours beyond the initial appointment window, the plumbing truck for my house arrived. The plumber in charge seemed surprised by the other company’s truck until I explained it was for a job next door. He looked at the leaking water tank and declared it needed replacing, which I already concluded from conversations and Google searches yesterday.

The plumber said he could do the replacement today, but needed to go to the warehouse to get a tank, which would take about 40 minutes round trip. It was around 4:30 and an entire wasted vacation day when the job was done.  At least I logged some steps with all the pacing and the sock drawer is organized by type of socks – thick socks, trouser socks, low socks for sneakers, low thin socks for dress shoes. 

The water tank is installed, and there is a new credit card balance equal to the cost of my last proper vacation back in 2017, which was a weeklong stay at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. Now, the budget is blown, the day was wasted and I wish I’d waited until next week and a work day when I would have been sitting at the desk all day anyway and being housebound wouldn’t have mattered. But it’s done, and hopefully no thought will need to be given to the water heater for another 10 years, so that will be nice.