be careful what you wish for.

i'm in desperate need of a day off, but couldn't really take any time this week because of the prep for this week's trip. so, what do I get?

the main water supply to our house is frozen solid.

the problem, as far as we can tell, is outside the foundation, underneath our (concrete) stoop. completely inaccessible. find out from a neighbor last night that the area under the concrete is apparently completely hollow, and the only way to prevent this from happening in the future would likely be to dig up the concrete and fill the whole thing in.

right now, i'm waiting for the nice man from the borough water department to come out and verify that yes, there's nothing to be done. (he was out on a lot of these calls yesterday.)

for right now, it appears that the only thing to be done is to keep the taps open (we have NO water - not even a trickle), and wait for temperatures above freezing, which we're not expected to hit until next week.

this is not the day off i wanted.

update

borough plumber dude has come and gone.
--the records show they were here in January 2005 for the same problem - "if you plan to stay here, you need to take care of this."
--long-term, his recommendation is to rip up the porch and backfill, which is the same thing our neighbor told us last night.
--it looks like someone tried to fill the porch with spray foam via the hole that the pipe comes through - unsuccessfully, of course, since you'd need probably 75-100 cubic feet of foam.
--short-term, he recommended trying heat tape and filling the hole with some kind of insulation.
--i got the last package of heat tape from the local home depot, where i was told that it's out of season. Tell me, who needs heat tape in Pennsylvania in summertime? That's the only time they actively stock it.
--heat tape has been taped to the pipes (despite its name, it is not sticky in and of itself, and requires electrical tape for attachment purposes)

I am now cold, covered in spider webs, and have no options for hot beverages, unless i want to heat up some diet pepsi. yes, i could venture out for hot caffeine and a shower, but it is Todd Todd Fucking Cold (TM) out there, and I'd like to be able to move tomorrow, thankyouverymuch.

two side notes:
1. while searching for plumbing stuff online this morning, I discovered that someone bought the Hechinger's logo, paired it with the hechinger.com domain, and is now running an online hardware store. from a business perspective, it's a smart deal, because hechinger was a known and trusted brand for a long time. from a personal perspective? i feel like someone exhumed the body of loved one and is parading it around on the interweb for profit.
2. all things considered, i'm damn proud of myself for how i'm dealing with the current plumbing crisis. no panicking, just severe annoyance that i can't shower and/or make coffee, and crankiness at the money this is going to end up costing us.

the continuing adventures of the waterless

we still have no water. we're working the plumber angle now; hopefully we end up with a plumber and not a jackhammer.

my spirits are a bit improved, though. while waiting for the heat tape to do its thang, i studied for my algebra exam, and am fairly confident. i also found out that i have no econ homework this week, which is good.

the best part, though? i'm clean! proving that everything i need in life i learned in girl scouts, i modified the 1-shot water bath we used to do at camp (do everything from one basin in a certain order so you have fresh water for everything), combined it with my mom's "sink bath" technique, and i have a nice clean body and head of hair, which makes me very happy.

two more things that make me happy?
veronica mars tonight.
mer's mom made me an iolite necklace, and it came today. shiny!
( pic behind cut )