Another One Bites the Dust

Not so VEGANMOFO 2009...

Dishwasher broken.
I put a load of dishes in the dishwasher, turn it on. Walk away, run back in kitchen to sound like grinding glass coming from dishwasher. Look it over, can't find anything obviously causing the noise. Start it again, again horrible noise, but quicker this time. No problem, I can wash dishes by hand in a shallow old sick which doesn't fit most of our pans. We went through this before with this dishwasher....months and months until Rob finally fixed it. We'll leave for Chicago and get away from the cold house and the dishes for a weekend of friends and VeganMania.
Roof leaking.
As I go up to the attic to get the suitcases, I notice a little water on the floor...hmmm. No matter, very small amount of water and it had been raining for like 40 days and nights. We'll deal with it when we get back.
Radiator in play room hissing (old house, steam heat).
No problem, found a great plumber who came by quickly to fix it (broken pipe...out over $300, but its fixed).
Boiler gushing water.
I like to save energy and I also have this contest with myself every year to keep the heat turned off until my birthday in November. This October has been very cold, but I am tough. The family is tough. We like to wear layers (hats and coats in the house). When it is cold inside, you don't mind getting on your bikes and going places outside (it is actually warmer riding your bike). Yet, our boiler kicked on (see radiator hissing above) a couple times already because we can't turn our thermostat lower than 49 degrees F (which is probably a good thing). Radiators leaking water, check boiler in the basement, water gushing...panic since I'm not a handy woman and I didn't even know where the turn off valve for the water is (I do now!)...helpful neighbors, Rob takes afternoon off...plumber not available. No problem, we don't need heat anyway until November and if I really want to warm up I can do dishes.
Boiler fixed.
Heating/AC person comes to look at boiler five days and $80 later. Build up or something messed up some valve thingy (Rob dealt with him, I wrangled the kids). They didn't much anything because the draining of the boiler probably fixed the issue. No problem, nice to have it fixed before we need it and a professional checkup.
Or NOT.
Wait, the kitchen radiator is leaking steam now. Must be a job for the plumber. $30 later, yes the valve needed tightening, but he takes a gander at the boiler and it is flooded again. No problem, Rob needs to clean out some pipe connected to the boiler. We're not real confident this will fix the problem, but we'll keep our fingers crossed now won't we.
Three year old front loading washer broken.
I put some clothes in the washer, go upstairs to get kids ready for bed. Come back downstairs to put the laundry in the dryer. It has stopped mid-cycle. Crazy kids, must have knocked the setting or played with the buttons. Start it over. Read books to kids, Rob goes downstairs to put laundry in dryer. Washer completely non-responsive. Another one down. Houston, we have a problem.



At least we have our health and our humor (and Queen).