Friday, September 20, 2013

Gas, heat, electricity, water ...

There's always something.

The weather is turning.  Unusually early for us, but with the extra-long summer we had last year, I suppose I can't really complain.  Anyhow, it's time to think about the furnace again.

Last year, Son was given a furnace that was coming out of a house being renovated.  Should be a good furnace.  Last furnace barely made it past March this year.  Running it again is not possible.  So, while I have meant all summer to get on it, there is no more room for procrastination.

Or is there?

Hubby and I get down to the cellar to move the 'new' furnace into it's 'new' position, and discover a small stream of water dripping from the ceiling, right next to the stack.  Aha!  Likely it's the stack!

Checking upstairs, this is what we find - The stack itself is leaking between the attic toilet and the upstairs toilette.  The stack, you understand.  Stacks almost never leak, because there isn't any water pressure behind them..

For the moment, we wrapped a towel around it and continued with the furnace, even though the ceiling of the cellar is very soaked, because ... well, because there is no water pressure behind a stack, therefore it can't be leaking all the time.  In fact it can't be leaking if there is no one in the attic using water.

And there isn't.  So where is it coming from?

I still have no answer to that.  We turned off the water to the attic.  It continued to leak.  In fact it kept getting worse, soaking up a towel every hour or two.  The only possible reason is if the toilet isn't seated right, but I don't really see how that can be the answer, with the water turned off.  I finally turned off all water to the upstairs, except the hot water to the shower, which has a direct lead.  And the leak finally stopped.

Next issue - how to fix it.  Now a stack is a straight pipe made of unbending material.  How do you take out a section, fix it, and put it back?  You don't.  Well, the actual solution is to get a rubber piece to insert into it and clamp tightly around the two ends.  It's a poor solution, and one which was already used lower down.  It tends to collapse a bit, leaving the inner hole too small and (yuk) toilet paper catches on the sides and clogs up.

(No matter how you look at it, it's going to be a dirty job.)

I think what we're going to have to do *sigh* is unseat the attic toilet, pull up the stack, repair the leaking section, and seat the toilet back down.

Time, money, and no upstairs toilet until done.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Descent

It's unlikely that there ever will be real health again.  I keep trying, but I fail more spectacularly than I succeed.

I'm working on it, but I'm suspecting that I have severe heart/circulatory problems which could simply end things at any time.

I have no faith whatsoever in any doctor.  I *am* considering a heart specialist, but historically they just assure me that I'm fine.  I have learned that they only look for what they will get paid the most for.

The yeast continues.  I fight it regularly, with FiveLac, Candex, and other pro-biotics.  But you can't defeat it and continue to eat sweets; and I just can't make progress there.

I've lost almost 10 pounds this year.  Too bad it doesn't come with any kind of feeling better.

I had a major pH battle a few months ago.  Again the doctor simply dismissed it.  Even though the urinalysis plainly labelled it at 5.  She didn't even really know what it was.

I'm again trying real exercise, using a CD I invested in.  But I have lost strength since November, especially in my arms.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

New Focus?

So here I am again.  Getting nowhere; gradually losing ground.

I want to be healthy.  I want to have strength, endurance, and ambition.  I want to be able to work and think like I used to.  And I know it all comes down to the chocolate.

Not that there is anything wrong with chocolate, by itself and in moderation.  But it comes with sugar, and an addiction.

Sign I frequently have on my refrigerator:

Eating chocolate makes you want to do nothing but eat chocolate.

That's where I was a month ago.  I didn't want to eat anything but chocolate, and I didn't want to *do* anything else.

I *have* found a way to pull myself out.  It's based on the fact that getting sick will turn things around:

Lie down and do nothing.

It goes like this:

1. I'm feeling pretty good, and I start doing things.
2. I get too many things I have to do, and start feeling pressured.
3. I stay up later, in order to read, watch TV, or play games.
4. I can't keep up with everything, so I try to stimulate myself with caffeine, chocolate, or 5Hour.
5. I can't get enough sleep.  Between getting up at 7:00 and getting to sleep after midnight, I can't catch up.
6. I have to keep pushing, so I use more caffeine, chocolate, or 5Hour.
7. And more chocolate.
8. And not enough sleep, and got to keep going ...
9. And more chocolate.

If I can find a day in which I don't have any emergency obligations, I can lie down on my bed, get caught up on sleep, rest, and detachment, maybe watch TV and read a book.  Then I don't feel the need to push, and the kitchen is a long ways away.