House Repair: One Success...One Failure

 

Song:  Moonlight Sonata

YouTube Channel:  Soutera

Yesterday...

as I was washing the dishes...

I noticed water backing up in the kitchen sink...

but on the side I wasn't using.

It took several minutes to go down...

so I knew I had a slow draining partial clog in the pipes...

however...

I didn't know how far down the clog was.

(However...even more of a mystery to me is why it had clogged in the first place.

I use strainers on my sinks...

I never put any oil or grease in the drains...

and I never use the garbage disposal or the dishwasher.

I will look into enzyme solutions which I may pour into the drains to dissolve

any future potential clogs before they build up).

But...back to the issue at hand.

By allowing the water to drain overnight...

and then turning on the water...

I could guesstimate how far down it was by how long it took to back up.

This morning...

I ran the sink and it took a while to start to back up...

so...

I figured since the kitchen and main living area is on the second floor...

the water pipe drain should be no more than 20 feet to connect to the main house drain 

below the first floor.

So...

I drove into the town of Cripple Creek to the ACE hardware store

to buy rubber gloves and a 20 foot drain pipe snake.

Before leaving to the hardware store...

I took Bandi out to her forest bathroom area.

It had lightly snowed last night.

After taking Bandi back inside...

I made a quick run to the hardware store.

On my way to town...

I drove extra cautiously...

as although the majority of snow had melted...

on certain corners which were in the shade...

there was ice on the road

(even at 20 mph...I could feel traction just beginning to break...

so I slowed down even more on the corners).

I disassembled the P-Trap...

(after ensuring the air pressure compensator head was clear on the riser

to the vertical drain)...

and I ran the snake down the pipe and whenever I felt any resistance...

I rotated the snake and auger...

as it was designed to do.

Although I had successfully cleared the drain...

it was only after I had run the cable to its absolute limit.

Only just at the 20 foot mark did I reach the clog...

and I had augered it clear.

I realized that I will need a much longer one in the future...

especially in case the third floor bathroom needs the pipes to be snaked

(a fifty or sixty foot snake on a much larger rotating drum).

-------

Well...

with one successful fix behind me...

I was so sure replacing the circuit breaker on the IR sauna would fix that problem...

but, I am dumbfounded as to why it hadn't.

More on that in a sec...

I also ordered high security door reinforcement locks...

only because in the future...

I will be doing some extensive traveling...

and because...

as my home has three stories...

and my hearing is poor...

I want to know that my first floor doors are secure from unauthorized entry

while I am up in the loft.

(another indoor project I will be doing soon).

I had received the replacement fuses...

and so...

I was hopeful of its success.

The original fuse was soldered to the wiring...

...so I cut them free.

And I put on one of the new fuses...

but...

the power is still dead.

--------

Just in case...

I just ordered exact replacement fuses.

I will get them next week.

Also...

on large outdoor air conditioning units...

what frequently goes bad...

are cheap capacitors.

My next hope is to check those...

however, my fear is that everything on the fragile circuit boards 

are so securely soldered and on such short leashes...

that I may heat damage existing circuits or physically disrupt some of the 

emplaced current carrying metal strips.

I will have to see later.

I will first have to unscrew the circuit boards...

the smaller one first...

as it has the capacitors soldered in tightly

(I will be using rubber gloves...

I know capacitors carry charges even when unplugged).

I also fear I am missing something.

The circuit breaker should have tripped once it overloaded...

either in the unit itself...

or on the house circuit breakers.

Although I had checked the fault interrupter in the bathroom...

it wasn't that...

as I checked the voltage directly at the outlet used using the multimeter.

Everything is powered as should be.

I had also checked the circuit panel at the sauna entrance for signs of overload...

but...

perhaps I had missed something there.

This is going to take me some time.

I think I will try the operations panel before doing anything else.

Perhaps it is as simple as a switch gone bad.

---------

Time to make Bandi and my meal for the day.

Today...

I will make a dozen butter poached eggs...

and a full large smoked sausage.

Bandi will have half the eggs...

and some sausage...

and I will make egg and sausage sandwiches.

------------

On another bummer of a side note:

I received a credit for the Cherry Trees I had ordered.

It turns out that they were against Colorado's Agricultural Importation laws.

So...

I will just concentrate on preparing the wildflowers for placement...

and for the other Japanese Maples.

Bandi On Serenity Rock / Sunset At Home

Song:  Quest For Freedom

Group:  Future World Music

Today...

 I made Chicken Yakisoba with some of the leftover baked chicken.

I have one large piece of chicken left...

and tomorrow I will make chicken quesadillas with it

(I bought a lot of Mexican green and red sauce yesterday).

I will soon be going back to the Asian market to buy a large stock of Yakisoba.  

I just love it.

I then had dessert of apple danishes.

I took Bandi out to enjoy the views from Serenity Rock

(sitting on Serenity Rock and looking back at my home).

(I named it Serenity Rock...

as it is so peaceful sitting upon it and gazing out at the forest and mountains...

especially after a heavy snowfall).

Serenity Rock...

just a short distance in front of my home...

and lying just before a small meadow...

all of which has a view of the forest and mountains.

A smaller rock just down from Serenity Rock.

After a heavy snowfall...

it is perfectly quiet.

Serenity Rock is a perfect place to sit upon...

as it is under the branches of a pine tree, and so, sheltered...

and has a view of the forested mountains.

It was strange...

just as the sun was beginning to set...

a large group of birds began chatting throughout the forest...

...and then as the colors of the sunset began to appear...

everything went perfectly quiet.

As the Southeastern skies began to deepen in their colors...

...I looked to the partially visible Western skies for a hint of a deepening of their colors...

just to the left and right of my home.

Just to the side of my home...

I saw that the colors were deepening...

and so...

Bandi and I went to the first deck and took the deck stairway up to the second deck.

I took this photo just before going in my front door on the second deck...

and then hurried up to the third floor loft and out to the third floor deck to take more photos.

I had gotten up to the third deck and realized I had waited too long on Serenity Rock...

as I had missed much of the sunset  :(

But...

what was left of it was still glorious.

Bandi had a good time just sitting on the third floor deck as we both enjoyed the sunset.

---------------

It is dark...

and I had to go out to the third deck to call Bandi in...

as she just loves breathing in the mountain fresh air

from high above the surrounding land.

------

Now is music time for me

(more 12 string guitar practice).

I favor the night to engage in my creative passions.

The reason the 12 string guitar is giving me so much trouble...

I had two bad open fractures on my last two fingers of my left hand some years ago

(right on the middle joints)...

and even though I had hand surgery...

those two fingers don't have full motion or feeling...

and so...

 they are more difficult to control and much slower to move.

However...

it is good therapy for them anyway.

So...

although the guitar portion is not difficult...

for me...

especially playing the 12 string guitar...

it will still take quite a while to finish up its portion of the cover song.

--------

We are supposed to have some light snow tomorrow.

I am looking forward to it...

as I just love changes in weather...

and the beautiful scenery in its aftermath.

 

A Spellbinding Sunset

 

Song:  Journey to the Magical Kingdom

Group:  Future World Music

Today...

just as the sun was beginning to set...

I decided to go to Safeway to stock up on groceries.

Little did I know that what would be in store for me...

would be one of the grandest sunsets I have ever seen

(I always try to time my drives into town around sunset).

I was just pulling out of my driveway onto the mountain road.

I was on my way down the mountain.

As there were a plentiful amount of clouds in the sky...

I knew there would be the possibility of a nice sunset.

I was nearing the bottom of the mountain.

I was nearing the country turn off...

however...

as it was still light...

I decided to take the longer and more scenic route...

especially with the possibility of capturing a nice sunset

(the country turn off places the sunset to my back...

while the scenic route lies perpendicular to the sunset

until I reach the town of Florissant).

As I was almost to the town of Florissant...

I looked over at the setting sun and the way the clouds were arranged...

and I knew it would be a sunset to remember.

And so...

I pulled off the road and waited for the colors to emerge.

The temperature was in the mid 40s F (7.22 C)...

the wind was between 5-10 MPH (8 - 16 KPH)...

and so...

the cool and country fresh breeze provided the setting for a magical scene to come.

The clouds were in multilayers throughout the sky...

and so...

they had captured the light in different ways...

not just in the hues and tones...

but in texture

(You can see that some of the clouds had a ghostly glow).

I looked behind me to see Pikes Peak being lit up by the setting sun.

The mountains to the North contrasted with the clouds above.

The clouds began to turn from a slightly orange to a brilliant amber...

and all in contrast with a range of blues of the sky...

the clouds of which then once again turned more of an orange...

and back again as the sun played upon the clouds from different angles

as it continued to set.

The clouds to the South.

I was completely surrounded by colors...

from horizon to horizon.

As the sun continued to set...

the differing altitudes and types of clouds refracted the light in different ways.

Even in the widest angle lens possible...

there was just so much sky I could capture.

The colors were everywhere...

all the way left...

to all the way right..above me...

and with some behind me as well.

Violets would emerge momentarily through the clouds as the sky peered through.

Some of the colors of the Eastern sky behind me.

It was so strange that the sky kept undulating in its color palette...

from darker orange...

and back to brilliant yellows.

When the brilliant yellows emerged once again...

so would the sky appear to be more violet.

The rays of red extended far to my right...

...and far to my left.

The colors began to darken and deeply richen.

Each color seemed to blend into one another seamlessly.

The mixture of the reds, yellows, and blues were just mesmerizing.

This sunset was one of the longest I have ever seen.

It must have been over half an hour long...

with new and deepening colors continually emerging.

This is what it means to be country...

having a deep love of all the great simple pleasures in life.

I just so love my life here in Colorado.

It is the full color palette in every season...

and in almost every night in beautiful sunsets...

and in the morning sunrises.

It is in the mild four seasons...

each of which brings in new colors and flavors.

It is in the simple and beautiful life that mountain and country living brings.

It is in the crisp air that fills your whole being with freshness.

It is in the epitome of simplicity, serenity, and freedom...

and so...

it is a deep and ever present happiness.

In this sunset with the pleasurable caresses of the wind upon my face...

my inner child...

who is normally jumping up and down with joy...

stood next to me...

transfixed by the beauty of it all.

We both just stood...

spellbound by what was before our eyes...

and with the knowledge that this would be remembered for a lifetime.

-------------------

After the colors subsided...

I continued on to Woodland Park to grocery shop at Safeway

(I decided that I needed some things not normally found at Walmart).

After grocery shopping at Safeway...

I stopped into one of my favorite pizza places...

AJ's in Woodland Park.

I don't know why...

but I frequently have a deep craving for pizza.

And...

I don't care.

That is the beauty of retirement.

I want...

I get  :)