The electrician arrived yesterday afternoon around 3:30 - not expected until closer to dinnertime, so Tom was out in his shop - and so yes, I did have to awaken from my nap to answer the doorbell.  Electrician was appalled at the new wiring 'job' the plumbers had done (Tom, certainly no electrician, had also questioned it!), and set to work to set things right. (The plumber's son, who did the original installation Wednesday, and the plumber, who came back in the evening to 'fix' it, were, according to Tom's take on the whole thing, re-enacting The Three Stooges Go Plumbing.)  We had used those plumbers several times over the years (they installed the now defunct water heater back in 2001), but I seem to remember a growing dissatisfaction with them, and they are now permanently crossed off of our list!

When we still did not have hot water after dinner (I really, really, really wanted to do something about that mountain of dirty dishes) Tom discovered that the breaker had not been turned back on after the electrician had finished. Bottom line: We DID eventually get hot water!  I know that it's human nature that we mere mortals tend to take things for granted and often don't appreciate what we've got until we no longer have it.  If I promise to repeat that mantra daily, can I keep my hot water flowing?

Speaking of water flowing, we FINALLY got flood irrigation last night.  We had to cancel the last cycle because of the replastering of the pool, and the time before that it was canceled for us when there was a snafu up-ditch (unhappily chronicled in an earlier post) and we missed out.  Poor Tom had to do the gates at 35th Ave. at 12:50 a.m., and then 'babysit' the actual flow (from 1:35-3:35 a.m.) to make sure his 'interrupted by major back issue' renovation of the main ditch did not flood the guest house.  My assessment this morning is that it looks like we got a pretty good amount of water.  When I got up to pee around 2:30 Tom was taking a break (watching what looked like an interesting documentary on TV) and getting ready to head back out for additional monitoring, and said that 'so far, so good', which, with irrigation (oh the stories I could tell!) is no small thing!  

Here is Pokey taking advantage of that flood irrigation during spring/summer some years ago.  She has plenty of places to 'escape' the flood, but when the temps are 'warm' she loves to go for a swim! 

My back bothered me during the night (and still this morning.)  It's a rather deep-seated ache, and I hope it's not the 'bone pain' sometimes associated with the Nuelasta and Neupogen shots.  And in a few minutes I'm off for another shot.  Think I'll take a Tylenol before I head out.