I Know Nothing about Septic Systems….
So, lets set the scene here… I was born and raised in the city. I have had no exposure to septic systems prior to moving here 2 months ago. So what was I doing at 4 AM this morning? Dealing with a Septic ALARM!
The dog woke me up because there was a buzzing noise. The noise got louder as I got closer to the Utility room. In the utility room it was a shrill piercing noise. After about 10 minutes of my head threatening to explode, (OK it might not have been that long, but it sure felt like a long time) I found the right button to press to turn off the alarm for the septic system.
Then, I went outside, and lifted the top off the septic hatch. I was out there, in my house coat and slippers, in -20 degrees Celsius, peaking into a dark hold, pretending I knew what I was looking for. I had no idea what I was looking at – and it was very cold and dark out. When my hands threatened to freeze, I went back inside, sent a text to my daughter and went back to bed. (Note to self: Must wear gloves when it is this cold out!)
In the Morning…
Once it was really morning, I called the septic guy. Melissa had given me the number, just in case. They were really nice on the phone, but I wasn’t very good at answering their questions. I don’t know what the pump is supposed to sound like? and I couldn’t even see how far down the water level was… It was clear they were going to have to come out!
A few hours later, the friendly repair man arrived. Using a torch and a kettle of boiling water, he melted the blockage in the discharge pipe and the septic pump was spewing grey water onto the snowy ground.
He also spent a few minutes playing with Blu. No one can resist the cuteness of this puppy! Blu tried to help with the repairs, but he doesn’t know much about septic systems either.
Since he was so nice, I asked him to help me out with another problem. I wanted to change a blade on a skill saw, but couldn’t get the nut loose… I also couldn’t get the new blade off the packaging… (Why do they make these things so difficult???) He was happy to help and changed the saw blade for me. Sometimes I get so frustrated when little things keep stopping me from getting projects done. I want to start working building a chicken tractor, but I couldn’t even get a 2×4 cut into pieces. The most difficult thing about building a Suscovich style chicken tractor is preparing lap joints. Now I can try to work on that project.
Big shout out to CB Max and Tonda. Thanks for being so nice, and not making me feel like a complete idiot. I sure have a lot to learn to adapt to this rural life.
