March 16, 2007 ~ I Saw Something Nasty in the Side Yard
(With a nod to Cold Comfort Farm).
Friday.
Last week, I heard Rose barking and barking and growling and barking out in the side yard where she was shut in the pen. Two college students on the plumbing crew were digging in the side yard, so I figured she was barking because, "Hey! Two strangers are in the yard! With SHOVELS! OH DEAR GOD, IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!"
So I leashed Monty up to take him out to the pen and keep her company, figuring she might stop if she had someone to play with. As I came out the side door, Monty's ears went forward and he stopped, staring at the pen.
I looked up to see a girl crouched next to the pen throwing pinecones at my dog and laughing at her scared reaction.
Anger flaring, I yelled, "Stop it. She's scared to death of strangers."
The girl jumped out of her skin. "Oh. Hi... I didn't know anybody was home." Because, you know, it's okay to sadistically tease and scare animals if their owners aren't home.
I gave her a withering glare as she walked back across the yard, a glare that essentially said, "I think you are a vile excuse for a human being, and what I caught you doing was shameful and cruel." I went over and calmed Rose and put Monty in the pen with her.
As I came back over to the house, the girl, now holding her shovel again, said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, for teasing your dog."
"They're rescue dogs," I said. "They have some abuse and abandonment in their pasts, so they don't trust new people until they get used to them." Especially if the new person is THROWING THINGS AT THEM, I thought.
I don't get it. What makes people think it's okay to treat a scared animal like that? This is why we keep their pen locked, despite the fact it's a fence within a fence at the end of a one-lane dirt road.
So. The sewer project extravaganza. After it backed up in January and again in February, the college plumbing department knew we had a more serious problem. They went back and forth about what to do to fix it.
They assumed we were on sewer, but then they looked at the maps and they indicated shared septic. But the plans were 20 years old, and the old plumbing manager had mentioned that they may be slightly out of date. Uh, yeah. "Slightly." Truth be told, they didn't really know where our line went or how it got there.
So they decided to install an access point outside the house so that they could eventually trace the line. Hence, the Digging of a Big Hole in the side yard by two shovel-bearing (pine-cone-throwing) college students. It took them two days.
And on the second day, they struck pipe. Um. Literally. In fact, they struck pipe a little too hard, busting a huge hole in it.
Talking to Morgan about it that night, I said, "Hey, look on the bright side. At least next time the sewer backs up, it will back up into that hole, rather than into the house."
And sure enough, last Saturday, it did.
Sewage. In a hole.
What? Thank you so much Melissa for that LOVELY picture of the poop-spring in your yard.
Why, you're welcome! I'm so glad I could share the awesomeness of SEWAGE springing up in my YARD.
So. The sewage spewed and it spewed. In fact, it spewed all week! It was a veritable festival of poop for the whole neighborhood's olfactory pleasure!
First thing Monday, Morgan called plumbing. "I don't know if they told you, but your students broke a huge hole in the pipe in the yard. Now all of the sewage from our house is springing up through it, filling the hole." Have a nice day!
Plumbing said that they'd have it cleared out by Tuesday at the latest, so on Wednesday when nothing had happened, Morgan called again. I watched all day for the plumbers. They came that afternoon, looked in the hole for two seconds, then left. And didn't come back.
On Thursday, yesterday, Morgan called again. "It was worse than I'd thought," the supervisor said. (Even though Morgan explained exactly what was wrong?) "We've arranged for contractors to come out tomorrow. They'll come if it's not raining."
Well, guess what it did all yesterday night and this morning? POURED rain. "Oh, this is just bloody brilliant!" I ranted to Morgan on the phone. "We've had raw sewage in our yard ALL WEEK, we haven't been able to take showers or wash clothes or dishes... and they're going to leave it with us over the weekend too? Nice! Fantastic!"
And then the hole started collapsing into itself thanks to the rain.
When the rain finally mostly let up around noon, we called again and they said they'd send someone out. Boy was I glad to see the contractor's van pull up! They cleared the line, replaced the broken pipe, and installed an access point.
I'm trying to be happy that the mess is gone, but I can't help but fear that the sewage will be backing up into our house again in a few weeks, unless by some miracle they get the line permanently fixed before it happens...
On top of all this, Grove and I came down with a nasty intestinal virus on Saturday. We're finally starting to get better. I haven't managed to get any work done all week, and the delay has been driving me a little batty. We're also very stir crazy, since I've not been up to hiking.
Looking back, I don't think there's been a single week in which every family member has been healthy since December. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that SEWAGE keeps backing up into our HOUSE.
Hrmph. I'm going to go take a shower because I finally can.
|
