After spending an hour or two trying to break the solder joint, we figured that somewhere upstairs the cold water was trickling into the hot water lines, and trickling through the leaky shutoff valve to get into the joint I was trying to break. You don't need to be a physics genius to realize that if you're trying to melt solder with a melting point of 150 C that's being cooled by water with a boiling point of 100 C, you're going to be waiting a long, long time. In the end we cut it off and got a compression fitting.
Two out of three aint bad, except in plumbing. Two of the compression joints held, but we couldn't get the compression sleeve on the third one, the line to the Harry Potter bathroom. I even filed the inside, and cut off an inch, but no luck. In the end I went out again, bought an end cap, and sealed off the hot water to the bathroom.
Last night I had an hour to myself, so I went at it again. By this time the pipe was too short, so I tried to solder two shorter pieces together, but to no avail, the last joint always leaked. So, I capped it again, and will get a nice 8 foot section of 1/1 inch copper to try again.
we're alone, my parents took the girls last night for a trip to PA, and will return on Saturday. Sadly, I only have a half day left of vacation, so I have to work, but then Mrs. Ha does too.
The kids did well for presents. Nine year old got an Aiptek 3 megapixel teeny camera, with flip out LCD viewfinder and the ability to record sound and video. It does nearly everything a video Ipod would do, and for a heck of a lot less. She also got a doll stroller, doll clothing, some knitting looms and the Game of Life.
Boy, is that game broken. You have about ten choices in a good game, the rest of the action is spin, spin, spin. But she likes it, so I play it.
Four year old got Bitty Twins, doll clothes, a velvet painting set, some My Little Pony schwag and Marrakesh, which is still a tad old for her, but more fun than Life.
I got cologne, but I needed it and had something under our tree.
I made ersatz Irish cream the other day, since we ran out and I had a bottle of cheap Irish whiskey sitting around. Heavy cream that was almost butter, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate syrup, instant coffee, vanilla and almond extract and Irish whiskey. Mrs. Ha likes it a lot.
Our cheap red Chinese coffeemaker is indeed cheap, it feels very flimsy, but it makes a decent pot of coffee, and it's red. I'd say it's worth the $8 we paid for it.
I have started to vent online. Mrs. Ha is not in the state for me to vent for her, so I'm trying online, and if that doesn't work, I may need a therapist. We'll see.
We watched The Gift a few nights back, so far it's a meh. Part of the problem was the tape was nearly unwatchable on the $5 VCR, maybe it was the tape, but I should give it a good cleaning. It's another Southern Gothic horror/mystery movie dealing with infidelity and murder.
Right now, my bedtime reading is on Goldberry's washing day.
We have no real plans for NYE, other than getting comfy and watching the Twilight Zone marathon on the Sci-Fi channel, it's sort of a tradition. The next day we'llbe journeying east to Mrs. Ha's family celabration, at which there should be guilt over Mrs. Ha's mother's condition, though I will be suitably guarded and defensive. What are your plans?
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