This morning my water went out again. First thought: Did the frakkers at the water company turn us off again? Nope. Water main broke — the water line into the house, that is. The water line isn’t a copper pipe, but a hose. The connection from the hose to the PVC pipes cracked and split.

Valve was right there so there wasn’t too much water in the crawlspace. Shut it, called the landlord. Left a message. Hmm… I’ve worked with PVC before. Went to look at the pipe, and realized I just had to replace one PVC elbow joint.

Quick drive to Patterson’s Hardware, got an identical joint and a can of the right PVC cement for about $6.00. Cut off the old elbow, glued on the new one, waited half an hour and turned the water on. So far, no leaks. Called the landlord and suggested he inspect it just to be sure.

Meanwhile, I set out to extend the cable to the TV that Daryl and Daryl had left too short. I bought the right connector at Patterson’s, so I just needed a piece of cable and a coupling. Cable I had, and coupling I found in the crawlspace.

Presto, change-o and the cable is long enough.

Went upstairs to write this entry, but the network was down. Realized that the coupling I took from the crawlspace was actually in use. (Most stuff down there is from the old cable system.) Searched and found another coupling, connected the network again, and all is well.

I say that like it took 10 seconds. In reality it was a good 45 minutes of figuring out why the network didn’t work, which cables I had disconnected, and where another coupling was.

Bottom line, though, is that the water works, the TV works, the Internet works, and the landlo’ is supposed to install the new dishwasher today.