Not My Day... Again

There are days when you wish you never got out of bed.  Some so bad that you wish you were never around to live through them in the first place.  But what's really bad is when those forgettable days start happening so frequently that you start to wonder if there is such a thing as a "good day".

Today started out like most others but I had arranged for a plumber to come out inspect my master bathroom.  Since the hot water lines were replaced last summer I had noticed a slow decline in the hot water pressure but only in my master bathroom—guest bathroom, washing machine, kitchen sink, etc. all had good pressure.  It had finally gotten to the point where only a trickle of water would come out if I turned on both faucets and the shower at the same time.  Based on the evidence I suspected a blockage and the plumber who was dispatched eventually reached the same conclusion.  He offered to try to clear the blockage by blowing out the line with compressed CO₂ and that sounded like a good plan to me.  We went down to my garage where he proceeded to disconnect the outflow from the hot water heater and connect my garden hose to it.  I unrolled the garden hose out my garage, alongside my car, as far as it would reach.  We then went back upstairs and he connected the compressed gas cylinder to one of the hot water lines below my sink.  He opened the valve and immediately there were disconcerting noises within the walls.  That's when I got concerned.  If there was enough pressure coming out of that cylinder to make the pipes inside the walls sound like that, what was it going to do to my hose?

My worst fears were realized when I made it out to my driveway.  The compressed gas had caused the hose to whip violently and the only thing it hit was the side of my just turned one year old Corolla.  The metal end of the hose struck at least five times leaving golf ball sized dents near the front wheel and driver's side door.  After impacting, the end of the hose wandered back-and-forth all along the side panels leaving long scratches in its wake.

I have hot water in my master bathroom again but my poor car paid a horrible price for it (a nearby body shop estimated $1,200 to repair the damage).  In hindsight I now think I made a big mistake buying a new car.  I really like this car but my Tacoma was to the point where damage like this would have been merely unfortunate.  What happened today made me wonder why I ever bother getting out of bed in the morning...

Yes, I'm still here, Blogosphere

I haven't been blogging much this year.  Unfortunately that's as much a testament to my life becoming devoid of interesting things as it is to being busy (with work).  After too many farewells it looks like I may finally have a friend moving back to the Seattle area soon, though.  Very much looking forward to that...

I mentioned two years ago in a post that Greatest Hits releases have become really scarce these days.  In that post I noted a few that I hoped were forthcoming.  Since then, the Foo Fighters and George Harrison (posthumously) delivered the quality compilations that I requested.  The Dixie Chicks recently delivered one, too, though it isn't quite as complete as I had hoped.  I've still got my fingers crossed that AC/DC and Metallica give in and release retrospectives.  And as long as CDs don't completely disappear I think the odds are good we'll see ones from Nickelback, John Mayer, Coldplay, and P!nk in the not too distant future.  I just picked up the much anticipated Steve Winwood offering yesterday.  Revolutions: The Very Best of Steve Winwood is an excellent career encompassing collection that's missing only one minor hit song I wanted, One and Only Man.  Here's the track listing:

1. Gimme Some Lovin'

2. I'm A Man
3. Forty Thousand Headmen
4. No Face, No Name, No Number
5. Dear Mr. Fantasy
6. Low Spark Of The High-Heeled Boys
7. Glad
8. Can't Find My Way Home
9. While You See A Chance
10. Valerie
11. Spanish Dancer 2010
12. The Finer Things
13. Higher Love
14. Back In The High Life
15. Roll With It
16. Dirty City
17. Don't You Know What The Night Can Do?