Apples

I was lucky that the water stopped running at the house on a weekday and not on a weekend or holiday.  Not so lucky that Phil & Sheila were coming to stay for awhile tonight.  It stopped around ten in the morning.  Checked a couple of faucets in the house and then went over to Mjolnir to check if it was the same over there.  I called the plumber but, of course, had to leave a message.  Gave me time to think though.   The water has to be pumped into the house.  Maybe it was an electrical breaker.  Checked the fuse box but none were tripped.  Just in case I hit the one marked for the well  and then for good measure shut down the whole house, waiting a minute, turned it all back on.  Nothing.  OK.  Maybe it's the well itself.  We're in a drought but my well goes down 120 feet.  Might be the pump itself.    That pump is located down at the bottom of the well.  Since 1988 each well is assigned a unique number when it's drilled.  The state sends you a label to stick on your fuse box - it contains the well's number, who drilled it, when it was drilled, how deep it is, and how far down the casing goes.  I just needed to know who drilled it - Kramer Well Drilling.  Of course, had to leave a message when I called them too.   Fortunately, they called back in an hour and said they'd try to send someone out in the afternoon to assess the situation.  However, if the pump had to be pulled that wouldn't happen until the next day.  More time for me to think.  Decided to put Plan B into action.  Called up the ski hill.  I'd already checked on-line and knew their cabin was empty for the next week.  I explained to Sue and she was fine w/ being open-ended about how many days I would stay.   Next a call to Phil & Sheila to let them know the situation.  Didn't know if they would prefer to stay another day where they were.  Then a call to cancel breakfast plans for the next morning.  The cats and dog already had water in their bowls - plenty for the day.  I was in dire need of a shower though.  Around 2:30 there was a knock on the door and it was the Kramer Well Drilling guy.  He even remembered when they put the well in.  First he went into the utility room where the water enters the house and goes into the holding tank.  He cut power to that room, opened up a circuit box between the pipes and the holding tank, and gave a low whistle.  He walked back out to his truck, came back w/ a new box and installed it.  Once he turned the water on again I could hear the rush as it filled the holding tank.  He showed me the corroded old circuit box and I asked what could have caused it.  "They just don't make them like they used to." he grumbled.  Well, it did last 19 years.  I thanked him for coming out so quickly and made sure he had my P.O. Box mailing address for the bill.  Called Sue to let her know we would only stay the one night.  Called Phil & Sheila so they knew the water was back on.  Didn't reestablish breakfast plans.   They had been on/off/on/off  already.   Think there is a limit to how many times you can waffle on an appointment before it's best to give up and plan to meet another time.