New Normal

I had a busy week this past week. I have several items on my agenda already for this week as well. 

Caitlyn called me that a window broke in her kitchen. We knew when we purchased the house a couple of months back that the windows would have to be replaced.

There was no way I was going to try to buy a pane of glass from stores that are locked to walk in traffic and then put it in an old window that was on our replacement list in the next couple of years. Since there were 2 windows side by side I replaced them both. Now there are 2 of the 8 windows finished. I did ask Caitlyn not to let the other windows drop so she would get new ones. She was horrified at the thought of that. I was kidding.

We have such good tenants. Not a one of them would even think of purposefully damaging a house and none of them would try to take advantage of the ban on evictions and not pay the rent. 

Tuesday I decided I should start working on the house we have that needs paint this year. We have never painted a house unless we put new siding on first (I take that back, we have painted 2 houses with the asbestos siding on them. That stuff will last forever and it didn't have to be scraped.) This house has 3/4 inch thick wood siding in excellent shape. When we have painted garages the paint starts to come off within 2 years as the underlying paint continues to delaminate (got that term from a profession commercial painter). 

This would normally be a 5 hour job with our sprayer, but having had such lousy results spraying garages, I decided to brush the paint on. After scraping the house I have spent 2 1/2 days painting. I just keep telling myself every board painted is done and I will get finished eventually.

 I thought I could get a little more painted Saturday morning before it started to rain in the afternoon. I painted under entry way (still white in this picture) because it was sheltered under a roof. I had just finished painting that section and was wondering if I could paint just a little on the peak when it started to sprinkle. Go home Royce! I do not enjoy painting with a brush and have no desire to do it twice. Before I had the ladders loaded up it was raining so I made the right choice ( I have to write that to celebrate the time I was right,)

I had just gotten home when I was texted that a handle had broken off a shower. I thought, maybe the screw came out of the handle and it just came off. I have never seen a handle just break off a shower. I gathered up my wrenches and went over to just put the handle back on and tighten up the screw. Yea, I should have know better than that. Deon is a very capable man. If it was just the screw came loose he would have fixed it. The shower actually was manufactured with a plastic piece that pulled out and then turned either way for hot or cold. All of them I have purchased have a metal rod in there. Yea that piece of plastic was broken in half. The thought of installing a new shower assembly behind a tub surround makes shivers run down my spine. I did one a couple of months back so I knew it could be done, but this was a Saturday and the supply stores open are limited. I purchased all the 1/2 inch female SharkBite connections the open store had and I had enough in storage to finish the job. Got out the saws-all and set to work. It was a tight fit but I got it back together. Turned the water back on and one side of the new shower assembly leaked (OK, it sprayed water). Oh, great. I got back out the saws-all and cut the one side back off. Then I had to try to salvage the sharkbite connection because there was no more to be had. You can push the fitting in and pull the pipe out of a sharkbite if you have the tool for it. I have the tool, but I had cut the pipe too short to get a hold of  the end. I laid it on the pavement and carefully HIT IT WITH A HAMMER. I am still stunned that it actually cracked the pipe so I could pull it out of the sharkbite fitting with out damaging the fitting. I have a feeling that is a once in a lifetime happening.

Got it put back together and turned the water back on. Still a drip coming off the hot water pipe in the basement. The shutoff on the hot line was a plastic one. I thought,OK, that shutoff started leaking from being turned off and on a couple of times. That is not unusual. Put my finger around the pipe to make sure the water was not coming from higher up in the wall  and running down the pipe. Put the light of my flashlight on it to make sure the water was not running down from above the turnoff. You can see where this is going can't you? 

I cut out the turn off, went and bought a ball shut off (always put ball shut offs in you water lines. Always, did you get that, always ball shut offs.) Put in the new shut off and turned the water back on. Of course the drip was worse than when I started. I went back up and took the panel off behind the shower wall. Yes the leak was actually right by the shower valve. The sharkbite on the opposite side of the one I had already fixed was leaking. Sharkbites have to have the pipe pressed firmly into them. Working in a confined space does not give much leverage. I put a screw driver between the stud and the elbow of the pipe and gave it a pull. The pipe sank another 1/4 inch into the fitting and leak stopped. I can console myself that there is now a proper ball shut off in the line (still what a waste of time energy and money).

My week was about as normal as it could be with Covid 19 wreaking havoc on all normal commerce. I have learned to do all bank transactions at the drive up. I have learned there is only one entrance to Walmart. I have learned businesses are either open shorter hours or by calling in only. Saturday I had to get everything I needed for the shower because the store was closing early. 

This morning I sat in an almost empty church building for the Easter service. I am the Elder who is chairman of the Worship Committee so Sharon and I attend the live stream services to lend any aid we can in setting up the services. It was really kind of sad this morning to be the only 2 people sitting in the pews. God calls us to live in community and in relationship with others. It hit home to me this morning, I think because it was Easter. Where were the friends and family who usually rejoice with me on Easter morning?

So even though my week was somewhat normal in an abnormal time, it was not the same. Life has changed.

Just about 2000 years ago life seemed normal for almost everyone in a small providence of the Roman empire. There was one thing that was not normal as they went through the preparations for their Holy Week before Passover. The leaders wanted a man dead. Friday they got the Romans to agree and they killed that man. But Sunday morning the world would never be the same normal again. That man came back to life and the world was changed forever. 

So this morning we may not have met and greeted each other in churches across the world but to all of you I say, "Christ has risen from the dead and life will never be the same again." Now the gates of eternal life are open and Jesus not only paid for my sin he has risen from the dead and death has been conquered. Hallelujah!