Father’s Day, repeat leak, big week

I took the day off Father’s Day. I did not particularly want to but my back convinced me that sitting still or laying down was the course of the day. I missed both church services. I hated that part but I could not function because my back was spasming so badly that I was having trouble dealing with the pain. I ended up taking a muscle relaxer and laying on the couch. I do not know if I moved from 10 am through 4 pm. I did not feel much better for it but the pain and spasms eased up. Sunday night I stayed on the couch even though my shoulders were hurting from sleeping so much there. It is not as comfortable as our bed but having something to press my back against helps with the pain. Monday, I had to call in sick because I was still hurting too badly to function at work.

The electric was off to the house when I did finally struggle to get up Monday morning. As Mama was calling the electric company some service trucks rolled past our property as they headed up to the property past us. It did not help to call the company because all their lines were busy – guess something big was going on. Mama and I ended up having a nice breakfast about 10am when the electricity came back on. After feeding the animals Mama took off for Muenster to pick up feed. I stayed still at the house; or, at least, I tried to.

We have had a recurring leak under the a/c unit. At first it was due to a line plug on the drain line coming from the unit. A trap in the line would plug and cause an overflow onto the floor. Lately the leaks have come from a plugged line going to the septic system. Saturday, I thought I had it beat, but yesterday it began again in earnest. I tried several things to clear the line but I was not able to get it done – partially because I could not fit myself into the bends I needed to get into to work on it. I did find out that the a/c produces about a ½ gallon of condensate per hour because it overflowed the gallon container I had set under the unit to catch the condensate. We called Bro Daniel to see if he could help and he and James came over just as I was getting home from my chiropractic appointment.

They bought a snake with them but were not able to get any further into the line than I had been able to and I did not look forward to the possibility of getting up every two hours to empty the container I had catching the condensate. Since James had suggested a hose run from the line to the yard I rigged one up to run through the house, through the garage and into the yard. It was the best way to get the water out of the house without leaving a critical door open – like the front door. When I checked it this morning it seemed to have worked well enough to keep most of the water out of the house. Not all of it, but a good bit of it. And we got to keep the air conditioner running. I have a call into Lee to see if he can come and look at it for us. I fear it may be a big repair in the works.

This is a big week for the company I work for. We have a conference this week at the Texas Motor Speedway. I will not be home until after 9 pm today and tomorrow so there will be little I can do – as if I could have done much anyway. Mama will meet me at the speedway this evening for a reception the company is hosting for the more than 200 guests attending the conference. She and Red Shaw’s wife, Joanne are planning on hanging out together somewhere along the edge of the crowd. There is a second reception tomorrow night but I am not sure if I will attend. I would rather go to church – especially since I missed Sunday. The only difficult part for me during the conference is the eight-hour training I will be doing on Thursday.

Standing that long is very difficult for me with my current back issues.