This past Thursday I fixed the hose. The pipes in the back had all burst. It was just like that when we moved in, so I’ve spent the past two years watering my plants with a watering can filled from the kitchen sink. I would have to go in and out of the house about eight times, and also fill a smaller watering can for Neptune, too, so she wouldn’t feel left out.
So getting a hang of the blow torch, and hot, dripping metal took a bit, but soldering pipes is really kind of easy. I burned my finger and there is solder everywhere, but it’s kind of like the bad guy from Terminator 2, so that’s pretty cool. Before I made a move, I would call my dad to get all the info…it was pretty hilarious. I had a scrap of paper that in big writing said:
1. Clean pipe
2. Flux
3. Heat pipe
4. Solder
Those were my instructions, and I referred to them before connecting each joint. I did the plumbing for the kitchen sink with Rob when we moved in, but I was pretty terrified. That time, I did the solder and Rob did the blow torch. But with the hose, I was outside so aside from leaving some burn marks on the bricks, I wasn’t really too worried about setting the house on fire or anything like that. Honestly, it was fun and I felt really good about it when it was done. I now water my plants with pride, but also realised that this sprinkler I got is totally lame. It’s one of those arching ones that goes back and forth, and the places I need to use it are basically not big enough. I was in the back yard yelling: “This sprinkler is BOGUS.” Good thing I only paid $10 for it.
Natalia Yanchak 