Leak fixed

As I figured, the plumber did NOT come on Sunday. However, Zion did call me and then called the plumber for me. The plumber came on Monday and determined that the leak was definitely in the main pipe supplying water to the house. He didn't have what he needed to fix it that day, though, so he returned today. It turned out that the leak was actually near the main valve at the end of the driveway and was quite easily fixed. He charged me 466 shekel (incl. tax) to fix it, but I didn't have that much cash (and I also have no Israeli checks), so I gave him 200 and told him I'd have the rest for him tomorrow. So, I'll have to go into town and get some cash from the ATM this evening. Anyway, I'm just glad that the problem is fixed and that it wasn't more complicated!

Another water leak!

Last Thursday morning, I happened to go down to the basement to check on the snakes and discovered that water was again leaking from where the main line to the house comes in. Although I had left the bucket there from the previous leak (nearly 2 months ago), it had filled up and overflowed, and there was already enough water on the floor to get several boxes wet. One stack had tipped over, putting its top box right under the leak! I still haven't had the courage to look into the boxes (some of them contain family pictures and other memorabilia!) and see what damage may have been done, but I think it's somewhat less than last time for 2 reasons: I found this one sooner, and there were simply less boxes nearby since I had moved most of them out last time.

I tried to find the plumber's number but discovered that I didn't have it. Thursday was a busy teaching day for me, so I wasn't even able to make any progress on the problem until late afternoon. I called our builder, Zion, to get the plumber's number and then called the plumber. He doesn't speak English, so I did my best to communicate in Hebrew. He said that he couldn't come because he was fasting (I assume that this means he's a Muslim, since we're now in the Islamic month of Ramadan when Muslims don't eat between sunrise and sunset). So I asked him if he could tell me of anyone else. The only suggestion he had was to call Zion, which I did. Zion said that he would call the plumber, but nothing came of that, so I called Zion back again, and he came over himself. We figured out how to turn off the water to the house, and we investigated enough to convince both of us that there was some kind of leak in the main line this time. Anyway, since them I've mostly been leaving the water entirely off, except for short periods so that we can occasionally flush toilets or do other things that require water.

According to Zion, the plumber will come on Sunday, but, frankly, I'll believe it when I see it.

Plumbing repair - stopping the expensive drip

Today, we had just driven into the city, picked up our friend Mikimi (who lives on the other side of town), and parked the car to walk over and get shakshuka (eggs cooked into a savory tomato sauce), when Zion, our kablan (the contractor who built our house) called to tell us that the plumber was at our house and needed to get in. So, we ordered our shakshuka to go, and David and Mikimi waited at the shakshuka place while I went, got the car, and drove over to pick them up. There's very little parking in the downtown, where the shakshuka place is, but I did find a spot where I could wait for them almost right across the street.

When we arrived back home, no one was here, so I called Zion and he got the plumber back a while later. It turns out that the problem was with the faucet that connects the drip system that water our yard to the water supply. The water had then been running from there along the pipe into the basement, where we had found the drip. Anyway, replacing the faucet only cost 250 shekels (around $75), which is quite reasonable, and the plumber also gave me a receipt that should help me get the water bill (around $1000 for 2 months!) reduced somewhat at the municipality. We'll see exactly how much that will be.