This is more a rant and head banging on my desk thing but we have no working plumping at home. It's been going on since this weekend and will last until this coming weekend - hopefully, fingers crossed, prayers sent, plumbers bribed... Collapsed sewer pipes on our end and possibly the city's lines too plus who knows what else. We could spend oceans of money and have our end fixed sooner but that won't get the city out any sooner. What a crappy situation - pun intended.
The short of it is the planned Thanksgiving will not be at our house. We can't run water or flush toilets so that makes any festivities impossible. It has reduced daily life to a near standstill as well I might add. Thankfully my father lives close and has graciously thrown open his doors for bathhouse duties. The not so great part beyond non-functioning plumbing is that the people who are coming over will take the last minute plan change personally, very personally. Sigh. I am going to spend the rest of the week explaining to these beloved relatives that I did not sabotage my own plumbing in an attempt to avoid hosting Thanksgiving. Sprinkled in between these arguments will be moments of trying to come up with a plan B with these same people who resist change at all costs. Arrr....
So for the question - how's everyone's Tuesday progressing? Beautifully I hope and thanks for letting me have a pity party.
Thanks, ladies. I am over myself and appreciated the commiserating. I only indulge unreasonable people during the holidays. I'll be fine listening to their moaning since the rest of the year I hide from them. I tried to put off telling anyone in the hopes life would right itself but alas it wasn't meant to be. As of this morning based on the state of our backyard we can stage a World War I reenactment minus the razor wire which caused fits of giggles over morning coffee. My husband said it looked like we had let deranged gophers and moles into our yard. I told him in a pinch the latrine trenches are dug and ready for emergency use which only caused more giggling. It's best not to take these things too seriously as all of you have supported me in believing. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Geez.
Who would actually lobby to go to a house with no working plumbing?
You know what "they" say, right?
Sh*t Happens!
( and when it does, you really want a flushing toilet!!)
No way Squirrely -- your relatives will be mad that your plumbing is broken so you can't host Thanksgiving???
You have some EXTREMELY difficult people in your family. When you are "explaining" this to them, how about asking them if they want to eat their meal off of paper plates, or be unable to wash their hands, or have to use toilets that are full of sh*t?
My suggestion: Don't explain. People that are that dense shouldn't be catered to. "We can't have Thanksgiving at our house because the plumbing is out and we have no water." If they complain about that, hang up the phone.
Jeez.
If the people who are coming over will take your plumbing issues personally, disinvite them. Or tell them they are welcome to attend x at y and if they cannot, then you accept their RSVP to the negative.
My family got the worst stomach bug ever (maybe a norovirus) on Christmas eve...and the sewer main gave up. Nobody went anywhere, nobody was coming to our house and nobody complained a bit.
Just tell them that this is what it is, sorry they feel that way, end of discussion. Don't be their punching bag.
Oh, that's awful. I'm so sorry. :-(
My Tuesday is just peachy. The first of 6 whole days off! YAY!
Don't worry about disappointing your guests. Tell them that if everyone comes over, they'll be pooping in buckets and carrying them out to bury in the woods. They'll be thankful for running water and flushing toilets when they leave! Since you don't want to deal with that, Thanksgiving will not be at your house. :-P
ETA: Oh and NO shame on you (What the heck, Patty!?). I'm SURE that you guys were trying to get it all fixed so the holiday wouldn't have to be cancelled. But I think it's time to make some calls to your guests now.
Ack - that stinks (pun intended :)
I hope the pumbing gets fixed soon, I'm sure you were hoping it would be fixed in time. It's ok to wallow in a pity party for yourself every now and then.
So far, I'm just hoping that I don't get snowed in and have to spend Thanksgiving eating the side dishes I have prepared to bring to the host, but no turkey since she is preparing that part of the meal.
Oh boy that is awful! Plumbing is one of those things you take for granted until you don't have it and then...life quickly feels very primitive indeed. No water at all would send me over the edge completely.
I'll share my holiday plumbing nightmare if you're a misery loves company kind of person! We host Christmas Eve dinner and a few years ago, at around 1 AM on December 24 I was wrapping gifts that I had literally brought up from the basement not an hour before when I noticed the sound of running water and a foul smell and thought that wow, someone had a bad time in the bathroom! Well the smell and the sound continued and I finally peeked into the basement to find the floor covered in about an inch of sewer water. Our toilet was running and the extra water was enough to send a stream of liquid through our septic system and and back into the basement via the washing machine hose pipe. We shut off the water, which stopped the incoming tide, but the smell was wretched. I ended up fashioning a homemade hazmat suit and headed into the basement with wet vac to vacuum up all of the water. I then bleached all of the floors and anything touching them, set up fans, opened windows and went to bed at 4 AM hoping all evidence was gone. I thought for sure the smell would linger but by the time guests arrived at 5 PM, the smell was gone and they were none the wiser. Christmas Eve went on as planned but boy oh boy that was the last thing I needed.
Hopefully your guests will be blessed with some grace and good sense and will appreciate your predicament and handle it well. Hope you get your plumbing back sooner rather than later...that truly sucks.
Can you host the holiday meal at your Father's?
As for the ungracious relatives - tell them you are having Thanksgiving like our founding fathers and along with the plumbing SNAFU you will be turning off the electricity and providing ample chamber pots.
Honestly, more power to you - I am so sorry about your plumbing, it sucks normally, and even more so during the holiday. Be thankful for your Father being so close and don't let the other relatives get to you.
My Tuesday is getting off to a slow start.I am off from my full time job for the remainder of the week (woohoo). I plan on going to the market for the last few things I need, then I go to work tonight for a few hours.
Other than that laundry, laundry, laundry.
Bless your heart! Maybe think of it as a reprieve from hosting some not so easy guests. Plumbing issues are so awful so my heart goes out to you.
We will be celebrating Thanksgiving at the Cracker Barrel in our hotel's parking lot. I love Thanksgiving and am usually at home cooking with my son and getting lots of things ready. Thanksgiving to me is the quiet before the storm of Christmas where I always run behind. It is probably my favorite time of the year, focusing on all we have. Because of our business, I won't be home or near any of my family for Thanksgiving. I've decided I'm grateful for the work and as long as my immediate family is together then the rest is secondary.
I'm sure you'll be able to work something out with your harder relatives. Being grateful you're not hard to deal with when change comes. I've personally made jokes with my kids that if I begin to act like that as I age they have my permission to shoot me. I've also made a pact with my sister that if I start acting like a grumpy old fart she'd better give me a swift kick in the behind :)
Happy Thanksgiving and remember we have SO very much to be thankful for. I woke up this morning (yay), slept in a warm place and in a comfortable bed. I was able to hug my kids good morning and kiss my husband before he left for work. Life is good, no, life is GREAT!
Blessings to you!
L.
You have some crazy relatives if they are going to be so upset over something that is out of your control. I mean really? They will think you purposely sabotaged your own plumbing so you can screw up Thanksgiving for them? I would just tell them the plumbing is out in your house, Thanksgiving is off this year, go out to eat on your own and take a break from them. Good luck.
Oh my gosh! I can't imagine - I'm really sorry you are dealing with this right now. I hope there is a miracle, not so you can host, but so you can use the restroom. I can't imagine that fun!
My Tuesday is good until my coworkers get to cackling. They talk non-stop and the one right on the other side of my cube laughs at literally everything and is SO loud. I end up leaving work most days with a headache and pissed off. Ugh...she was sick yesterday so it was fine, but she's back with a vengence today!
Wow.. I am so sorry. A couple years ago we had the entire house re-plumbed (pex pipe now); this spring we had no access to our shower for three weeks while it was being retiled/resurfaced/re-everythinged.... we were without the toilet and sink for a few days and that was very tough. You have my sympathies.
You can always offer the relatives to go dig a hole in the backyard and put in an outhouse as long as they carve a crescent moon in the door?! :) The fact that they would even complain instead of offering to stay elsewhere or suggesting a restaurant tells me that the problem is with them, not you.
We are doing fine. My favorite burner had to have the switch replaced this morning but it's done and I'm thankful. We are on playmate number 2 today for kiddo and I'm fortunate enough to only have to bring salad. Must go hide a snack now for the 'spies' in my house! Oh... and now my Cuisinart just maybe died?Small problem, but still... grrrr....
Cancel and go out. Why do you feel you need to explain whole problem. End of discussion. I am sure everyone could figure something out. They are adults right. You knew this past weekend so they should have made alternate plans. If you have not told them yet, shame on you
I have my weekly new cold. Every Tuesday I get sick with something new. It isn't even December and I'm sick of being sick.....
We had no plumbing our first Xmas in our house. We even paid triple for someone to try to fix it on Xmas eve. We wasted a few grand and the problem wasn't fixed, we had to bring in a different company the day after Xmas. Plumbing issues are the worse. We were poor then too, and it took months to pay off the botched attempt to get working toilets for Christmas.
I'm so sorry for your situation. Your relations need to be sent a few cans of spam.
Tell your relatives to get over it...at least they have a house to go to for the holidays.
Our big family Thanksgiving just got cancelled as I just found out my own family has to drive to Colorado on Thanksgiving for an emergency. So my Thanksgiving will be spent on the road in the cold, wet and snow. No turkey, no stuffing and certainly no plumbing readily available.
Screw the family who can't be flexible.
Hope it all works out!
