Ground

Lovely cake to share. Chocolate, but so moist people thought it Red Velvet - which is much too sweet for me, but this was not over sugary. Good cake, and I'm not a big cake fan, from a very old, local bakery.

Yesterday morning we heard a strange sound, but we had to go to work, and pretty much forgot. Later, well we were busy, there were other sounds, we put on a video. Once everything was off, at nearly 1100 PM, we noticed it again, explored, down the basement... water dripping on plastic drape.* Closed the shut-off valve, which seemed to about do it, and emailed the plumber. He called back almost immediately, asked if we needed him right then. We said no, it seemed to be fine for the moment, and we were just going to bed, so he promised† us to be there in the morning at 0930. The washer and dryer were delivered at 0830 - at one point we were concerned that one of the young men, the one down the stairs first, was in a bit of trouble - wanting to rest a minute - but he was fine, and they got it all sorted. Plumber called about the same time to tell us he'd be a bit late, by about 15 minutes (!), which was actually about 17 (!). He got it all sorted, no charge. The valve apparently just failed. Well, shit happens.

Thing is, I had planned‡ our little open house for all the folks at work that had to listen to me natter on about it so long. Seven showed up, with two daughters, thankfully only three with gifts. I tried to make it very clear that this was not a Housewarming (implying presents) but a slightly belated Groundhog Day celebration. And one does not bring anything to a Groundhog Day party but ones shadow. They appeared mostly one or two at a time, which is a kind of ideal for introvert hosts. Lovely to be able to focus on each, chat, make tea, serve cake, tell stories. I sipped good beer, perfect drug for social anxiety. Nice folks all. House the Home glad of all the praise and acceptance.

Moby mostly crashed in the Fortress of Solitude, but accepted petting up there. J in particular happy to have some cat-time. Cat also glad of praise and admiration. Earlier, he objected to being put in the bedroom during the delivery and plumbing excitement. Spent some time on the printer, just because he could.


*I'd snagged one from work, clean, but no longer sterile, so it would be thrown away, or go to the lab for reuse. Planned to put it under the mats in the basement. As it was, it contained the water somewhat, and amplified the sound. Very useful.

†He was supervising his daughter's sleepover, so it would have been a huge problem for him to leave. If we'd told him it was an emergency, I'm sure he'd've made that happen. He did not mention this complication until after we'd assured him that morning would do just fine. I'd much rather be out of water overnight than have to supervise a bunch of girls, so we got the better end of the deal.

‡Well, more than three weeks, and it's just not that impressive to have everything unboxed and in good enough order to let people see. My little, silent, rebuttal to the many who say they still have boxes in their house from when they moved in years before, implying I would be the same. I knew myself better, even if I did not know all the implications of home ownership.