An eventful and stressful morning at Chippewa Pines. First, I had to get Dad up at 8am, several hours before either of our usual rising times, because the occupational therapist was due at 10 am and it takes Dad that long to get dressed and have breakfast. Just after the OT arrived, cousin Jerry arrived to install the grab bar in Dad's bathroom. Then the visiting nurse called to say she was on her way.
A couple of days ago I finally figured out that the water that has been appearing intermittently in the basement hallway and shower (which hasn't been used in years, more on that later) was occurring when both toilets upstairs were flushed in quick succession. Bubbling up through the shower drain, yuck. Dad of course wanted me to use the same plumber he used last time (which turned out to be 8 years ago) so I spent a while riffling through his box of old receipts to find the name. Just after the OT left, the plumbers arrived, followed almost immediately by the visiting nurse. Cousin Jerry needed to drive down to the corner hardware store to get some supplies but was now blocked in by all the other cars. About this time I realized I was shaky....all I'd had for breakfast was a piece of toast ....so had to quickly down a sandwich while running up and down the stairs to check on the plumbers, talk to the nurse, talk to Jerry, re-do Dad's meds due to the nurse's Coumadin-check results, and record upcoming OT and PT and visiting nurse appointments on the calendar.
The downstairs shower hasn't been used in years because some of the tiles had fallen off and dad could no longer get in there to fix them. There's water damage and although I know Dad would like to just have the tiles replaced I think Jerry and I have convinced him that just replacing the whole thing with a fiberglass stall will be cheaper, easier, and likely a longer term fix. So one of my projects while here at the coffee shop is to find someone to come out and give us an estimate. Meanwhile I believe the plumbers have unclogged the drain so at least there won't be sewage in the shower anymore. Unless the septic tank needs to be cleaned. Only God knows when this was last done, and she's not saying.
My other project involves bats. While Jerry and I were investigating the source of the leak in the basement yesterday, Jerry was up on the roof to check the flashing around the bathroom vent. While there he happened to shine a flashlight down one of the chimneys and whooo!!! started a big ruckus of squeaks and chirps. I went out at dusk and confirmed that there are bats flying in and out of the chimney, and also that you can hear them quite clearly at the basement fireplace, where, thankfully, the damper is closed. I've found several bat-control specialists in the area. Stay tuned. I do love bats but having a colony of them in the chimney seems like a bad idea.
Taking a deep breath.....
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