Haven With Water! (Sort Of)

The city worker came out really this morning, about 9AM, and was very nice! He told me that while there are utility maps floating around, they have been proven inaccurate and there is no way to know for sure that I have access to the water main without digging deep. He thinks it could be thousands of dollars to get a water tap! I think it could be cheaper than that if I find someone with a digger, but anyway, the point was he didn’t think I could have a tap in the near future unless I wanted to shell out big bucks. Bummer.

That said, he had been informed by the gals at the RM that I am now on the garbage route and that I will be billed for water, so he came prepared. He opened up a public tap about 300′ from the rig. It spewed out thick orange water for about five minutes, then it ran clear and cold. We strung out my super long green hose then added the sections Laura had given me. It was just enough! I also had a length of white hose I could have used, but I prefer to only use that when I’m hooked up to truly potable water.

The low water pressure coupled with the distance meant it took a full hour to fill the on board tank. Moreover, the hose crosses a couple of properties, so I need to move it when I’m done so that the mowers don’t get at it. Therefore, this is not super convenient, but it’s better than hauling jugs! My water heater is running and I am going to have a wonderful shower tonight! 🙂

I’m using the rest of the hauled water to start on my laundry today. I’ll see how far I get. I have MOUNTAINS to do and no pressing work today, so I might as well get at it. I definitely have work tomorrow.

It’s nice to know just how efficient the RM staff is! And here is another example. Tuesday morning, I opened the front door and noticed that the garbage bag that had been on the stoop the night before was gone. Tuesday is garbage day. The holiday had messed me up a tad and I forgot to bring my bag up to C&C’s on Monday night and figured that it was no big deal as I could put the trash next to my curb as of next Tuesday.

I was deeply curious about who grabbed the bag seeing as you really have to be looking at my stoop, ideally with binoculars, to see what’s on it, I’m that far from the roads. Anyway, the water guy said that he had spied it and snatched it! Wow! Talk about service!

Being able to have a shower tonight made me want to get down and dirty with my genset again today (I am now completely filthy and look like a heathen).

I am getting really close to isolating the non-start and it’s near the spark plug. So even though the spark plug looks good, I’d be best to replace it. Wish me luck finding one. Figuring out how to install will likely be easier. 🙂 It’s so frustrating that it sparked the other day and I’m cursing myself for attempting to start it without enough gas on board. I might have missed my only chance. 🙁

5 thoughts on “Haven With Water! (Sort Of)

  1. You know this stuff but…..

    I am assuming you checked the oil level in the genset or even better, changed the oil. When you do get it going, let it run for at least an hour before shutting it off. Be sure to put a load on it, maybe the battery charger and something big like a heater or your A/C.

    • Croft, yes I changed the oil and I was able to easily find an air filter, so that’s changed, too. I should have made more effort with the spark plug since it’s not even trying to crank now. I’m trying to trace the electricity, but it’s damned hard to when you can’t even getting the stupid thing. I have the correct voltage coming into the starter, which is working, and about half a volt of that is getting to the wires below the brushes after going through the area near the spark plug. Not very scientific-sounding, I know, but it seems like I have a bad/dirty connection somewhere that I can’t get at.

    • Merikay, I did a post a while back about the lagoon near here. I was dumping into buckets and driving it down to the lagoon to dump. I came back from Kelowna with a blue boy, gift from Donna, so now I’m doing the same thing, only there’s less risk of a mess!

  2. Did you pull the lead off the spark plug, expose the wire and then try to observe a spark leaping the gap between the wire and the plug when you crank? That would indicate there is voltage coming out of the coil (or equivalent).

    Don’t hold the wire while you are doing this. It is high voltage that will knock you on your butt.

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