Schooled Again!

Yesterday was one of those days. My dogs got me out of bed, even before the Sun decided to join us, not caring a bit that I was full-on in the throes of a hangover -- a Disneyland hangover – which had been induced by walking 8 miles in the 80+ degree “Autumn” heat, interspersed with head-spinning, stomach-churning “Thrill Rides” and too many food items that I normally wouldn’t ingest. In fact, I’m still feeling the effects this Friday morning.  

Funny aside: Upon arriving home Wednesday Night, following the full day of Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure, my 90-year old mother asked me what my favorite ride was, and without skipping a beat, I deadpanned; “the ride home.” 

The Disney Hangover must be genetic -- it's all because of my parents. Yep, I'm putting the blame on them completely. It's 100% due to my folks... Father Time and Mother Nature.

Anyway, my slow-motion morning was interrupted by a ringing doorbell which was immediately drowned-out by our very own Paw Patrol, providing awareness to the person on the other side of the front door (and the entire neighborhood) that they are on duty. 

That person at the door happened to be from SoCal Gas. They had discovered a small leak at our meter and he was going to fix it. It only took him about an hour or so and he was done.  However, because of the leak fix at the meter, SoCal Gas would be sending someone by to check every gas connection in the house. 

While waiting for the gas Inspector to show up, Karlene hollered at me from the upstairs that my phone keeps going off. Several calls had been missed and 3 voicemails had been left from my son’s apartment. My son always calls me (and his mother) frequently – just never from his landline. So, something was up.

It was an emergency, a calamity, an earth-shattering event. He had broken his mobile phone. He can’t live without it – what will he do?! “I need to have a phone, dad!” Trying to calm him down, I told him we would take care of it and not to freak-out. Fortunately, his classes on Thursdays are afternoon and evening only, so I told him that I would drive over to Long Beach, pick him up and take him to the phone store at around 11:00am.

Just then, the doorbell rang again which set the Paw Patrol in motion again (and drove the neighbors up the wall again). It was the SoCal Gas Inspector. I was pleasantly surprised that he had arrived so quickly. I apprised him of the canine situation and then proceeded to put 2 of the dogs in the back yard, while Karlene took the other one and headed for the Groomer.

I then brought the inspector into the house and led him around to all the gas outlets. The fireplace was first. It was a fail. At least it was a minor fail. Next, we went to the kitchen and checked the new Range. Pass! Yay me! He then complemented me on our beautiful and modern-looking 1 year-old kitchen. Double yay me! Next was the gas Dryer in the laundry room. I was concerned, because while we were at Disney the day before, our daughter came by to check on the dogs and brought her laundry. She still doesn’t know how to use the lint trap (as she’s only been doing laundry for a dozen years or so) and I hadn’t checked it before the inspector arrived. Now I’m sweating bullets. Pass. Whew! I was relieved.

I took him into the garage, where the tank-less water heater resides. Now, due to my previous interactions with my Plumber about this water heater, (which was originally installed improperly by another plumbing company), I’m a bit anxious of this inspection. Turns out that I had good reason to be concerned. Fail, big time. The unit has exhaust issues and is not properly vented. Violation. Dangerous. Could cause an explosion. He shuts the unit down and red-tags it. I wasn’t surprised -- I wasn't happy, either. He apologized and told me the obvious – to get a plumbing/heating specialist out to repair the exhaust issue, a.s.a.p. Ironically, the reason it got red-tagged was that two different plumbing/heating professionals had previously made a mess of it!

Once finished, he had me sign off on his inspection and went on his way. I jumped in my car and went on my way, too. Headed to pick up my son and go get him a new phone.  Now I must interject that I have a great plumber. Unfortunately, though, I was unable to get ahold of my plumber.

By the time I had navigated the Great Phone Calamity of 2018 and dropped Zachary off back at his college, it was early afternoon. Karlene had left something in my car and so I swung back by the office to give it to her and I brought along a late lunch also. By the time I got back to the house, it was around 3:30pm.

When I came into the house, my mother started stressing about the lack of hot water and though she didn’t need it right then, she was going to be needing that hot water that night to wash her clothes and take a shower. “We’ve got to have that hot water, Tim! You’ve got to get that fixed!”

Now, in our neck of the woods, good plumbers are at a premium and are difficult to get on an emergency basis. You can get a plumbing company (insert name of choice) to come out on an emergency, but I’ve been there, done that, and purchased the T-shirt. I needed that T-shirt, too, because of the fact that I lost my shirt when they billed me! So I waited for my plumber and waited some more.  

After feeding my dogs their dinner, it was about 5pm and still I’ve heard nothing. I said to myself, “drastic times call for drastic measures.”  So I went into the garage and sized up the situation -- the job that would need to be done to get the tank-less water heater safely operational. Then I said to myself, “you can do this!” Full of faith and the knowledge that my wife wouldn’t be home until at least 9pm, I headed off to the Lowes home improvement superstore.  

With my plastic bag full of freshly-picked connecters and adjustable vent pipe, I set about to get it fixed and fixed right. I tried this configuration and that. Added and removed vent pipe. No matter what I tried, I just couldn’t get it to work. So, I washed up, jumped back in the car and headed back to Lowes. I just need one connecter/spacer of a certain size, I had figured. Just in case my math was more of the Common Core variety, I bought two different spacers and headed back home.

Now hours into it, I am starting to feel the pressure. After much sweat, trial and error, I realize that the spacers, that I just bought, aren’t going to work. Nothing is fitting in the space and weird configuration needed to make it work. A thought pops into my head that tells me, “If the installer couldn’t do it and the plumber that you hired to fix it couldn’t do it, what makes you think that you can do it?!” I said to myself, “Get behind me, Mind Monsters! I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.” Then and there, it hits me. In the midst of my frustration, up on a ladder in the corner of the garage, with aching back and cramping hands, I stop everything.

After a long pause and I deep breath, I did what I should’ve done from the start. I prayed. I asked God for help. I prayed, “Jesus, please help me to figure out how to make this work.” In a manner of seconds, it dawned on me what I needed to do. I went and got a pair of pliers and set to doing what needed to be done and “Bam”, just like that, the whole thing went right together. I taped all the joints with aluminum tape and that was that. I had a safely-working-with-no-leaks exhaust vent – and one that would make Dr. Seuss proud, to boot.

After all of that, I wondered, “Why did I wait so long to ask God to help?” Why didn’t I pray first? I could have saved myself a lot of time, stress, and struggle, not to mention an extra trip to Lowes. All for the asking is ours, but we don’t ask. The Lord is near, but we do not call on Him. In the Bible, James had it right when he said, “you do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2).

Schooled again!

Yep, I’m still in school. Even at my age, I’m still learning.

I know I need help. I know I need the Lord. I know He loves me. I know He is there for me. I know that he answers.

I just need to ask.

Help me Lord.