Honestly, I do love winter. However...

Last week, we were noticing that there was a great deal of standing water in our backyard, in the vicinity of the well we get our tap water from. This is what is known in the business as Not a Good Thing. So we naturally called the well maintenance people, who high-tailed it over here with a backhoe, dug up the well area, and found the problem: the pre-Columbian water tank under there had rusted through, and was leaking water into the ground. The obvious remedy: to put in a new holding tank.

Except that they couldn't do it just then. And they couldn't fill in the massive crater that they created in our yard, because they'd just have to dig it up again. So they kludged together this garden-hose-and-water-pump setup so we could continue to have water through the weekend until Monday, when they could get out here to actually repair the thing.

Except that they didn't come on Monday. Then they promised today. They broke their promise. Finally they called this afternoon to tell us that they'd be here tomorrow, by noon at the latest.

Too ferking late, kids. It's 16 degrees now, and the exposed pipes in the backyard are frozen solid. We have no water. And since the heating system is a hot-water-forced propane system, it's questionable whether we'll have heat. Lovely.

If you'll pardon me, I need to go make sure Nik isn't hitting his sister with Grandpa's claw hammer. Again.