Last Weekend...

So... couple things happened this past weekend that are... interesting.

Amy and I went to Washington DC for the weekend. We met there 2 years ago, and since I haven't really spent much time going to the various sights down there (somehow I always end up in DC for some other reason) we went around to all the neat stuff. I have to say, if you ever go to DC, go see the International Spy Museum. Great fun:)

But I digress. We drove, leaving on Friday. We paid the $20 in tolls that you pay on the way down and back. That is highway robbery, literally! New Jersey isn't fun, but we only spent about 5 bucks going through the whole state, maybe 50 miles. The bridge across the Hudson River was $4. Fine, $2 each way, not terrible.

But $8 to cross 10 miles of Delaware? Each way? Plus $2 more each way in Baltimore to have the priviledge of going under the bay? AAARRGGG...

I live in CT, which has NO tolls, and that is a wonderful thing. In theory I don't mind tolls, if there is a trade off, say an income tax cut. But there is a point where it is WAY to expenseive! $8 to go one way through Delaware (and yes, it is another $8 the other way). 10 miles. That is EXTORTION!

But I digress. When we left on Friday, I turned the heat down to about 55 F. A normal thing to do.

When we got home... we came to a burst pipe. Turned out to be an non-insulated heating pipe against the outside wall. Gotta love an old building. The pipe was under the first floor, leaking through the ceiling into the floor below. After finally figuring out where the shut off valve was, we proceeded to take the ceiling down and found the pipe. I think that with the cold snap we had after some relatively warm days, the thermostat didn't react to in time to prevent the burst, not to mention that the pipe was not insulated AT ALL.

So... plumber came the next morning. The floor will need sanding, the walls need to dry out and be painted (they are plaster, so they didn't crumble like dry wall. They may need to be replaced... we'll see.) We're going to help my landlord put in the ceiling tiles this weekend.

A few thoughts. We are grateful that the damage to the house was minimal. Also that none of our furniture was ruined, except for 2 cheap bookcases. One other nice chair was in the area, but seems to have escaped unscathed! And the leak wasn't in the next room over, which has our nice, antique, heirloom dining room set.

On the downside, I lost quite a few of my books. I don't have a huge library, but I did have 1 large case full and 1 small case full. About 50% of the books were ruined and thrown out, and another 20% are questionable and valuable/sentimental enough that I am trying to dry them out. The others have varying stages of minor damage, from none at all to a little water damage around the edges. My CD's are okay, although the paper inserts and casings didn't fare to well.

So... the long and short of it is... we are giving thanks for the good, and dealing with the bad. Knowing what happened in Florida, we really are fine. My mom's uncle and aunt live in the area, actually in The Villages, which had the worst of the damage. But they are fine, they didn't have any damage in their area.

God is good, even during the trials of life:)