Dry Spell

Well, we're having a dry spell -- and that is both good and bad. Good, because we have no more leaks in the roof. Mike figured out that the problem was that the "spider arms" on the swamp cooler were out of whack -- sending water into the fan instead of onto the evaporative pads. So, all of that water ran down the duct work and was leaking out of a joint, which caused the second (and who knows -- maybe even the first) "leak" that we had. We left the hole in the closet for a couple of weeks and several rain storms -- just to be sure things stayed dry and we felt confident enough about it today to patch the hole (and repair the ceiling in the hall). I've done my initial taping and mudding, and I'll finish up with the texturizing tomorrow. Then I'll paint everything on Wednesday, as I have the day off work.

The other dry spell is not so great. No wins to report in the past several weeks. I did win a $200 QVC gift certificate in June and sent the affidavit back on that, but I haven't actually received it yet. I think I'll hang onto that and use it for Christmas (along with the Wii win), since Mike still might not have a job and things could be really tight. I keep hoping that we'll get a really big win...like another car, or $25,000 in cash, or a really nice trip (Italy or Greece would be GREAT since we had to cancel our cruise there this year due to the economy and the job situation). I am not sending out a ton of entries -- mainly because I just don't have the time and I'm trying not to spend a lot in postage -- but I still get a couple bundles of entries out each week. And, as I've learned time and time again, it only takes one lucky entry to win great prizes. My car, $20,000 in Home Depot gift certificates, and a couple of trip wins were all from one entry each.

It's a scorcher outside today (nearly 100 degrees), so I'm going to pour myself a big glass of ice water and sit in the media room (the coolest room in the house) and do some sweepstakes entering tonight. I got a lot done today around the house -- so I deserve a little break, dreaming about how nice a big win would be!

When It Rains.....

The roofing guy came on Tuesday and spent most of the day taking the evaporative cooler off the roof and replacing all of the worn shingles in that area. He said that there was a leak around the flashings of the cooler and a spot further up on the roof where the tar paper (or whatever it is they use under shingles) had deteriorated. He was so cool about the bill, telling me to send half when I got the invoice and the other half "in 30 days, or whenever."

Yesterday, we had a really heavy downpour in the afternoon. When I got home, I went upstairs to check and make sure things were watertight and the area in the guest room closet seemed fine (no water on the plastic we still have covering the hole in the ceiling). However, just on the other side of the wall, in the hallway, there was quite a big leak, with the drywall sagging on the wall and the ceiling also sagging from the wall to about 6-8 inches towards the center of the hallway.

I have no idea if this is the same leak (as the locations are so close) or a different leak under the tiles (which they did not pull, as we figured the problem was just around the cooler area). I put an email into him, but he is currently away at his son's basketball tournament and won't be back for a week. Sigh.

Mike is going to get into the attic and see if he can tell where the water came from, and perhaps put a bucket up there to catch any futher leaks (as it is supposed to rain at least 2-3 more times before the roofer gets back into town). I guess this also will postpone my fixing the ceiling closet, as we may now have more work to do in the wonderful world of drywall repair (and might as well do it all at once).

I just want a watertight house. We've done so much repair work on this roof since we bought it -- it probably would have been best just to pull everything off and start from scratch (but who can afford $10,000 plus for a new roof, especially now?) Water damage and electric things are what I hate/fear the most and they just cause so much stress! I could tell Mike was really bummed when he saw we still had problems. Luckily, I'm on the schedule at work most days in July and I volunteered to work the 4th of July, as I get time and a half. I'd like to earn enough extra to pay for the roof without having to have a balance on the credit card.