It seems like a lifetime ago that the Beatles sang about getting by with a little help from their friends, but today I experienced it. After their parents picked up the grandkids, Linda and I drove to Cassadaga to check out the plumbing repairs Harry and I made yesterday. It took awhile to find all the valves that controlled the water supply to various parts of the house, but after a bit of trial and error, we found them all, and the water flowed freely--a bit too freely to the downstairs shower and the dishwasher, as it turned out. But not freely enough to the apartment and upstairs bathroom sinks. The toilets and tubs worked fine, but the sink faucets barely dripped. I checked out the crawl space to make sure things weren't leaking there, but everything was dry. It didn't make sense, so I shut off the supply so as not to flood the kitchen, and came home.
This evening, we had dinner with Linda's sisters and our friends, the Hedlunds. I was describing the symptoms and my puzzlement, when brother in law Gary, and friend Lance almost simultaneously asked if I had checked the aerators on the faucets. Of course! When the water is off for awhile, sediment that normally remains in the pipes breaks loose when the system is pressurized, and it all lodges in the tiny screens of the aerators. I haven't had the opportunity to check them out, but it's the only explanation that makes any sense. I get by with a little help from my friends, in this case, my brother in law. Tonight, I am thankful for my friends, whose perspective has eased my mind and made my work a bit easier, just by pointing me in the right direction and saving me a lot of trial and error.
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