Running water is one of those things most of us take for granted. I say most of us because I know some people here in the mountains who don’t have it. But it’s not something that I’m willing to live without. Last week, though, I had to do just that.

It started the first weekend of the new year with our water freezing. We got it thawed back out, but there was very little water pressure. Hubby had other matters to attend to, so we figured we would just leave it be for the time being since we at least had it running. But it froze up again the following night, even though we left it running.

We thawed it out again, but it eventually quit running altogether. Turned out that our pressure tank was shot. So we had to buy a new one and all new fittings for it. All that came up to a grand total of $200. Hubby and his brothers installed it, and all seemed to be going well until they turned the water off to tighten up one last thing. When they turned it back on, nothing happened.

Hubby asked some of his buddies what could be the problem, and they offered some suggestions. But nothing he tried worked, so he figured it must be the well pump. He and his brother went to work pulling it out of the ground, and found that whoever installed it used the wrong kind of pipe. Meanwhile, I talked him into calling his cousin, who does a lot of plumbing work. And I’m glad I did.

He came over on Sunday, and he discovered that it wasn’t the pump after all. I’m not sure what exactly the problem was, but it was something simple that didn’t cost a dime to fix. We had to replace the piping to the pump because the old stuff broke all to pieces when they were pulling it out, though, and that cost us another $200.

I’m just glad that’s all over with. I have been feeling terrible both physically and mentally since the New Year, and that wasn’t helping matters. Never mind the fact that money has been scarce and the bills just keep pouring in. It sure would be nice to open the mailbox one day and find only positive things, like free samples and baby announcements.

Here’s hoping that the rest of 2010 goes better than it has thus far. And for those of you who are already having a good year, that it continues to go well for you.