Empty!!

When folks in urban areas flush the toilet, the contents disappear into the sewer system, never to be thought of again, unless of course there is a plumbing problem.

For people in the country, however, the toilet usually flushes into a septic tank (or there are a couple of other alternatives) which has to be emptied every few years.

About 10 years after we moved here, the local Public Broadcasting Station began airing episodes of the “Red Green Show.” I looked forward to Saturday night (if memory serves, that is when it aired) for a half-hour of great entertainment. And episodes can be watched on YouTube. One never thinks about duct (duck) tape in quite the same way.

A favorite character on the program was Winston Rothschild. He was part of the group at the Lodge but also was the proud owner of Rothschild's Sewage and Septic Sucking Services ("No tank too big, no tank too small, teacup or cesspool, we suck 'em all!"), who had commercials in the program promoting his company.

The men who created the "Red Green Show," Steve Smith (who played Harold) and Rick Green (who played Bill), did a special program for PBS on attention deficit disorder, which is how Richard learned that attention deficit disorder is what has been plaguing him for years.

We had a very reliable person who came and provided that service for us every few years. All of our gray water (sinks, laundry, bathtub) goes into a holding area instead of the tank, which means we don’t have to have ours emptied quite so often.

But at least every few years it fills up and must be emptied. After the person who was providing this service upgraded his equipment, the hole in our concrete tank was too small, and he was not able to do the job. We had another company come and they did not do a good job of emptying it out, we were hardly better off after they came.

Having a full tank created some difficulties for us, the details of which I will not go into.

I suggested that Richard call someone who does concrete to come out with a saw and enlarge opening. But one of the problems people with attention deficit disorder have is that they can’t delegate to other people very well.

So he purchased a gigantic concrete saw and spent some grueling hours working on enlarging the cement opening.

He called, and the “sewage and septic sucking service” guy came today

and moved the contents of our tank into the tank on the back of his truck.
He is a delightful man. 

It seems like a very unpleasant way to earn a living, but he seems to enjoy his job. Reminds me of the gentleman they filed in the Woodstock movie cleaning the portable toilets and happy to do it.

It is quite nice to be back in business for doing the business.

Happy Birthday

A few hours after our son was born, the obstetrician who was supposed to have delivered him (someone else did the job) came in to check on me and wondered if we were going to name him Abraham in honor of President Lincoln. 

 Now that I think about it, I believe the doctor’s first name was Abraham too.

 Abraham is a good Biblical name—a fine name indeed—but we had another choice in mind. We picked Nathaniel because it meant “gift from God,” and we felt God truly had given us a very special gift. We weren’t planning to have children “for a while,”so when I found I was pregnant, we believed it was God’s hand on our lives to bring it about.

I am so thankful I had the opportunity to be a mother and to watch a little boy... 

 grow into a man

Remembering him on his birthday.