Back O' The Page Stories 7/07
By Scott Coverdale
We received a request from Pima Council on Aging to supply a cooler for an elderly couple living in the hinterlands of Three Points. I called to schedule the job with them and the old man told me that the cooler wouldn't do them any good because they didn't have running water anyways. He told me that there had been a leak, and they had not been able to afford a plumber, so they turned off the water and that had been about three years ago, and they brought water in three gallon pails since then. I suggested that maybe we could check out the plumbing for them, to which they dubiously agreed. Kyle and Nick took the drive. They eventually found the water meter about 1200' away from the house. Kyle had visions of a long, long trench. Did I mention that it was 109 degrees in the shade that day? The house was "somewhat unkempt" (paraphrase of Kyle's description) and they eventually found the water leak under the mobile home itself-a Quest fitting, of all things-and Kyle had a fitting on his truck and fixed it in six minutes flat. Nick turned the water back on, and Kyle had to replace the kitchen and lav faucets as well, then left the octogenarians with running water. The next day, Kyle returned by himself and gave the couple a cooler, which they have subsequently become immensely fond of... This story is a good illustration of something, but I am not sure of what. It seems that a two dollar fitting and a little bit of know-how could have saved these folks and their pack of Chihuahua dogs a lot of trouble and poor hygiene over the past three years. Speaking of hygiene, did I mention that the house was poorly ventilated? Kyle had to interrupt his faucet installation to run outside and barf once or twice, but all's well that ends well....
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