Why is it that whenever something goes haywire in the house, it happens on a weekend?

On Saturday night, I’d just finished rinsing my dishes when I heard this rather loud noise coming from underneath my kitchen sink.

“What in the world is that?” I asked myself … yes, out loud!

I opened up the double doors to the kitchen cabinet and peeked inside, but I didn’t notice anything wrong.

So, I went back to my comfy couch and picked up the book I was reading, hoping the sound would eventually go away. (By the way, this usually never works!)

After about 15 minutes, the noise was just as loud as it had been. I returned to the cabinet, opened the doors and … oh, what a mess!

All of my cardboard containers holding storage bags, wax paper, aluminum foil and garbage bags had begun to sag from excessive moisture.

I quickly pulled everything off the shelves from my catch-all cupboard and scattered boxes and bottles, flower vases and extension cords across the kitchen floor. Water had begun to pond on the lower shelf, and despite my attempts, I could not find where it was coming from.

It was time to call big brother to the rescue … the same one who handles most everything on my “Brother-Do list” of home repairs.

By the time Kevin made it into town, I’d already shut off the valve that allows water to come into my house.

While he pointed a flashlight to the pipes, I returned to the basement to flip the valve. He found the leak in a matter of seconds, and hollered for me to shut the water off again.

The bad news was that the leak was coming from a copper pipe, and the worst news was that my brother couldn’t fix it. He wrapped some duct tape around the hole, which did little to keep the water from squirting out, and said that unless I wanted to pay for an emergency plumber to come on a Saturday night, it was best to keep the water valve turned off.

Unfortunately, there was no valve to close off just the line to my kitchen sink. Nope … it was an all or nothing deal.

Most people probably understand the total inconvenience of having the water shut off to your entire house. It happened to me not so long ago when my water heater decided to explode … well, sort of.

This latest plumbing fiasco pushed me out of the house most of Sunday, which turned out to be a pretty good deal. I spent the day at the farm, where Mom made tacos for dinner and roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy and squash for supper … oh, and apple cobbler for dessert! She also sent me home with leftovers.

Thankfully, a friendly repairman from Schwalbach came to my back door shortly after 8 a.m. Monday. Not only did he install a flexible hose in place of the copper pipe, he put a valve on it!

The work was done in about 15 minutes, and water flow was quickly restored. Now, why the heck did I make myself suffer through two nights of utter inconvenience!