As far as the eye can see....

or you could say....you get what you pay for.

The pictures you see above are of my backyard after the new sewer line was laid. Sob! The plumbers I talked with mentioned removing the grass and then replacing the grass when they finished. J hired his own people/plumbers for a few hundred dollars less and here's what we were left with. I asked him if he thought it would look like this and he admitted he didn't. But....he saved money. We won't mention the money it's going to take to get the yard back in order. Nope. We won't do that.

Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, the sewer problem is fixed. (I can't belive I've used that word sewer so many times this summer.)

Friday went about as I expected. One thing I'm so glad about is that J. was here to experience it. I wasn't blogging when the power service to our house had to be replaced. I dealt with that problem (along with the accompanying repairmen) for well over a year while J. was working here and there (anywhere but in the state we live in). And....on the day Entergy finally laid a new power line a whole new set of problems began -- one utility company cutting another utility company's line. Here how it went: Entergy cut AT&T's line. When AT&T came to repair their line, they cut Cox's line. When Cox came to repair their line, they recut AT&T's line. When AT&T came back, yep! they cut Cox's line again. Cox came back, repaired their line. I cried. Maybe they took pity on me because it finally ended.

Well, J. wasn't here during all that, but he heard the story. 8-p When I told him to watch it happen last Friday he told me I was being silly. Then....the plumber arrived, and....not ten minutes into their digging the cable went out -- along with the phone. J. (who was outside watching them) came sheepishly in and told me he understood what I'd been talking about. No. You don't. Not yet. I said.

In about fifteen minutes he started understanding. That's when they nicked the power line. I could tell because the lights in the house blinked. They could tell because sparks flew. Thank goodness noone was hurt. I called Entergy. They kept digging. The lights flickered again. I looked outside. They looked, guiltily, at me and stopped digging with the machine and started using shovels while we waited for Entergy.

Now, I can hear you saying, "Didn't you know you're supposed to call before you dig?" Yes. I know. I've heard the commercials, too. And, I did call. Twice. And finally people came out and marked all the underground lines. Problem was that Entergy apparently marked the old line instead of the new one they'd laid a few years ago. So much for following the rules. And....(I have pictures to prove this) in places that new power line was actually under the old sewer line. In other places the new power line wrapped around the sewer line. Why?

Anywho....Entergy came (taking their dear sweet time). AT&T came. Cox came. So by late Friday all was well, and J. and I were almost as tired as the poor guys who'd been outside in the heat digging allllllllllllll day.

There's a story to be told about the war AT&T and Cox are waging, each trying to get us to switch phone and/or internet. (We have AT&T phone service and Cox internet.) But I don't have the energy to write about that now. It exhausts me. Suffice it to say my home phone is out. And....since the Direct TV guy arrived shortly after the plumbers hit the power line (and before Entergy showed up to fix things), Direct TV couldn't finish the install. Our Dish system hasn't worked since they left so went on and canceled it early. Direct TV should be here Thursday to finish installing things -- if the roofers are finished.

Yep. The roofers are coming tomorrow.