Tia Price

Woke up this morning to frozen water pipes.  It was -4 degrees outside.  My toilet wouldn’t flush and my faucets wouldn’t work.  I had plans to do some major laundry and cleaning today to catch up from a busy week of school, work, and my husband in the hospital.  I had to rethink the wash up routine and breakfast for the family.  Then I needed to focus on a solution to the problem.  I prayed for zero to little damage and got to work.

Dad’s advice: Put a space heater near the frozen pipe to thaw it.

Neighbor’s advice:  Turn on the faucet to leave it trickling so it won’t freeze. (Too late!  Good advice for the future.)

Online advice (non-expert):  Find frozen pipe and wrap it with towels soaked in hot water until it thaws.

Water company’s advice:  Hold a hair dryer to the pipes that bring the water in from outside.

They all seemed like good advice to someone who knew nothing about plumbing or frozen pipes.  We went with the space heater advice from dad.  It worked within a couple of minutes.

My advice (and in my opinion the most important advice):  Before you do anything, make sure you know how to shut off your water in case your pipes are damaged.

Never thought my Money Merge Account might be used for something like this.

Hats off to all of you who have been substitute teachers for years! Speaking from being a former full time teacher turned part time sub, you guys are amazing! I never know how challenging it was to try to step in for a teacher. I thought that as long as the teacher had a well planned lesson, the job was a cinch. Well, I was wrong. Aside from not knowing names, routines such as attendance, and simple classroom specific procedures, you have to be flexible enough to go with the flow at a minute’s notice. With a new found respect, have crossed over to the other side, I salute you, Subs, and gladly rename you Master Teachers!

The recent damages created by the wind storm in Columbus, Ohio has catapulted many families in the surrounding area to the state of panic.  Mild to severe damage to roof tops and siding, fallen trees and limbs, as well as damage to personal vehicles are all visual sings left by the remnant wind of Hurricane Ike.  Some family residences and businesses have been without power four days or more, with relief not coming until Sunday in some cases.  Children in the Columbus City School system have been out of school this week due to the power outages.  Some families are experiencing a financial emergency due to having to throw out food, repair damage, and lost wages. 

One bright note in all of this is that the weather has been nearly perfect.  With temperatures in the 70’s during the day and a cool 50 to 60 at night, Ohio residents have not had to deal with rain, flooding, blazing heat, or freezing temperatures while recovering from the storm.  We should call be quick to count our blessings as others to the south and east have not been as blessed.