Temp: 23 degrees
Ahhh!!!! The leak is 20 times worse this morning! It's streaming down through the kitchen and into my studio in the basement! WTF??? How could it possibly be, that when I'm certain I've fixed the problem it gets exponentially worse? Well, a quick google solved that one ... apparently whether you use a gasket, plumber's putty, or caulk, you should always leave a gap at the bottom of the ring so that any water trapped inside can escape. By caulking all the way around, I was forcing the wall to fill up with water - but HOW is the water getting in there in the first place??? This is getting scary frustrating, and it's starting to discolour the walls and paint downstairs - I've gotta figure this out!!!
Sure enough, when I get home after work I rip out the caulk at the bottom of the face place and water leaks out. Well, now I know for certain that's where the leak is ... so I take off all the fixtures and the face place, and oddly it looks dry inside the wall. Huh??? I run the shower for half and hour while watching dilligently with a flashlight for drips - but there's nothing! I shake the pipes and tug and push and pull, I try different temperatures of water, but no leaks. ARGH! I've got to figure this out! This is killing me!
I needed a break from the plumbing fiasco, so I kicked back for an hour and played some online poker, making anothe $20, and bringing my total to $129, from my initial $50 investment. Not too bad. Of course, my job pays more, but it's not nearly as fun. :-)
When Carole got home I BBQ'd some chicken breasts in an herb vinigarette marinade, and then after dinner we headed out to Wayne's rehearsal space for a jam night with Comeau and Keith. I kept thinking that I hadn't played guitar or bass in 6 months, but when I added it up on the way down o the jam, I realized that October to August is ten months - yikes! Has it really been that long since I decided to take the hiatus from music? Now I was nervous... the calluses on my fingertips were all gone, and just picking up the guitar for half an hour at my BBQ party had left them all burning - would I be able to pull off any songs tonight? Would I even be able to remember any songs?
After watching the Vitamin Voodoo revival, I got thrown on to guitar, where it was admittedly a pretty slow start ... I couldn't think of anything to jam - I felt like one of those wannabe kids in the guitar shops that can't wait to get hit mits on the guitar, but when it's finally his turn he can't play a lick... actually, come to think of it, I guess I WAS that guy tonight... fortunately, I was able to redeem a bit of esteem by pulling off Metallica's 'Am I evil', and later on in the evening when it was my turn on the more comfortable (and less brain power requisite) bass guitar, we pulled off a kickass version of L7's Shit List (just like the old days!) with Wayne on guitar and Comeau on drums. After that, we actually got about half way through Black Sabbath's "Junior's Eyes" - which was actually one of the harder songs I've ever learned, but I guess after all that frustrating learning, something must've stuck, 'cause I seemed to remember it pretty damned well ... though about 3 minutes into it, my fingers felt like raw meat, and stopped cooperating. I'd had a few coke and cherry vodkas by then though, so I was feeling a lot less critical of myself, and just enjoying playing again. Note to self : start playing again! I've already made a commitment to myself to start recording my "Ephemeral Demise" solo project in September, so maybe I should get up to par on my guitar and bass playing again, eh? Geez, that's only a month away! I guess I should start writing some material too...
Everyone wanted us to stay and party, since we only see Comeau one day every 2 years, but it was 11 and we had to git. It was a good night though, and it took my mind off that damned leak for a few hours.