Super-Wife

Since I married my husband, I have learned to do ALOT of things around our house that the average wife would not even attempt. Shane is well aware of this since we talk about it all the time & I think he loves me even more for it :)

You might be surprised to learn that in the last 6 years - thanks to my husband - I have become very "skilled" in the following:

- unloading & stacking over 5 pallets of pave stone to build the 6 rock walls around our house for flower beds
- digging 2 ft x 8 ft trenches/laying pipe connected to the gutters to carry water away from the house
- shoveling & spreading 2 dump-truck loads of topsoil & rock for the flower beds
- landscaping all around the house, mowing the grass in a "pattern"/bagging it, weed-eating
- reinstalling 2 door jams & installing 2 storm doors
- laying tile & spreading grout
- hanging blinds in all windows
- re-installing all the broken hinges behind the drawers in the kitchen
- hang sheetrock, mud & sand sheetrock
- painter
- replacing the "flapper" in the toilet
and LAST but I'm sure not least:
- mechanic (change my own air filter, add washer fluid, check/add oil, fill my tires to the correct PSI)

If something needs to get done that requires manual labor, my first response is "we should hire someone to do that" or if something is broke, I am the first to say "do you want me to call for an appt with the service guy to fix it?!" Needless to say, my husband is one who refuses to pay money to someone for a job that he can do himself - which 9 times out of 10 requires me to assist - and at times has almost resulted in divorce :)

This evening proved to be no different.

For the last 2 days we have been running out of hot water after only one shower. My first thought is the damn water heater is going out & needs to be replaced! How soon can I get to Home Depot to buy one & schedule the service guy to install it!? My husband, on the other hand, googles the issue & troubleshoots the problem himself until it is fixed. Unfortunately, this sometimes takes days!

So after much time spent googling water heaters, he figures out that it is probably one of our heating elements that is out. After he feels the top & bottom of the water heater, sure enough - the bottom one is out. So, I made a trip to Home Depot after work & $20 later I had 2 heating elements. Let me tell you, I know more than I care to know about water heaters after this ordeal!

So I "read" the instructions with some additional commentary that Shane did not find amusing while he did the "manual labor" part & together we learned how to drain the water heater, pull out the 2 elements (which were disgustingly corroded with nasty, smelly lime build-up), replace them & prayed that we connected the electrical wires correctly! We managed to do all that with only a few "choice" words to each other :) We turned the water back on, filled the water heater, turned the power back on thank goodness there were no sparks!

In 1 hour Shane was taking a very hot shower! It was that simple & it costs less than $20 to fix! That hubby of mine is pretty dang smart & even though I sometimes hate it, I'm thankful he includes me in these "joint ventures" around the house!

So, I am proud to now add "water heater extraordinaire" to my list of "skills"! If any of you need your elements changed in your water heaters anytime soon, call me! My services are pretty cheap :)