TINY TROUBLE

It is amazing that a little tiny thing like a hose clamp no bigger than a penny could cause so much trouble.

I wanted to get my hot tub filled and ready for the summer. It gets emptied and cleaned out in the fall to prepare for the winter months. While my handyman was mowing the lawn, he turned on the water and I used the garden hose to start filling the hot tub. As this was going on, he came onto the back porch and asked, "What is all this water all over the floor?" I hadn't noticed any water on the floor because I was on the other side of the tub. The motor unit would not turn on and we realized it was leaking - big-time.

We grabbed the bucket and began to bail the water out of the tub right away. When he disconnected the tank from the tub, we needed to figure out where the leak was coming from. Since by then it was getting dark outside, we left the project for the next day.

I sent an email to the dealer about the leak (only one dealer in Ohio of my brand) and received a reply the next day. He told me what to look for and why.

The next opportunity we had a couple days later, we took the cover off the tank and opened it up to reveal the motor and hoses. Sure enough, as the dealer had predicted, a hose had come off the water valve because the hose clamp didn't hold during the winter. We did have a bad winter here, and it did get cold on that back porch.

The hose was replaced on the connection and a new hose clamp was put on and everything else checked out okay. Again, it was dark outside when we finished putting the tank back together, so tomorrow all we have to do is hook the tank back up to the tub and refill with water.

I was trying to get the tub ready for Tuesday/Wednesday when I will have company for a few days. I thought my girlfriend would enjoy some relaxing time, but that tiny clamp caused a week's worth of trouble. We must take obstacles one step at a time, one day at a time to overcome them. I have had my share, but so far I'm keeping up and overcoming.

The back porch is cleaned up and ready for the summer. I need a few days off, so I will take this week and recover from a surgical procedure after a week of house cleaning and repair work in preparation for this week. I hope to be back at the end of the week.

Until then, may all your troubles be little tiny ones too!