It is an everyday occurrence that I make some kind of mistake. Most of them are fairly small and not notable. Although, even these little mistakes can be embarrassing.
I had one of these slightly embarrassing mistakes just the other night.
My husband was shucking corn outside on the patio while I was trying to get warm water out of the kitchen sink. I turned the water on and waited. The water seemed to get just a little warm, but quickly cooled off. It is a long run from the water tank to the kitchen in our ranch style house, so I waited longer. Nothing.
I had just asked my husband a couple of days before if he knew how much propane we had left; he said 30 percent the last time he looked. Well, I concluded as I turned off the water that he must have been wrong and proceeded outside to look.
Yes, just as I thought, the meter on the tank was below the last. We are OUT of gas, I thought, GREAT.
I proceeded out to the patio to tell my husband the news. He said he found that hard to believe, but he must have been wrong.
As he came in the house, he noted that the kitchen’s fireplace pilot light was on. We must have gas. I went to check the other fireplace in the living room, after all it was further from the propane tank, but it was also lit.
I moved quickly to check the bathroom just above the water heater. Indeed, there was hot water flowing from the faucet. As I shut the water off, I noticed that the hot water was on the left side – oh no, I had been turning on the right handle in the kitchen.
I returned to the kitchen, turned the correct handle, and waited. . .warm water soon streamed out.
I had to confess to my husband.
My error could be saving grace. I normally do not order propane until the end of August and we would have probably not checked again until after we were totally out.
Catching it now is more like us driving around with the gas warning light on not really knowing how much farther we can really go.
I ordered propane the very next morning after my discovery.
Since then, I have been conserving using the hot water. I had my husband turn off the one fireplace’s pilot light (we can’t actually turn off the other fireplace’s without a major issue).
I know that when I order propane in August, it usually takes a while to get the delivery.
My second error though may turn this saving grace into just a slight reprieve. Today, I forgot about the propane situation for a while and let my daughter take a VERY long shower. . .
I have to confess to my husband.
[…] It was one week ago that I made the discovery of our almost empty propane tank. (In case you missed that little story, you can click here.) […]