My thesis work has a lot to do with the study of stochastic processes, which is essentially the study of something that is random. It is often very difficult to describe natural phenomenon in exact terms, so they are modeled as random processes. The more information you can determine about a random process, the more you can predict its behavior, and therefore counteract its effects.
For example, your cell phone signal bounces off all kinds of objects (trees, people, buildings, etc.), and as a result, the tower hears a bunch of different echoes, which can often cause confusion as to what the real signal is. If the tower knew where every echo was coming from, that would be no problem; but in the real world, you don’t have perfect knowledge of where every person or building is at any given time. So at some point, a bunch of nerdy engineers went around with measuring equipment, and tried to come up with a general understanding of how a phone signal will act in different environments. With all this data, you can come up with a way to describe these random echoes mathematically. The problem is that no matter how accurate the model is, ultimately you’re dealing with a random process, which is, well, random. You can perfect the math until you’re blue in the face, but often times nature throws you a curve ball that wrecks it all.
So where on earth am I going with all this?
Well essentially, life is a random process, and despite all your best plans, things just go haywire. In my case, the statistical anomaly in my model presented itself in the form of a backhoe and a jackhammer.
See, last week I smelled gas in my laundry room, which as you know is not a good thing. I called the utility company, hoping for a minor leak in a valve. It turns out that in the 50s they often ran gas pipes underneath the concrete foundation, and unfortunately for me, these lines were leaking. As you can imagine, it’s not very easy to service lines buried under concrete, nor is it safe to have a gas leak underground like that. The solution for this little problem is to have new gas lines run onto the roof and then drilled down into the house.
The big bummer is that once a leak is detected, the utility company turns off your gas and absconds with the meter. The bigger bummer is that it takes a bit of time to coordinate a plumber to do the work and get the city’s approval. The biggest bummer is when you realize that without gas you cannot take a hot shower, or cook food.
It also appears that my next home improvement project is learning how to patch drywall. Thankfully, this is the only place that needs patching, as the heater and water heater are conveniently located right next to closets. My wallet on the other hand, might not be patchable.
So why the backhoe and the jackhammer? Well, entropy decided to toss one last sucker punch, in that the gas meter happened to be too close to a window to satisfy current safety regulations. This means that gas lines to the house had to be moved a few feet, which involves cutting a giant hole in the street. My yard made it by with only one minor hole, but the poor street might never look the same.
Now after a week of brisk showers and microwave cooking, I’m glad to be back on the natural gas bandwagon. Even if it means the home ownership honeymoon is coming to an end. (Well, maybe not, I still am pretty giddy about the house).
And I did beat entropy in one small way. The tile underneath my oven has never been cleaner. Take that nature!
D: BUMMER! But at least you are getting it fixed & didn’t one day turn on a light & go BOOM! So it’s a good thing.
I remember the time I went down in the bacement of the first house we owned to find a creek. That is the day that it took us 3 hours to figure out how to turn off & drain a hot water heater (which is not as easy as it sounds cause it just keeps refilling!). or the time that the furnace blew it’s fan & I came home to the smell of burning plastic leading me to think the house was on fire.
Ah good times! BEST OF LUCK! Make friends with your microwave! :)
Oh man. That bites the big one. At least it’s fixed now!
What a pain! At least you can look on the bright side of things!
They actually took the meter away? That sounds odd - I’ve been through this a couple years ago when we had a gas leak under the house. Thankfully they could access the pipes to do the repair work by digging through the dirt under the house and only had to cut a small wooden porch surface. But until the repair was done the utility company just “locked off” the meter, so the gas is turned off and the valve is padlocked. It was not fun but it was a hell of a learning experience!
And yes, patching drywall is easy-peasy compared to other home repairs that are much trickier and/or scarier - like plumbing or electrical!
Your inspection didn’t catch this? No home warranty? Oh boy, that really SUCKS!!! Maybe the Shedquarters needs to get up and running early to create a little extra cash? just a though. Hugs to you, and yeah … at least you didn’t discover the leaks by going BOOM!
I hear ya! I just bought a new house and had no idea what repairs I was getting myself into. Even though its a headache it’s so worth it!
The honeymoon is now over!!! I’ll never forget the look on your face when PNM drove up with that huge backhoe…I thought you were going to stroke! Hope the heartburn has subsided now that you have hot water and a stove again! Better a big bill than to be blown up…Oh the mixed blessing of home ownership. Welcome to the club!
Love ya~Mom
I recently listened to SK talk about stochastic processes as it relates to antennae on ships (it was a little less than thrilling…to he honest). But the jackhammer situation, it has me all sorts of intrigued, they just finished doing something very similar on both streets along our property line (we live on a corner), there is black tarry looking pavement where it was originally pristine and gray. It makes us sad. I am glad that your house didn’t blow up though. That would have sucked.
Glad things are back to normal with you!
LOL!!! You petting your stove in deep sadness was just too funny! Glad you are patched up. Good luck to your wallet!
wow, all i can really think to say is, “sucks to be you.” and some semi witty comment about how my hair never curls in the exact same way and is always amuck.
never knew you could cause this much trouble, did ya?
glad you have hot water again.
Hey dude,
Did you change your site??? It doesn’t look the same, is it my computer or are you revamping your site? Waiting patiently for a new post as I know you are slammed with your
Thesis… Love ya Mom