St. Simon’s Island, Charleston, SC

LP Bowls at The Market in Charleston, SC

Last night we were cleaning up after dinner when Celeste’s Uncle Johnny got a call from his neighbor. The neighbor’s boat had sunk while tied to his dock and he was looking for some help. The three men and two teenage boys in the house made our way to the neighbor’s dock and found what looked like a lost cause to me.

The boat was on it’s side and all but the bow was under water. The tide was coming in and was pushing the boat under the floating dock. Lots of ideas were contributed (I, an English major was conspicuously silent), but Celeste’s cousin Ricky, an engineer, came up with a plan involving straps hooked to the dock’s pylons, Johnny’s boat, a couple of pieces of lumber and a lot of manpower.

Thankfully we were able to get the boat level and as the tide started to go out we were able to get the boat high enough in the water to start bailing out the boat and then get the bilge pump working. Four hours later we had it on a trailer in Johnny’s driveway and Ricky was working on the engine trying to get the saltwater out and WD-40 in. Keep in mind the last couple of hours of the project were done in the dark.

Pictured below is the boat on the trailer this morning.

On the Cooper River, Charleston SC.

So apparently the dude who installed our washer and dryer thought that the setup pictured below would be adequate for venting the dryer. As a result our laundry room became a sauna. Literally, the wallpaper started coming off the wall.

The installer also didn’t seem to know the difference between hot and cold since he hooked the hot water hose to the cold input and vice versa.

While I made a trip to the hardware store for a new vent kit, Celeste called the store that sold us the appliances. The third person she talked to was the operations manager and he asked her what she’d like him to do. When she said she’d like a refund for the original vent kit we’d purchased from them ($19.95) he said he couldn’t do that since it was a delivery issue. Whaaaaat? The fourth person she talked to said that he’d be happy to refund the cost of the vent kit.

The new vent kit was successfully installed by yours truly and seems to be working properly. Celeste’s head came close to spinning off, but a couple of margaritas later she seems to be working properly too. Same with yours truly.