You're Doing it Wrong!

......... Yeah, I probably am.

But that's OK, 'cuz....

I don't know what I'm doing!!

Let me repeat.......

Whew. OK, I got that off my chest.

You see, we're new to this. This rural thing. Brand-spanking-new. That's why we called it, "Adventures in Deer Trail". It's our adventure of going from city to rural, with no knowledge, prior experience, or help.

.....OK, so we've gotten LOTS of help from our neighbors. :-) Thank you!!

We're going to do alot of things wrong. We don't know what alot of things are. We don't know how to do alot of things! And to top that off....I'm an un-lucky clover. Everything I touch, turns to....broken. Yup. Broken. And to top that off.....we're doing it on almost no budget. Ugh.

We come from the city. We are so naive about rural life. Even after ten months. Neither one of us have ever lived outside a busy city. We've lived all our lives in the hustle & bustle of city life. Not just any city either; Metropolitan. The South Florida metro area to be exact. Here's a place where there's a 7-11 or a Walgreens on every corner. You are walking distance from the gas station, the library, and the grocery store. There's a McDonald.s, Taco Bell, and Dairy Queen on every main road. You are pretty much spoon-fed every convenience known to man. This is what we're used to. Not dirt roads, wild animals, and crazy weather.

...........That is so not like what it is out here!

But it's always been a dream of hubby & mine to have land, live away from the congestion, have lots of critters, and to be partially self-sustainable. But, OMG! We had no idea how different it was going to be! Neither one of us had families that lived in rural areas. Friends? They all lived in the city too. Many things we've come across is shocking. Not in a bad way, just a surprise.

I've done alot of venting on my personal facebook page. I know I probably bother the rural lifers with my venting. Sorry. I'm not bitching, but sometimes things are such a shock, that I have to voice my surprise.....and I'll admit, sometimes it's with a negative attitude. Like when I found out that the fire dept (not ours, the next town over) charges to come out on a call. I handled my facebook post poorly, but it was so surprising. I mean, I know that if you are transported via ambulance, you get charged in the city, but not for the FD to just come out. But, it's different out here. The FD is on it's own, without much financial support of the county. Or the roads! Wow, have I vented about the roads. But please! Dirt roads?! I have  never, ever, driven on a dirt road in my life. I didn't know the sand could throw your car 10 feet over into the ditch in 3 seconds flat.

But I digress.... We will make alot of mistakes on our adventure. We not only moved to a rural area, but we purchased a 'fixer-upper' house. It needs alot of love and work. We'll do alot of things wrong. We won't know what some things are, or how to build it, use it, or fix it. We know nothing about wells, septic tanks, or raising animals. We know nothing of foxes & foxholes, hawks & coyotes. We will ask alot of questions, ask for a bunch of advise, and probably ask for alot of help. But, we will learn. It will take some time, and I'll vent often.

My posts, both here, and on my facebook page, will have what we're working on, and the mistakes we've made. Stories of how things went wrong, and how things are going. Some posts will be full of forelorning, and others full of accomplishment. We're taking everything in stride, but we are determined to get through it. It's a tough road to travel, alone, and with a measly income to make it happen.

So yes, I'm doing it wrong.

But we will learn, and eventually learn the way, and do it right!

The Dishwasher Disaster

Today's adventures....

So when we moved in here last July, we had to buy a shitload of appliances. We didn't have a washer, dryer or dishwasher. No laundrymat within 45 minutes, and you ain't gonna see ME outside with a washboard, so we needed those! We also had to buy a hot water heater as the one that was here was zzzz-zapping & tripping the breaker. The dishwasher was an indulgence.

Yeah. New appliances.

So today's story is about the dishwasher. In August, we finally got around to installing the dishwasher. Yep. All installed. It's not hard to install a dishwasher.....water line goes in, drain line goes out, same color wires get connected.  Binga, banga, boom. One hour, done.

Only problem is the house wiring is all frakked up, and the breaker trips. We didn't wire it wrong. I double checked. We went in the basement & found the electrical line up in the drop ceiling had been spliced here, and there, and who knows where. My guess, since the dishwasher didn't even get the chance to get turned on, is that the wires are flipped. Black/white. Ugh. Yeah. I'm not gonna try & wire it backwards just in case. We'll wait 'til we can higher a real electrician. I mean, we also have a sub-panel that has to be re-wired correctly so that we have working outlets in the exercise room & outside. *sigh*

So anyway, this means that the dishwasher has been sitting there, installed, but never powered on. Just sitting there. The water wasn't even turned on.

For the last few days, we've been complaining about a rancid smell in the kitchen. I've been checking everywhere....under the sink, under the stove, garbage area, etc. Couldn't find it. Today, I pin-pointed it to one area....the dishwasher. So I opened it up, just to see. OMG! There was a big scum coated puddle in the bottom of the dishwasher. And it REEKED! That was our smell.

How the hell? It's never been turned on. The water is shut off. ............

Then I saw it. The drain hose. The drain hose from the dishwasher runs to a little side spout thingie (I know, so technical) on the garbage disposal.  It seems - and to which it had never occurred to me - that for the last eight months, whenever the disposal would get filled with nasty water (from un-churned & chopping the food), it would go into the drain hose, and into the dishwasher to sit. Eight months! Nasty, food contaminated water, sitting in the base of the dishwasher getting rancid. Never draining.

So, I/we removed the hose, the water line, the electrical wires, and pulled it out. We took the dishwasher outside & let it drain. Let me tell you, that is a simple explanation as to what happened.  It wasn't that simple. The damn thing barely fit in there....getting it out was hell!

But it is done. The whole area has been sprayed with bleach, 'cuz the nasty water leaked a bit in the kitchen.

The worst of it.....knowing we were up close & breathing this nasty stuff. We were working on it for about an hour, up close & personal. Hubby kept joking that we could get airborne botulism from the foody-water. Yeah, found out he wasn't exactly kidding. There's a number of things in this whole scenario that could have made us real sick. Still may.

No one has puked yet, but we're still waiting to see if anyone gets sick. I'm wondering if the moldy water is what has had my throat feeling like it's being squeezed for the last month....not the chickies. Hmmmmmm