Between a rock and a hard spot...

Have you ever felt you were caught between a rock and a hard spot?

It is not a pleasant feeling, whether it's family disagreements, customer client relationships, or between friends. It may involve ethical situations, even near life or death situations. How to survive?

I found myself contemplating these things, as I watched a hole being dug on my property by $175/hour  worker! It started out simply enough..as I was leaving, I noticed some water running down my driveway. Strangely, it was not raining. Even more disconcerting was that it was coming from underneath the driveway pavement. Most disconcerting of all, it was on my side of the water meter...as every home owner knows..that means it's your problem!

Call before you dig (811) - I knew there was a gas line...Is this an emergency? Well..(pause)..I asked for the definition...hmmm..(longer pause)..the difference being a couple of hours vs potentially a couple of days. I began visualizing a back hoe catching the gas line. Now, even though it was on the utility side of the meter, if I do it, then it's mine! Then I thought of how many hundreds of dollars I may already owe the utility for the water lost..and, just because the water was coming out at a spot didn't mean that's where the leak was..if we broke the water line, then no water to the house...yes, it was an emergency, I said.

Good enough the operator said....all utilities showed up within the hour... impressive..thankfully, I didn't have to pay...I started to hand dig myself..after digging down about 18 inches and about 2 foot diameter..I began to realize..if this is deeper, or not exactly there..I could end up with a big chunk of driveway dug up, my driveway access blocked, and my wife upset...now, that's an emergency!

Time for Plan B..sleep on it..! The next morning, I called a couple of friends (always a good Plan B)..sure enough, one of them had a reference..(see how important friends are!). However, leak detection was going to be minimum $300 and no guarantee..plastic line, interference....hmmm..(long pause, again)...he said, if it looks like you got the spot, we can just go for it...I was pretty sure, so I said ok!

Pretty soon, my small opening became twice as big, and twice as deep, by hand, by my $175/hour worker. Then, almost on cue, the line appeared. A couple more buckets, and it was exposed...between a rock (actual rock), and a hard spot (2 inch diameter fir tree root). Besides the fancy electronic equipment (which we didn't use) and the shovel, he had the necessary tools and pieces to fix my line. Examination of the small piece removed revealed a 2 inch long lazy S stress crack in the thick walled pipe. All told, two hours. By now, it was raining cats and dogs, and huge water droplets...but the repair seemed good to go, and turning on the water didn't add to the deluge.

Done. The water pipe, now no longer between a rock and a hard spot, should be good for another 20 years. I made some new contacts. My relationship with a few friends was reinforced, and my wife was not upset! I survived. You can too...pause to think, ask advice, trust your friends, have some faith and confidence, and try to do the right thing!