Most expensive five year old birthday ever

Ok, probably not THE most expensive ever.  This was a lot more than we’d intended on spending and it’s not what you think.  I’ll do a run over the gifts.  He got a bike early because his scooter broke.  He found a couple of the presents *sigh*.  Two days ago as a joint-birthday gift we got an Xbox 360 (for he and I).  Granted I REALLY wanted the thing so that was more of my doing.  He’ll get plenty of use out of it.  I digress.

So what’s the deal?  I thought this was expensive?  Well let me tell you a story of how you can double the cost of what we’d bought up until this point.

Well here goes.  I’ll start at Sunday, it’s raining most of the day.  When I go outside from the basement I didn’t think twice about the water running about.  It was raining hard at times.  I continue what was I doing.

Monday I notice the water is still running but it’s drainage surely.  I didn’t think anything about it and went on with my business.  After heavy rain it’s not unusual for water to stand in our lower yard.

So then Tuesday our neighbors inform us their yard is partially flooded.  I thought “geez people it’s just the water draining!”  So I investigate and sure enough this doesn’t appear to be drainage.  HMM.  I look around and find no visible water leaks.  We have no pipes on that side of the house aside from the one running to a spicket and our sink.  I see no leak indications from inside the house or anywhere else for that matter.

Wednesday morning I look again and the water hasn’t relented one bit.  I can actually see a current in the water so it’s not just standing.  I’m completely baffled at this point.  She called a plumber and he said to look at the meter and watch it.  There is a little triangle shaped dial on the thing and it’s a flow indicator.  If it’s moving, it means water is flowing.  If it’s sorta moving it could mean it’s a small leak.

Wednesday afternoon.  I get home and promptly check the meter.  The flow indicator is not only spinning but it’s bookin’ it.  Wow, this is a HUGE leak.  Or is it?  I know that if that much water is flowing that it’ll be visible at the source.   I walk to the point where water enters our house.  Dry as a bone.  I walk to the back yard and hear a sound.   Running water.  I look down and there it is, in all of it’s glory; a water hose that had been left running.

OH MY GOD!

At this point we had no idea how long the water had been running.  I turned it off and checked the meter.  Bingo, flow meter is dead.  I rush in to tell of the good news and realize on the way there is going to be some bad news.  It wasn’t a leak but now we have to pay for the water.  I tell her to get the utility bill and estimate price per gallon. 

We checked the bill.  We did a little math and then proceeded to freak the fuck out.  We estimated that 29,000 gallons of water had flowed in the time period it was left on.  TWENTY NINE THOUSAND gallons.  Price per unit is $0.85.  Do that math.  So we’re freaking out obviously and I’m trying to find out how to read a meter correctly.  She is calling her mom.  We’re telling the kids to shush and simma down!  Are we going to have a $20,000+ water bill?

She turns the bill over and it’s price per UNIT.  100 gallons = 1 unit.  Talk about being relieved.  Ok, so the bill is “only” going to be $300+ this month.  You know what?  We’ll pay a 300 dollar bill ANY DAY OF EVER over a twenty something THOUSAND dollar bill.

So we turn our attention now to how/why/when.  How did the water turn on?  Did I leave it on after pressure washing our porch?  Did the neighbor’s kids do it?  Did our kid do it?

First we estimated 29,000 gallons used.  Then I went outside to the meter and timed 1 gallon.  It was 15 seconds per gallon.  That’s 4 gallons per minute.  We put 4 into 29000.  That’s 7250 which we divided by 60 and got 120ish.  120 hours divided by 24 turns out to be 5 days.

We determined the water had been turned on at some point Saturday.  Glad I was off the hook!  Weee!  But who turned it on?

It all started Saturday when we’re baby sitting for my sister.  I was down with a cold, as I still am, so they took the kids outside.  It was hot and steamy as most July days are in Georgia.  Our oldest, 5, decides he wants to play with the Elmo sprinkler.  He isn’t quite sure how to hook it up or perhaps he’s distracted by something and turns the water on and walks away and oh look, a chicken!

So there you have it.  Our five year old did it.  I did notice the elmo sprinkler sitting out in the yard and that sort of keyed me in.  It all fits into place and the evidence mounted up.  He admitted to doing it though after a little coaxing and assurance that he wouldn’t get into trouble.  It was simply an accident and we were very stern in talking to him about turning it on ever again.

The neighbor didn’t care and was really nice about it.  I looked this morning and sure enough the water is drying out.

And now you know how this is the most espensive birthday ever for a five year old.  Ok, well for OUR five year old.

-The End

Day 6: End of wonky house

Well we’re all better now or close to it, somewhere around 90% I’d say.  I was reading a magazine this morning and it had “11 steps to better eating in 2008″.  As I read through them I realized that we already had the fundamentals of eating healthier as a habit.  I’ll summarize a little bit.

Eat several meals a day.  Why?  When you eat a large meal your body will only use a portion of that meal as energy, the rest gets stored away as, you guess it, fat.  Eating several meals keeps your body in a constant state of energy consumption.  You don’t get the ups and downs of eating 3 large meals, or worse, some people eat 1 gigantic meal a day.

Balance your meals.  This is a combination of a couple of the points in the magazine.  When I say balance I mean you have ratios of each nutrient you intake.  The three big ones: FAT, PROTEIN, CARBOHYDRATES.   Balance does a couple of things.  First it helps regulate blood sugar and keeps you from getting a rush then crashing.  Second, protein is essential to good health because your lean body mass (muscle) is built/maintained/repaired from it.  Some diet plans have different ratios (zone, atkins, etc).  You’ll see them like this 40/40/20  or 30/40/30  (carb/protein/fat).  We try to stick to 40/40/20 with each meal and if each meal isn’t that ratio we try to end the day with the ratio.  It is literally a balancing act!  FitDay provides a chart to show you ratios.

Drink water.  This should go without saying but water is vital to the body.  We’re mostly water and all of our body functions depend on water.  A half gallon a day is sufficient but if you train or if it’s a very hot dry day, you might need more.

Caffeine!  This was a little surprising to me as I’ve heard that this one is sometimes frowned upon.  A little caffeine in the morning with a meal is something of a catalyst for the metabolism apparently.

That was just a couple of the pointers the article gave.  Small balanced meals with sufficient water intake is probably the keystone to healthy nutrition.  The other half of the total equation is actually training and since I haven’t been the gym in a couple of weeks… I’ll hold off on that topic for now!

until next time . . .

50% through the day – Update!

I have pharyngitis. It will come to the relief of the wife and kids that I won’t die from a sore throat.

Another side update. We’re tracking our intake once again on www.fitday.com – If you haven’t seen or heard of this site, then you have now.

Problem: I CAN’T LOSE WEIGHT
Cause: I HAVE NO IDEA!
Solution: Track what you eat. Everything. All of it. Every single bite.

You’ll find that tracking your daily food intake can be quite eye opening. The old adage is true. Eat right, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water and you will, for the most part, be healthy. No, it is not a cure all for everything. If you’re going to go through life, you might as well try to live up to your potential, yes?