The Pond, the Pump, and the Triumph of Persistence over Reason

Part I


Buster here, reporting on the ongoing mechanical melodrama at The Pond! It's Monday in New Hampshire and not raining... what's wrong with this picture??? It's just a matter of time before the waters pour from the sky we know they're coming. The humomm & dad are back from the lake, and the score is:

Pump: 2 !!!
Humans: Zero !!!!

SO NOW WHAT????



Water pumps represent a technology so simple and arcane that nobody really knows anything about them anymore. In this case, a pump is necessary to bring water from the pond to the cottage.

Talk about challenged <------the humans are pump-challenged. How hard is it to put in a pump?? Like don't you just plug it in?? They say NOPE------> I think they're just stalling.

They didn't bring us this time because of the "no water" situation and the fact that they had to put all their CONCENTRATION on installing the new motor... the new motor is installed but now there's something else wrong! They do have a list of the many things it may be:

1. Bad foot valve
2. Bad impeller
3. Bad seals
4. Leak in the cottage plumbing
5. Stupidity of some sort

Well, here's what happened to the Old Pump:



See the motor casing? Bad thing!

So Step One was the Interment of the Old Pump with full military honors. Tears were shed, the crowds wailed. The cracked cranium (upper right) reminded many of Britain's George III and America's George II.


Step II: The Presentation of the New Pump with appropriate Pomp & Circumstance. Great hope among the masses.



Step III: The Installation of the New Pump upon its throne. Much anxiety among the peasantry
.


IV: The Testing and Trial of the New Pump. The Proletariat are discontent. "It ain't the Old Pump!" It runs. Nothing but hot air is discharged. Rather like the federal government.


Step V: The Inquiry and Search for Clues...


A potential culprit? Could such drama be the result of a treasonous foot-valve? These nasty critters lurk at the end of a hundred feet of piping under the Pond. Nasty to replace!

Could the fact that the air charge in the water tank is registering zilch point doodly-squat have anything to do with it?

A neighbor suggests that Mr. Beaver may have chewed up the PVC piping--somewhere!

Meanwhile.......


Life goes on in the Provinces. The Blueberries emerge, silhouetted by The Pond.



Hawkweed emerges in its orange glory.




This is what Hawkweed looks like close-up.




The trout rise...



A warm and cozy cottage beckons!

Dang! WE NEED WATER!!!!!!!


Part II


Monday next...

The pre-charged air tank is adjusted to precisely 38 psi, in accordance with its long-ignored instructions. The pump does not work.

A new foot valve is installed under the pond. The pump does not blink--total failure!

All seals and plumbing are checked. Misery.

All alternatives except one have been explored. The remaining option is so implausible that it boggles the mind. Could it be?

The pump is disassembled. The check-valve (pre-installed on the New Pump) has been put in improperly. The fix requires thirty seconds. The pump works.



Victory! Seventeen fatted pretzels and a bottle of Sam Adams Boston Ale are offered the the Cosmic Pump Goddess in ritual thanksgiving.



The Expeditionary Force returns to its home-base in Connecticut, and the Pump Goddess provides a sign that all is well.



Tomorrow, I shall return! The natives are abuzz with tales of renegade beaver plundering and pillaging their little domain. Buster to the rescue!

Cheers,

Buster the Pumpmeister