The Scoop On Poop #27 
I gave myself permission to take the screens off the windows of our new house, although I felt a little guilty at first. Sort of the way you feel when you first consider ripping the tags off of your pillows. Wow! I’m so glad I did it. I can see clearly now. And, there were no construction police showing up at my door to take me away for removing the screens.
It’s amusing (and insightful) to observe our own behaviors and to consider what makes us tick. How did we get to be so messed up anyway? I’m finished blaming my mother, it’s time to buck up and take responsibility for my own quirkiness.... How does all of this relate to poop? It doesn’t at all. But take the tip on the screens, it’s really cool.
On to poop! It’s been a long winter for our Sweet Pea team. This winters frost has sunk to about two feet and many customers have experienced for the first time, what it’s like to have a frozen sewer or water line. As we’ve busily responded to as many customers as we could physically service, we found ourselves incorporating quite a bit of creativity into our problem solving. It’s almost impossible without a large machine, to dig in the frost. Not much fun either. How do you then, gain access to a frozen drain field? Well, you start a bon fire of course! I was so proud of Chuck on this one. And I thought I’d seen everything this man had to offer over the last twenty years... Surprises are nice.
To those of you we couldn’t get to in time, I want to apologize. In the last fourteen years, it’s been a rare occasion when Sweet Pea said “no, we can’t get there today”, but that’s what we have been forced to say over the last six weeks...it hurts! This is not the Sweet Pea whose goal has always been to offer service beyond compare. It’s painful to think of a loyal, long time customer having to call someone else for a service. We’ve figured out that we can’t do it all, even though we want to. So, our original idea of what service is, is changing. We have to be content knowing we helped as many people as we physically can in a ten hour day (and served them well) and call it good, not insufficient.
Anyway, cover up, it’s not over yet. Even though the sun is shining, the frost is still there and there are more frozen lines to thaw. Want to know a little secret? We thaw those lines with cold water. See? Just when you thought you knew it all, there is more about poop to learn. Should you leave your water dripping? Does this prevent a line from freezing? Actually, it could go either way. The drip may prevent the water line from freezing, but that little trickle into the sewer line can freeze and grow until finally, you’ve got a solid block of ice in the sewer line.
Another repercussion of this winter frost will be surely be some saturated drain fields when the thaw does come. But don’t worry, we’ll be ready for you. Until next time, happy flushing.