What an absolutely fantastic world we live in! It's just marvelous how nature comes to life when the sun comes out and the temperature rises. The "dead of winter" really is what it says it is. I'm in awe of our world. Every single part of it and not just when it gets warmer. When you take into account how many different places there are to go in the world and all the new and exciting things there are to see, it really puts you in awe of the Creator. I haven't even been to a sixteenth of them yet. There are so many different states, let alone the number of countries there are. I want to see it all! I want to climb the mountains out west, snowboard the slopes in Denver, taste the coffee of Seattle, ride a horse in Oklahoma, round up some cattle in Texas, see the palm trees in California, travel to Arizona just to see a cactus. And that's just here in the states. The furthest I've been out of the country is Canada. I want to see Italy and Rome, Mexico, Africa, Paris, and Australia!!

I simply can't wait to be in Nashville. I don't think there's any other place in the world I could want to live. Of course, I haven't been many places either. But that's the way Tennessee is for me, it makes me not want to find any place better. I don't really think there is a better place. The scenery down there is absolutely breathtaking. The mountains and the wild life. Not to mention Nashville being the heart of music. Being able to go to CMA Fest EVERY year!!! I might just not know how to handle that. Oh, and I can't wait to meet to new writers and musicians!

So I'm basically working ALL weekend...and I'm perfectly okay wit that. Content actually. I may or may not be playing a show with 2 very amazing people April 24th @ The Coffee Gallery. I also may or may not be thinking you should come....

Tuesday morning I didn't wake up with the notion that it would be any different than other Tuesdays, oh but it was. I went to work at the normal 8 a.m. time. Everything, other than having a LONG list of things to do, was normal. Then the phone rang. It was the city. She asked if we had a toilet that was having problems last month. And I said "why yes we did." "Well that explains it then. Oh, sorry. I was just noticing your water bill was extremely high compared to most months. I mean, people are pretty consistent with their water bill. I thought maybe there was something wrong with your meter." "Nope. We had a toilet that kept running for more than one reason." "Yeah, those will kill you. Alright, well you used about "xxxxx" gallons, so..." "Wow! Really?!?! Well thanks for letting me know." "No problem. See ya." I had two options: 1) Tell the boss when she got back. 2) Wait until the water bill showed up for shock and awe. Either way, things like this are quite a blow. No one realized how much that racks up the bill, unless of course you spent a better part of your life in a hardware store remedying these things. I went with option 1, for two reasons: 1) She would find out either way, this way she knew it was coming. 2) If I failed to let her know they had at least called and warned us, she find out later. It wasn't like I was hiding anything. The bill will still be the same no matter when she found out. They weren't going to change it if she suddenly rushed back there and said it was a toilet problem. You still used the water, pay up.

The boss was told when she came in. Mind you, I had never been asked to maintenance the toilet. Only her father, who claimed nothing was wrong with it. Every time I noticed it running, the float was getting stuck underneath the flapper. Solution: Modern toilets don't use the float. Why? Because it's ancient! If the fill valve is replaced, no float, no float/flapper issue. Another problem was the tension rod from the fill valve to the float being extremely bent. A never do this unless you want to reap the consequences move. Mind you, the brother already adjusted it and since then it hadn't kept running. But eventually the rod would just lower itself again. So after explaining what should've been done had someone asked me to do it my boss: "I have begged someone to replace the...fill valve. And NO ONE would. Everyone told me there was nothing wrong with it." Four problems with that statement: 1) I'm sure you didn't actually beg anyone. 2) Clearly, you stumbling over recalling the fill valve reassures me you're just repeating my terminology. 3) You didn't ask everyone and 4) if you had I'm pretty sure only one of them said nothing was wrong with it. This led to "something has to be done about it!!" It wasn't running anymore, but still, this was a good idea. She didn't want her father to do it because apparently he didn't think anything was wrong with it. That and he always wants something in return. Ever heard of charity?!?!? Therefore, I told her my brother would probably do it for a Mocha. She said: "Well why can't you do it??" Well, the truth is, I could. But I've gotten so used to people not asking me to do things because I'm "too young", that I forgot I'm 21 and I didn't even consider myself a candidate. Change out the inside of a toilet it is!! Of course, she wanted me to explain everything so she understood how the whole thing worked. I'm pretty sure it went over her head. Because she interrupted and said "well how long will it take you?" "An hour, hour and a half max." "Okay, so what do you need to...oh I don't know. Do what you have to." After a 15 minute trip to the store. I was back. And 20 minutes later, the toilet was better than new. Let me tell you, pressure sensitive fill valves are remarkable and very compact. Me like! "Man I have to pee again." "Oh good because I want to make sure the water level is set right." "Wait, you're done?!?" "Yes." "No...really. Stop joking. How long until I can pee?" "Well however long it takes you to walk from hear o the bathroom. Get yourself situat--oh, you know the rest. But do me a favor: take the lid off the back of the tank because I want to know how much water it uses." "Uh....Amanda...um...you're not--" "NO!! No, no, no, no, no. I am NOT going in there with you! YOU tell ME how much water goes out of the tank." Apparently the chain got stuck underneath the flapper. I'd never had it do that to me before, but I guess it happened to her all the time. Easily fixable- adjust the chain tension. But seriously?!? I had to sit over the tank for 5 minutes while my boss kept demonstrating over and over and over and OVER how it does it. Every time I went to grab the chain to adjust it, she would grab the flapper and flip it up saying "people must just slam the level down and it makes this thing (?!?! flapper much??) fly up and the chain goes under and gets stuck and holds the flapper up!!" It's called water pressure. It pushes down on the flapper, so to make the flapper go up, a little force MUST be exerted. Haha! She was driving me insane! I came back later and adjusted the chain...to a tee, seriously. Tuesday-I was a plumber.

Five minutes later, the door opened pretty big on a religious discussion. It started when a regular customer came in after I was walking out of the bathroom from adjusting the chain. The whole lent discussion came up. Which brought up what he was sacrificing. And he went into detail about how it was important for him to give up something important to him. If it wasn't important, then it's not a sacrifice. I said that my boss should give up Sunday mornings at home and come to church with me. That's really what got into it. I first said she should give up Sunday mornings at home. And she didn't get it. Thought I was speaking in some code word/phrase. So after many topic changes and many "are you speaking in code again?" questions later. I just said "you should come to church with me." Then it was a back and forth thing. Not so much that we were arguing, but just what she thought. And what the truth was. That's why I'm really digging LOST right now and all of its religious references. And it doesn't only reference one belief either. It's a good topic starter. I don't think she realizes how many people probably think about her and her husband on a weekly if not daily basis. I'm not expecting a Bible to club her on the way to the back door at 6 a.m. in the morning. But if that's what it took, then I'm surely not going to stop God from doing it.

P.S. Apparently I was into organization, lots of numbered lists/points.