I Almost Made Dad Proud

I gotta tell you, I was SOOOO close to a freakin' perfect day. One that would have made my Dad proud!

Awhile ago, we had to get a new riser on our gas meter; a replacement pipe that went from the ground up into the meter.

Here is a picture of our meter after the riser was replaced. When our driveway was poured, they left about a one foot square of dirt around the meter. When the gas company came to replace the riser, they cut away part of the driveway and made the square of dirt into a rectangle of dirt. The guys that cut it away told me that another crew of guys would be around to fill in with new cement, probably in the spring.

The cement guys came today! I heard the ruckus so I went outside to see what was happening. I went inside and about 15 minutes later or so I see the truck pulling out of the driveway. I went out onto the front porch to look at their work.

From the porch, it looked like they filled in the entire rectangle with cement! Ok, I panicked. In my mind, once that cement set, I was worried that any time the cement would expand or contract with the weather, the pipe was in danger of getting crushed or cut or bent and the next thing you know . . . BAM! My house would blow up!

What to do? Ron thought it was ok the way it was done. I guess I should have listened to him but I didn't want to believe him. (Sorry, honey!) I really wanted to call my Dad and ask him. Obviously, that wouldn't work. I did the next best thing - I called my brother Michael!

Michael agreed with my assessment that if the cement was against the pipe, that wouldn't be a good thing. He gave me great step by step instructions on how to correct this problem. I gathered:

* an apple juice plastic bottle that I cut the top and bottom off of, to place around the pipe as a guide

* my little spade I use when I pull weeds from the flower beds

* a box to hold what cement I dig out

* plastic gloves to make sure my hands don't touch the cement

* my camera to make sure I immortalize this momentous occasion!

This IS my first time being allowed to play with cement! Remember, Ron locks up all of the power tools and doesn't let me play with any of the fun stuff. He probably is correct in doing that, but still . . .

I am so excited, I can't even tell you. My whole body is vibrating! I am playing with WET cement! Then I get outside and what do I see?

These guys were smarter than I gave them credit for! They put a plastic piece of pipe around the riser to keep the cement away from the riser! DAMN! I was crushed! When am I ever going to get the opportunity to play with wet cement again?

I truly am so disappointed. I am happy Michael gave me great step by step instructions but I am just beside myself that my golden opportunity has been taken away from me.

I put my stuff away and I started to walk dejectedly back into the house when it hit me. I may NEVER have this opportunity again. I'm going to play in wet cement! Dad would have been so proud of me.