We love coleslaw. It’s cheap, easy to make, cool and refreshing. So, when hubby asked me to make some, I gladly jumped on the project and began assembling the few needed ingredients. I asked Jim to get the food processor I use to shred the cabbage and carrot from the hall pantry’s top shelf where we keep things that simply don’t fit in any of the kitchen cabinets.
“Hey, Renie,” Jim called from the hall. “How come the Cuisinart is wet?”
Wet? Huh? I hurried over, and sure enough, the appliance was indeed wet. So was everything else on the top shelf. Overhead, a small leak was oozing out of the slightly cracked ceiling. I knew instantly there was something wrong with the A/C unit even though the house was nice and cool.
A quick trip to the attic told Jim the problem had something to do with the A/C drain line, but he didn’t feel he had the expertise to fix it. Hence the call to son number one, who lives nearby. Later, the two of them descended from the broiling-hot attic with the determination that we needed to call “The Guy.”
Before #1 son left, I reminded him that his father needed help shoring up our back fence which was leaning a bit from last year’s hurricane. I brought up, once again, the forty-seven hours of agonizing labor and painful delivery I went through to birth him. I said, “You owe me!” He rolled his eyes and we laughed. Again.
Long story short, “The Guy,” actually two of them, came over a few days later and took care of the leak. We still have to repair the ceiling that sagged over the weekend and fell in a few places, but we’re thankful the damage was inside a closet and not somewhere else.
If it wasn’t for the coleslaw, we wouldn’t have caught the leak until much later. Probably not until the damage had extended into the hallway. And, if son number one hadn’t come over to help hubby, I might still be waiting to get my fence fixed.
Yay for coleslaw, I say! I think I’ll have some now.
Coleslaw dressing:
- 1 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vinegar
Irene Onorato 