I know its cliche but appliance really do rally together to conspire against their owners. Either that or they are like a multitude of fickle, jealous Bedouin wives; pay too much attention to one and soon none of them are doing what you want.
First was the water heater.
Taking a shower one winter morning, I noticed midway through lathering up my shampoo, that the water was slightly cooler than normal. A few moments later, it was cool. A moment after that, it was downright freezing.
Don't get me wrong, cold showers have their place. It's an age-old practice I'm sure, and probably more effective for men than women, but still, its an old standby. However, I had not just gotten home from a hot date with Antonio Banderas or Hugh Jackman with less-than-satisfying results, so I personally was not in need of this particular cure. I was, in fact, newly awake from my warm bed and pleasant sleep, and just waking up. I didn't need this.
I recoiled from the icy jets of water, nearly downing the shower curtain in my attempt to escape frostbite, turned off the shower, and grabbed a towel. It was Sunday Morning. No plumber in the Northern Hemisphere was going to be willing to come to my rescue. I took a chance and called Bob.
Bob did some work for me during the HUD and Short Sale debacle involving the apparently illegal and possibly disastrous rainwater collection system, and he seemed trustworthy enough and he was freelance, so you never know. I called and left a message, suggesting that I could pay cash if he could come today.
A half hour later I got a call from Bob's wife. She informed me that he was out with their grandson, hunting, but that she had called him and told him he needed to come to my aid because "that poor dear has no hot water and its so cold!". God bless insistent wives and obedient husbands.
In late afternoon, Bob showed up with his 10 year old grandson, moved the rifles out of the cab of his truck and grabbed his tool belt. I took from the lack of animal carcass strapped to the work-van that the hunt had been unsuccessful; unless they were hunting snipe.
Upon inspection of my defunct water heater, Bob discovered that the heating element had burned out. An easy fix. I'm pretty sure that the grandson did more work than Bob, and definitely more leg work. God Bless Child Labor too.
I paid him cash. He was happy.
