Adventures in Sprinkler Maintenance

I thought I was "all that and more" because I replaced four sprinkler heads all by myself the other day. These heads have not worked properly for 2 or 3 years. I finally rounded up enough courage to tackle the project. My dad showed me how last year, and I decided to give it a try. I was strutting around like a rooster in a hen house (I know -- a bit of a gender stretch) because I was successful. I'm glad a camera crew was not on the premises when I went about adjusting them, because it was pretty comical. But boy, was I proud of myself.

Pride cometh before a fall, as they say. haha

Two days after the installation -- Sunday evening -- Daniel sent me a text message and said that one of the new sprinklers had been shooting in his bedroom window and soaked his bed, his tv, piles of clothing, among other things. He said there was no damage, but we needed to fix it. I texted back a sheepish "OOPS!"

Dan had not had any experience with sprinklers yet, so I was just going to deal with it after work on Monday afternoon. Shortly after I got home Sunday evening, Daniel arrived home, as well. Before I knew it, he had gone outside with a screwdriver to adjust the head. I heard him hollering and whooping it up, so I went outside to see what all the commotion was about. What I observed was one of the most seriously crazy comedies of my life. He kept turning and turning the screwdriver in the little hole on top of the sprinkler head, but the spray pattern was not changing. I was trying to give advice but did not want to get soaked and wanted him to learn how to fix it. I kept running out of the backyard as the substantial stream of water would come my way, laughing hysterically as I went. Dan just stood there laughing this high pitched cackle as the water hit him. I finally ran over and asked for the screwdriver to see if I could get the thing to turn. He was quite reluctant to turn the job over to me -- he had something to prove to that sprinkler head. When I looked at the tool, I realized he was using a crosspoint (Phillips) screwdriver. No wonder! The job requires a straight head!! Since the water was coming my way, I ran out of the backyard again and changed out the head.

Dan's friend, Ben, was across the street visiting his family. He and his wife heard and saw the commotion and came over to see what in the world was going on. Under Ben's watchful eye, Dan felt the screwdriver engage and started to turn. However, he turned it the wrong way. This time the sprinkler head did a 360 instead of a 180 and he and his friend got soaked. I should say, though, that Ben used Dan as a shield and avoided the worst of it. My son took it, full force, right in the back. Eventually, he turned it the other way and obtained satisfactory results. It was quite an ordeal for poor Dan, but I'll love him forever for taking the bull by the horns and trying until he succeeded.

These are the things of which great memories are made. I imagine it will be one of those stories we reminisce about in years to come. This hits me pretty hard right now as I anticipate his upcoming marriage and move to Idaho. You'll be missed, son. Thanks for the wonderful memory!