Word of the Day

Prefix (n.), the act of completely breaking a partially broken object before calling in a professional.

The Tale of the Flying Frog

HTP and I did some landscaping work yesterday in our backyard. One of our many projects was the installation of a "spitter" for our fountain. A "spitter" is a pond ornament which comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. They are normally attached to an underwater pump and water from the pond "spits" gently from one or more orafices back into the pond. I don't actually need a "spitter" because I don't have a pond to put it in. I have a fountain. What I did need was a decorative way to add water to my fountain so I wouldn't have to fight with a long hose every morning in order to refill our fountain. And so begins The Tale of the Flying Frog.

The other day when HTP and I were out shopping, looking for a decorative way to fill our fountain, we came across a frog "spitter". He was so cute and innocent sitting there on display at the Home Depot near our house. He gently spit water from the edge of the display pool. HTP and I looked at each other (HTP knows me and my addiction to frogs) and after some discussion, we decided that we could rig up this frog "spitter" so that it could be used as the decorative fountain filler we needed. We bought all the supplies that we thought we'd need to attach our new frog to our irrigation line. We happily returned home with a whole bag full of supplies and connectors and such and the glue to hold them all together and my new frog.

With all these supplies in hand, HTP and I leapt into action. I found an old clay pot for my new frog to sit on by the edge of fountain. HTP glued pipe and fittings together. I won't tell you what he said as he gently fit the flexable hose to my new frog's rear end. Anyway, all the fittings were in place. My new frog was sitting happily overlooking my fountain at just the right angle to spit water gently into the bottom pool of the fountain. HTP decided that we should try out the system. Just in case. He wanted to make sure all the fittings were tight and there wouldn't be any leaks. HTP turned on the water. My poor frog became airborn. He flew backwards and pressure washed the windows of my house and before I could scream, "Turn off the water!", he spouted a fountain of water higher then the roof of our house, drenching me in the process. He would have continued to fly but he was tethered tightly to the end of a hose. Thank goodness for that. I'm just happy he didn't land in one of our neighbor's yards. HTP turned off the water and my frog finally alit. I was reminded of those water rockets that my brother played with as a child. HTP and I looked at each other. At least there weren't any leaks. Now what? We'd never thought about water pressure. Thankfully, HTP and I rarely throw anything away. HTP still had a tub of irrigation pipe fittings and such from the past when we used to install our own landscaping. He dug through the tub and found a few fittings that might work to fix our flying frog problem. After much cutting and glueing, HTP and I decided to again make an attempt. This time I held firmly onto my frog so he wouldn't fly and give the whole neighborhood a shower. HTP turned on the water. If I hadn't held onto my frog he'd have flown. HTP made a few minor adjustments. Eureka! I now have a frog "spitter". No more flying frog. He currently sits calmly on a terra cotta pot by the edge of my fountain. Every Tuesday and Thursday (he's on a timer) he'll gently spit water into my fountain. And so ends The Tale of The Flying Frog. I hope.

Murphyism of the Day

Van Gogh's Law

Whatever plan one makes, there is a hidden difficulty somewhere.

Biondi's Law

If your project doesn't work, look for the part you didn't think was important.