Yup. The water heater failed. This photo was when we first bought the house and before Mr. Troutbend moved all his workshop from Colorado. You can't quite see the floor in the photo, but you couldn't see it if you looked down, it's covered with boxes of stuff and rubber mats. Now all soaking on floor side.



The failure manifested itself as water dripping from the top of the unit because the water connections corroded. I wouldn't have known to check it up there for problems. This water heater lasted about 10 years past the six-year warranty, and as any homeowner can tell you about water heaters, it's not a matter of will they fail, but when will they fail.

It was a slow leak, so we didn't notice it until water had worked its way clear to the front of the garage, under all the rubber mats and cardboard boxes that were sitting on the floor. Many bowling ball boxes got wet and are now drying in the sun.

So we'll be picking out a new water heater this afternoon and hoping the DIY installation of it goes smoothly.

Then we will be emptying that side of the garage onto the driveway and organizing things better. This was long overdue anyway; there are unsorted boxes that were moved from Colorado.

The good thing is that the water didn't reach the extensive Beanie Baby and paperback book collections on the other side of the garage, but maybe we'll stick some two by fours under the boxes just in case for the future.

Another good thing is that the trash company will haul off the old water heater. Right now it's on the side of the driveway and until the pickup on Thursday we look so ghetto.

So have a good snicker at our expense and thank your lucky stars you've got a good water heater.

A bright note off subject: Mr. Troutbend bowled a 300 game (all strikes) last Thursday in his league. That's two in the same league year. I'm so happy for him.