Plumbing Work

The plumbers came around today and put the vertical pipes in for our hot water heater and bathroom. The floors of these rooms will have a concrete base so only these pipes had to be installed. The other pipes will go in once the framing is complete. 

Since we are doing the electric ourselves, it is inevitable that there will be a few small hurdles to overcome. The most recent problem was the length of the plastic pipe we buried from the power pole and fed under the foundation. It seems the pipe that we are going to feed the telephone line through was so short that it would end up below the concrete floor level, thus rendering it useless. After assesing the feasibility of building an intricate network of string and tin cans to replace the phone, I realized that I had some extra plastic piping. So with a little tape and a 30cm length of pipe, I ensured that we will be disturbed at least once a month during dinner by someone trying to sell us the latest green tea fad diet. This pipe will also be our conduit to Internet shopping, but at a much slower rate than I had hoped. 

Our little village has been subjected to a broadband Internet monopoly that easily rivals anything in China. The provider charges insane setup fees and yet they do not have the resources to provide broadband to everyone in our huge metropolis of 2,000 people. For the last two years, the entire village has been lobbying the national phone company, NTT, to come in and oust the oppressors. They have finally arrived and there are now multiple providers going door to door soliciting business. Free setup, free service for 2 months, the list goes on. But not all the way to our house. The area that can be serviced before this winter literally stops about 200 meters from our house. So it could be another year or two before we can illegally download music and movies at high speed.