Looking for an ingenious solution to a problem? I am always struck by the inventiveness of my husband, Jim. When we first arrived at our homestead, we had a significant problem with sump pumps. Regardless of the brand we tried, they only lasted six months. We are located on a high water table, and our sump pump was continually running, something that even the best pump could not handle. Jim likes to ponder a problem, and he usually comes up with a solution. His idea was laughed at by most folks in the area, but he pressed on. Jim needed to come up with a way to lighten the load on the pump, so he buried three 55 gallon food grade plastic barrels in the path of the pipe that was taking the water away from the house, reducing the pumping length time for the pump.
The man who brought the concrete to cover it laughed and told Jim it would never stay put but it has been in the ground seven years now giving us an extra source of water. Jim poured a cover for it and set a ring into the wet concrete. The small pump we found at Buchheit allows us to draw up water from the barrels that have taken the load off of the sump pump.
This is an example of what homesteaders and farmers all across our area are doing daily, coming up with a witty invention for a difficult problem. I love a man with skills! Remember to compliment your resource guy or gal on something that they do well. Familiarity breeds contempt, which means if we are not careful, we will take those closest to us for granted. Go on! Say something nice, it’s good for your soul.
Jim even added power, so I didn’t have to run an extension cord. Necessity causes you to come up with that out-of-the-box solution. This is true for any line of work. Think outside the box today!
Anne May
