Not long after my parents purchased the farm, we went out there one day to take another look and make some plans. The house was about 75 years old and had been empty for some time. Well, we were looking over an area behind the house when suddenly I heard a splintering sound and a splash. I looked around and only the top half of my Dad was visable. The rest of him was underground in the cess pool! This old pool had a wooden cover that had rotted over the years and was hidden by vegetation. My Dad worked as a plummer for many years and he hated nothing more than to "be standing in someone else's s--t" as he worded it. Boy, was he in it now! Once we knew he was not injured, I'm afraid my mother had a good laugh. Once he was out, Mom hosed him down ruthlessly. He never got sick from it and had a very good laugh for years about it. The first thing in the morning, before we moved there, he started digging out a new septic system and leach fields. We later planted a vineyard next to it and did those grapes flourish!

-- Cheryl (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), November 25, 2000

Answers

At one time when my dad was a younger man. Being the enterprising worker that he was. he picked up a good paying job one day. It was empting a septic tank. So he lined the bed of his pick up truck and filled it one bucket at a time untill it was empty and as the pick up had a missing rear window. Well all was going well on the way to to the dump site. Untill just about there and the need to make a emergency stop. Needless to say that he got more than he was expecting that day. And a lot of extra cleaning work that day.

-- Anthony J. DiDonato (didonato@vvm.com), December 01, 2000.

Cheryl Well, your post reminded me of something I've written before but don't recall if it was on here or not. Anyhow, an old dude in these here parts cleaned septic tanks for a livin about 50 years ago. He had an old fuel tank in a little two wheel trailer that he pulled with a car. [We never could figger out how in the world he would always come up with those beautiful old classic cars.] He ran a small hose to the intake of the vehicle engine from the tank. Pop the hood, stick on the vacumn hose and "lett'r rip". He had about a 3 or 4 inch hose, with a shut-off valve at the tank, for the intake or "suckin side". Pull a vacumn on that tank for a little bit and drop the open ended hose in the septic. Open the big valve and watch the "honey" vanish before your eyes--into the fuel tank. Oh he was busy as everybody had to have their tanks cleaned fairly often. Back then even the prosperous village of Noble did not have city sewer! Most houses settin next to "hog run" creek --just ran their open ended lines into the creek without the benefit of a septic tank. Enter Mr Unkl Sam! Well anyhow, bunches of other tanks were around and had to be pumped often. Seemed the old dude just couldn't keep a vehicle runnin very long. He'd get busy loafin, smokin or drinkin coffee, beer or whatever and invariablely forget about the little hose suckin. When the "honey" hit the engine and it died---there was absolutely no way to restart the engine. He lined his vehicles up in a row behind his house---Trophies! Ruined, degraded and distraught! My how times have changed---and for the better! After 20 years on our farm I finally had ours pumped out 2 years ago. Roots had entered via the outlet side and stopped it up so the tank was startin to overflow. $200 and 1 hour later we were in business again. No, don't think I want to take over the old business. I don't have any classic vehicles! Matt. 24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), December 01, 2000.