GOLIATH VS. DAVID

David wins again!

Goliath...

One-hundred twenty gallons...yes, 120 gallons!














It was definitely a lot "worse" than it looked.























The grey box was the timer for the solar panels.























Ugly, definitely ugly. Definitely not the Pillsbury Dough Boy.























David...

Fifty gallons.























Professional job (well, sort of)!
























We purchased our new 50-gallon at Lowe's along with the 10% military discount on Saturday, November 12. Add in the hardware and we were set to change our lives once more in our home.

The best thing was that there were no "additional" drives to the hardware store to get "this" or get "that." That was a major first! Usually plumbing projects require "at least" two additional trips to the store...

Not this time...

Lowe's did a great job of making sure I needed all the required hardware plumbing.

I even had parts I didn't need...

RETURN!

The hardest part was extracting Goliath. I thought all of the water drained from it, but when I strapped the appliance truck, and gave a pull, it didn't budge. It took a lot of effort and maneuvering but I finally manage to get Goliath out and onto the back patio.

Once David was hooked up it was time to turn on the main water supply. Then I went and opened up the intake to fill the tank up. A little drip from the intake valve that required a tightening up, but everything else was good to go. The soldering job held up!

I set the thermostate at 120°. A couple of hours later, hot water. I called my wife, who went shopping with her mother, about the great news.

On Sunday, I applied the quake straps to finish up on David.

I then proceeded to work on Goliath knowing there was still water in him.

I laid Goliath on its side. I swung a pick axe into the bottom hoping to puncture the steel tank since I figured it was corroeded, too. Nothing. Solid. Not even a dent.

I then proceeded to remove the drain plug assembly and lifted Goliath to its upright position. All of this water came cascading out. In the water were oily opaque gelatinous globs. I have no idea what they were or where they came from. Never seen anything like it before.

No more lukewarm showers in the mornings and dishes become squeaky clean again.

There was actually steam on our bathroom mirror this morning. That's a good sign.

Yes, all is definitely good.

My wife is very happy now.

OF MEMBERSHIP, WIRELESS, & WATER HEATERS...

My wife and I went all out today. We both had the day off so we thought we would take advantage of our time together.

We head into Fresno to take care of our Costco membership. Her parents dropped us from their account. I guess in retaliation for their moving out of our humble abode. Whatever. We upgraded to Executive Membership. Hah, take that, in-laws! You can have your "Business Membership."

Next, we went to the Verizon kiosk in Costco and switched from AT&T to Verizon. Now, we will have reception in the hills and far away. AT&T did us no good, so we decided with Verizon. We are locked in for two years. Since we switched carriers, we had to get new phones as well. My wife got the Motorola DroidX and I got the LG Octane. But, honey, I wanted a Droid, too! Anyhow, we are happy.

We also purchased survival items such as bathroom tissue (aka toilet paper), paper towels, laundry detergent, turkey slices (two pounds for $11.99!, and organic olive oil (two 1.5 liters for $20.39 is a steal, too). That Executive Membeship does wonders for the ego. Let's see...two percent back for every purchase...Yep, we raked in the benefits of membership.

Next, we drive down to Lowes to purchase a 50-gallon electric water heater and some plumbing hardware.