gettin' dirty & spendin' $$$

It's official, well halfway official. I scored Melinda and I a spot at Bandit's Roost campground for the 2nd annual 6 Hours of Warrior's Creek. Now all I have to do is register for the race which I plan to do on the next payday. Some unusual circumstances occurred this past weekend that took a chunk out of my paycheck so I decided to split the cost of the race/camping fees across two paychecks. I don't think the race will reach it's cap of 300 before the end of January but if for some crazy reason it does, I'll ghost ride it.
What unusual circumstances occurred this weekend you ask? Last Wednesday night Melinda and I started noticing a rather unusual smell coming from one end of the house. After a bit of searching we discovered about an inch of brown water in our extra bathroom tub. Not good, as I pondered on where it came from and what it was I noticed food particles. I did a bit of research and discovered that a rather large amount of food have been run down the disposal earlier that day. I don't think that was the main cause of our problem but just the icing on the cake of a problem that had been building for some time. It was late in the evening so I tried a jug of Draino first and let it set overnight hoping it would solve my problem.
The next morning before I left for work I checked on my progress with the draino only to find it had not worked. I was due at work in twenty minutes so I shut the door told Melinda and decided it could wait until I got home that evening.
Some time that afternoon I got a call from Melinda letting me know that our heat pump had just given up the fight. Great, why do these things always happen at the worst possible time? Frigid record setting temps and a nasty clogged set of pipes, looks like a great way to start the weekend. I called the heat pump guy in and in less than an hour and a couple hundred dollars later we had heat again.
It wasn't until Friday until I could get back to the drain problem. I tried several different ways to unclog the pipes but it wasn't until Saturday evening with the help of Melinda's uncle Joe and a rented motorized drain snake that we were able to get the pipes clear. That had to be the nastiest, stinkiest mess I have ever dealt with. I would never make it as a plumber, it's bad enough dealing with your own sewage but someone else's would be unthinkable. I don't even want to think about what I got on my hands but I know it wasn't good. Alot of towels and a good pair of gloves got thrown away that evening.
Today I hope to break my non riding streak and get out and hit the snow covered trails. I haven't kept track of how long it's been since I've ridden my bike because I don't want to think about it. Maybe I'll shoot a bit of video.