Keeping it on the Level

Today Elliott and I attacked the basketball hoop to try and raise it to 10 feet and make it level. The front seemed low and it measured about 9' 8". We took the rim off, after fighting through about 15 years of rust and found it and the backboard were level, but the base was not. So we got it all back together and adjusted the pole. Now the pole looks angled but the rim is perfectly level. Then we put some concrete patio blocks under the base to raise it and it is sitting at a perfect 10 feet right now. It must be throwing off my shot because Elliott has now beaten me twice in a row at "P-I-G."

I then went to Home Depot and bought a couple of replacement thermostat switches for the hot water heater. I read online last night that they might be the culprit. Yesterday, Home Depot quoted me $1,088.00 to replace our hot water heater!!! I think their version of a hot water heater was a full time butler who would carry pales of fire-warmed water to our bathtub... Anyway, the switches were $20 (total for top and bottom) so Lucie and I went down to put them in. I wanted her there to call 911 if I got zapped. 220 volts is not forgiving. Even with the breaker off, my hands were still shaking when I switched over the wires. But I am happy to report that so far, so good. The hot water is back to a tolerable temperature (when the switch reset button wasn't tripped, the water was coming out scalding - which made me think a switch was bad, causing the water to get too hot, causing the switch to trip) and it hasn't tripped after a few showers. Now what to spend that 'extra' $1,068.00 on....