oh poop.

we've been having problems on and off at our place with the sewer line for the past half dozen years.  it would get backed up and then we would call some one to root it out, but then a year or two later they would be back again to do the same.  well, about two years a go the guy who came told us that we would be needing some major work on it soon.  he said that the pipe that was running out of the house was made of clay (apparently that's what they used to use back when this house was build) and the roots from the trees and shrubs had crushed it and the pipe had collapsed.  oh boy.  well, diana and i took note of this warning and tried our best to ignore it so it would go away...  unfortunately it didn't.  it finally happened, the pipe had completely collapsed and stopped any flow of sewage out of our place.  well, i guess we cant ignore it anymore.  so, we got the plumber guys to come out and dig a huge hole in the yard and replace the five feet of pipe coming from the house.  fortunately it wasn't as bad as we had initially feared, it turns out that the pipe in the front yard that went out to the road had been replaced at some point in the past fifty years, so the clay was only the first five or six feet.  we were quite thankful about that, we had feared that they would need to tear up the whole lawn, a couple sections of the sidewalk, and maybe even into the street!  well, its done now, so that constant worry in the back of our heads can finally be quieted.  they guarantee it for five years too, so we should be good for a while... we hope.
(more pics)