Hot-water hell; or should it be cold-water hell?

This morning found the hot-water heater not heating water and emitting cascades of water from its top. For all we know, this had been going on for 24 hours. Monday is the very worst day of the week to find a plumber. Some people think plumbers don't work on the weekend; others that plumbers charge overtime for weekend work, which isn't true, since most of them are either self-employed or have an on-duty weekend crew that does not work on some weekdays. At first we weren't getting return calls from any of the tried-and-true. No doubt, by 7:30 all were out on their first jobs. So we turned to one of the bigger outfits here in town. This is a longtime family business that has either sold out to a larger concern or become a franchisee. On KVET, the ad says that, if the service person doesn't appear within the time that the dispatcher specifies, the customer gets some money back. Well, if the promise is a good one, we'll be looking for a check any day now. The poor plumber had been out since 7:30 on what was thought to be a two-hour job. He made his appearance, finally, at close to 3:00. Luckily, this has not been one of the hotter days. Not only did we need a new heater; there had been changes in the City code since the last time, costly changes. The best part of dealing with this larger outfit is that it sent a lumper to deliver the heater, and he took away the old one. The sun was setting as we settled up. What a day for all concerned.