EL AGUA Y EL PLOMERO

This is our water meter, located near the front door of our new house.  We haven't changed the water into our name, but we plan to soon.

When we went to the house over the weekend we noticed there was no water in the taps inside the house, only in one on the patio, which was on a direct line from the meter.  

So el sr J turned that orange handle above, which allowed water to flow into the rest of the lines.  Water began to cascade off the roof.   Oh, my.  A broken pipe?  A broken water tank on the roof?  We needed a ladder to get up on the roof and check it out.  But how to get a ladder?  We don't have a vehicle.  A ladder wouldn't fit in a taxi. Hmmmm. . . .

Monday morning I called the plumber who had put washers in our washing machine supply faucets at the old house.  He said he would come at 1 pm that same day.  And he did:

But he hadn't brought his ladder, even though I had told him the problem was on the roof.  Another issue was that he had to park a mile away because our whole street was parked up.   El sr J told me to ask him if he would take him to Home Depot if we paid him.  (I realized later that el sr J could say that perfectly.  He was using me as a middlewoman).  He said yes.  Did el sr J want to walk to the truck or be picked up at the house?   Now if you know el sr J, you know that he likes nothing better than hanging out with workmen.  We had a whole crew of them living with us for 6 months in WV until I said to choose between them or me.  You can see he chose wisely.  So off they went to Home Depot and look what they came back with.  It's a regular ladder that turns into a step ladder for tree trimming, etc.
Here is the plumber who, it turns out, is the same age as el sr J.  They're bonding, you see.

The problem was the shut-off valve on the water tank on the roof.  It didn't shut the water off when the tank was full, so it overflowed.  There was a lot more to do.  He installed a new hot water line for our washing machine and here he is on the roof, attaching the line to the tank (the culprit earlier):

And here are two photos of the finished product, a new set of supply lines, hot and cold, for the washing machine, and and faucet for the utility sink, which he will install tomorrow, along with a new, bigger hot water heater: