trapped by our possessions

Owning a house is kinda like owning a pet, housebreaking (ironically) and all:
There's always a chance of an "accident" requiring immediate attention, and you need to make arrangements for it when on vacation.

And the bigger it is, the more room for stuff and features; all the more trapped you are because something inevitably will break/not work as it is supposed to.

Which makes me think that to actually enjoy a fancy house, you need a custodian/gardener/housekeeper/maintenance guy 24/7.

outdoor faucet - great but busted < 1year

My review and experience with
MOEN SINGLE-HANDLE HOT/COLD SILL FAUCET
MODEL HC4005 series

I'm posting this here because I can't find any record of this type of failure or repair on Moen, Google or YouTube.

THE GOOD. It delivers hot, cold in a single-handle tap that Moen is so well known for. Fantastic for washing hands, filling kiddie pools and other water toys, etc.

THE BAD. Easy to waste warm/hot water on irrigation system if you aren't paying attention (or little ones have fun with the knob after the fact).

THE UGLY. In less than 10 months (3 months usage if you exclude winter), the anti-siphon (backflow preventer?) valve busted, and it sprays wildly all around the valve when the water is on, soaking the ground right at the foundation. Not good.

Repair?
Unfortunately, no DIY repair videos on youtube yet.
Moen website shows a vacuum breaker kit (Moen PN 140900) on the exploded parts diagram, but does not have any instructions.
The innards of the installed vacuum breaker don't quite look like the one on the diagram (design change/improvement?)...
I tried setting the o-ring down a few times to no avail.
It does have a lifetime warranty.

Summer is just starting and we have a pool party/BBQ next weekend...
Here's hoping (a) my contractor will have his plumber repair this right quick and/or (b) Moen will send a repair kit ASAFP.

UPDATE: The o-ring popped completely out, so I gave it a test try for the heck of it, and it worked more or less fine. I reset the o-ring firmly with a tiny rod, and so far so good.

communication tools vs communication skills

The two young contrators painting my house are outside on their lunch break, casually minding the texting/surfing on their respective cell phones.

Makes me think that, with all the communication tools that technology has given us, we may be losing the ability to actually communicate.

Aside: And here I am, blogging about it rather than getting out there and getting to know them/anyone.

Or, communication tools have allowed us the luxury(?) of being able to be more specific about who and what we want to talk with and about (and listen to). If that's so, are we any further ahead?