Rain, rain...

Ahhh! I could just pull my hair out!
A couple weeks ago, we had a bad rain storm. The whole night, they wind was blowing at our house from the north, blowing the rain right into our windows! We learned a valuable lesson: our windows leak. Well, some of them anyways. We have old windows (I think they are the original 1961 windows), and as such, they are single panes. Now, apparently the solution to single paned windows is to put another window on the outside of them (TA DA instant double panes!)
We decided we'll probably have to replace the windows. We can't have a leaky house!

Let the research begin! Our windows seem to be a standard size from 1961, but not today. They are too wide. So, we'll have to remodel the window frames. "Great! That'll be fun." Maybe we can hire someone? Only if we want to shell out that much more money. So, we'll probably end up doing it ourselves. Well, Hal will. I'll watch. (And try to help! I'm just not very attentive to details...)
During my research, I read something about how most old windows can be fixed, they don't always have to be replaced. This involves: Cleaning the track, greasing the slider thingies, re-doing the insulation, and if you have storm windows on the outside (which I do) cleaning the drain with a toothpick. OK. Cleaning the track I can probably handle. Greasing I can probably also handle. Next: insulation. How am I supposed to figure out how to get my dinosaur windows off their track to re-do the insulation? Hmmm... And drain? What?! I don't see a drain!
So, not sure what to do, I didn't do anything... After all, what are the chances we'll have another storm soon with the wind blowing gustily at my windows again?

OK, so...
Yesterday, it started raining. And it rained and rained. I checked all the windows before I went to bed to make sure they weren't leaking. They weren't. In the middle of the night, when the thunder woke me up, I checked them again. They were now leaking. Turns out it doesn't matter which way the wind blows from, they still leak.
So, I put towels all along the leaky window sills. This morning, I replaced them all. And replaced them again an hour later...
At which point I got thinking... If this rain doesn't stop, It's going to be a LONG day!

So, I thought...
one of the windows isn't leaking! I wonder why? So, I got my rain jacket (it's not a raincoat, just a windbreaker that is sort of rain resistant) and my umbrella, and went outside to check it out. The window that isn't leaking has a crack the entire length of the aluminum frame bottom, (between the frame and the wooden frame), allowing the water to drain out. Which led me to come to the conclusion that I should break the rest of the window frames, too! All I'd have to do is get something and pry the aluminum away from the wooden frame around it! So, I went to get a knife, hoping it would work!

When I got back to the windows with my knife, I stopped to think: It's probably not a good idea to just start hacking away at my windows. But at the bottom of the sill, there's this little cutout... What's it for? And then I remembered: that article said something about drains... Could this be it?! So, I jammed my knife up in there, and peeled off the paint that was covering the drain hole and TA DA! Instant self draining windows.
Inside and outside of one of the windows I fixed! I'm so excited! But now I have a hole for bugs to climb in... hummm... Now what?

This is the bottom of one of the windows I fixed. Do you see the little cutout thingy in the middle? Would you have thought I bet that's supposed to be a drain? Never in a million years would I have even thought of it!

The moral of my story today is: Some RUDE IDIOT painted my drain holes closed when they painted our house! THANKS A LOT!
But, now that I know my windows have drains, all by themselves, I don't have to spend all day sopping up water. HIP HIP HOORAY!

Oh, how I love life! GRRRR!!!