The plumber just showed me a section of the pipe she pulled out—the junction where it went out to the front yard faucet. It was packed completely solid with rust. No wonder it wasn’t working.
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 3 years old. Opinions change. Tastes change. Everything changes. I may still agree with this, or like this, or I may not. But everything is kept up here for archival purposes.