What is it about three-day weekends that causes infrastructure to collapse? How is it that whenever tradesmen are trying to take a couple of days off (and intend to charge you accordingly), things go radically, spectacularly WRONG? And why does it never, not once, ever fail?
In addition to working on the pool (routine stuff) and running the laundry, I wanted to clean out the moldy refrigerator and a couple of cabinets. The fridge, in particular, was pretty desperate; indeed…frightening.
So I’m madly throwing things out. One jar, though, I must save—the glass part, that is, not the mildewed peppers inside. Very pretty jar, so reusable. So, naturally, I throw the peppers down the garbage disposal, which is madly running. It keeps on running and running and water is…not running. Not running down the drain at-tall.
Matter of fact, instead of going down the drain, it’s backing up into the other sink.
Damn. Turn off the disposal.
Get the plunger. Plunge and plunge and plunge and plunge and…not one drop of water goes down the sink.
Turn the garbage disposal back on. More water backs up into the other sink.
Call the plumber. Wonder how much time & a half is going to cost.
Plumber answers on about the 10th ring. He ain’t workin’ today. For cryin’ out loud, it’s Sunday on Memorial Day weekend! What?
He’ll come by tomorrow. Meanwhile, don’t use the sink and don’t use the dishwasher. ’Bye!
{sigh}
The dishwasher contains about three days of dirty dishes, some of which I need and all of which will be stinking by tomorrow. Luckily, there’s a work sink in the garage.
Shovel off the washer and dryer. Clean the tops of the washer and dryer, which have become somewhat littered and soiled during an encounter with Charley the Golden Retriever that involved confiscating a pile of half-eaten plastic and silk plants.
Set up the garage so as to wash dishes. Haul three days’ worth of dirty dishes into the garage. Wash. Rinse. Drain.
Reflect, while enjoying this task, that some time back I saw a blog post whose writer was holding forth on how to wash dishes by hand. Think of that.
A whole generation, maybe two, have never had to wash dishes by hand as a routine matter. How many Americans don’t know that there’s a special pattern to washing dishes? So, let us consider, ↓↓↓↓↓↓
I wrote a post a while back of something similar happening except enough pressure built up that it popped the u line off the drain, so the clogged carrots dumped all underneath the cupboard.
My guess is the u-ring is packed tight with debris. Easy enough fix for a novice diy (no tools required on PVC pipes, just a bucket and a good brush, probably more complicated for older plumbing), so a plumber should have that done in about 15 minutes.
Actually, it turned out even better: By the time WonderPlumber got here, the clog had pretty much dissipated.
He said the weight of the water sitting in the sink can sometimes just push a clog through. Noting that it was running a little slow, he applied some WonderCrystals he’d brought with him. This mysterious chemical, which he said is safe for plastic pipes, fizzed through the plumbing and voila! Working like new.
Meanwhile his cute little boy made Cassie very happy by throwing Ball a million times, as steadily and accurately as one of those softball-throwing machines.
He charged 20 bucks for the trip. 🙂