about getting from point A to point B in the most interesting ways possible

If you're a large woman in America, your whole life is an opportunity to feel self-conscious, embarrassed, resentful and way too big. You can hide in the corner or on the couch, you can go to therapy, or you can put on your lycra bike shorts and get out there and move.
—Jayne Williams, Slow Fat Triathlete

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December 27, 2005

a little plumbing permalink

Stairway to nowhere
After a handful of days with less rain rather than more, it appears we're back on schedule, and it's coming down.

This really was a lovely weekend. Our xmas day was so lovely, full of eating and cooking and cleaning. On Boxing Day, like the rest of Portland, we called the plumber so we could run the kitchen sink and dishwasher again.

Of course, everyone was on holiday rates. And holiday schedules. In spite of biannual visits by one rooter company or another, the one we called insisted that all of our kitchen plumbing was out of code, and needed to be replaced before anything could be rooted. The drain technician gave us a $900 estimate, and then Sweetie overheard the plumber on the cellphone saying that his truck was dead. So we begged off making an appointment with said plumber, since it was clear that he wouldn't be coming today.

So we started calling other companies. Sigh. I was a little traumatized. Replacing plumbing. Of course, it's out of code, this house was sold for back taxes 20 years ago. This was a house that was built cheaply a hundred years ago, a house built on a thousand shortcuts. And to make this a little worse, I know that Dad had redid some of the kitchen plumbing (you think it's outta code now? You should have seen it when I bought the place!). But while I am mid-freakout, Sweetie is making the calls, and arranges for another rooter company to come by.

They came by. The plumber (they sent a plumber!) mentioned that the plumbing was out of code, and at some point should be replaced. However, the problem was this join here, and he could replace that and snake it the line for $150, and we should be all set. And so it was. He was speedy, nice, and aware that our escape artists needed to stay out of the basement.

And so it was that our kitchen is functional again. The lesson learned is this:
- Mom wasn't kidding about the garbage disposer - you gotta run the cold water for about a minute after you turn it off
- Don't put starch down the drain. No pasta, rice, potato peels, etc. Remember library paste?
- You can't assume that the plumbing work wasn't done by some dead beloved relative of your client, so maybe you shouldn't be harsh.
- If something is going to fail, it's when it's been stressed. Like when you spend multiple days doing dishes, and a day cooking enough for an army.

Once I got over the trauma of home maintenance, I got back into decluttering and dunging things out. Which was great. Can't wait to get back to it!

Posted at December 27, 2005

Comments

We had a disposal in our old house and potato peels were deadly for it. For some reason they just clogged the pipes and the disposal and everything.

That's crazy that they wanted to replace the pipes before they'd snake it. Total ripoff. Glad you found a decent honest guy. He knows who you'll call for future business.

And Yea for decluttering. My wife got a Fly Lady calendar for Christmas. :)

Posted by: Jon in Michigan at December 27, 2005 10:54 PM