Yep. We had some plumbing issues. One has been with us for some time now. The diverter on the shower is stuck in the
shower position. That means when you
turn on the water it automatically comes out of the showerhead instead of the
bathtub faucet. Not a problem, really. We can still get water and take showers and
fill up the bathtub, but it is frustrating not to have it working
properly. So, when the kitchen sink
backed up and we had to call Mr. Plumber anyway, we asked him to fix it. Not such an easy option. First off, he couldn’t get the part off. And since he figured we would have to break
it off, he called the company and they agreed to send a new part ... for free.
Several
days later when the part came in, Mr. Plumber came back. Wrong part.
Of course. He called them back,
and they agreed to send the correct one - with a cryptic comment about how “we changed
that part back in 2011.” That would be
two years after the one we had.
Something about problems it had caused.
The
new part came in the other day, so back to Mr. P. Good thing he was available, because by that
time the other bathroom’s sink had stopped up.
Mr. P brought in all his heavy tools and attacked the diverter
first. He finally got all the plastic
broken off, but just couldn’t get the brass piece to budge. He had never seen anything quite like this
problem. Of course. With a heavy heart Mr. P admitted defeat and
started recommending new faucet manufacturers.
He put it all back together and sealed it off so we can still use it
like we always have until we can choose a new one and call him again. As he trudged out of the room he noticed the
new part the company had dutifully sent.
He picked it up, turned it over in his hands and asked, “Do you have a
fireplace? I recommend throwing this in
it and letting it burn.”
Ah,
but the story does not end there. Then
he went to the other bathroom to deal with the stoppage there. Now this sink is where the plumbing crew (after
Hurricane Ike) tied in a line from the AC exhaust so it would pump and drain
more easily. That wasn’t the problem It
was still pumping and sending the water right where it was supposed to … into
this drain. The clogged one. And the clog was in the line inside the walls
somewhere. Of course. But those earlier plumbers hadn’t installed a
way to get a roto-rooter tool into the pipe system (there is a name for that
process, but I have no idea what it is).
So our guy had to cut the pipe off, run the roto rooter, and then
install a tube connector for easy access in the future. Everything was going really well. So well, in fact that he hadn’t even gotten
his towel wet. He leaned in close to get
a better grip on his auger line, when all of a sudden the AC pump chose that
moment to kick into action. It vomited
excess water all over his nice clean towel and arm and maybe a little into his
face. He was, to say the least,
startled. He cried out, “Tell her to
turn off the sink.” But alas, there was
no sink to turn off. He had to receive
the generous outpouring until it ran its course. So much for a nice, clean, easy job.
The
rest of his time with us Mr. P told stories of other houses that appeared to
have it out for him. I guess ours has
officially made his list. Merry
Christmas, Mr. Plumber.
Luke
2:4-7 says, “So Joseph also went up from
the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David,
because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was
pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the
baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in
cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the
inn.”
Father,
thank you for our plumber. He is good at
what he does. And he loves Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment