Plumber’s helper

I had thought about the idea of writing about the last episode of ER.  However, we haven’t actually watched it yet.  It’s waiting for us on the DVR.  And anyway, everyone in the world is going to be talking about it, and I so hate following the herd.  Besides, the show I just talked about last week got canceled hours after I had posted about it.  It freaked me out a little.  I’m going to have to be more careful in the future.

This has been a busy week for us.  The kitty saga has taken up a good deal of our time.  And we’ve had the plumber in.

Now, calling a plumber is something no one likes to do.  It disrupts your life and costs a lot of money.  And is all too often seriously messy.  Very much like visiting the doctor.

We had a pipe that was leaking in the basement.  It wasn’t a major leak, but it was depositing rusty water on the floor.  And leaks always get worse, never better.  So, I called for someone to fix it.

A very nice young man came by the house early Tuesday morning.  After showing him the problem, he quickly decided what needed to be done and proceeded to do it.  In spite of the Big Lug making all sorts of noise because a stranger was in the house.  Silly creature.

While the plumber was here, I asked him if there was some way to increase our water pressure.  I like our house.  It’s a little odd, but it has character.  But I miss having serious water pressure every time I step into the shower.  It’s like a warm lawn sprinkler.  I want to risk a concussion when I’m in the shower.  Just saying.

He explained that the pipes are very old, and not really suited to increased water pressure.  And that being very old, they’re full of sediment that would cause problems.

After he left, everything was fine.  Except for the first time a faucet got turned on.  Air in the pipes is such a joy.  But it doesn’t last long and that’s the end of it.  Or is it?

The next morning, Toys noticed that the toilet was running.  Nuts.  Okay, I’ll take a look.

Now, I am not handy.  I can do some things, but I prefer to leave most things to professionals.  That way, I won’t break the house.  But I can always try.

There was a hose inside the toilet tank that was loose.  Huh.  I wonder.  Say, I’ll bet the air in the lines made it blow off.  Very much the way that air in your bloodstream can kill you.  Huh.

I reconnected it and tried to see if that was all.  Of course not.  My life is never that simple.  The problem seemed to be that the float was not shutting the water off once it had reached the proper height.  Adjust it some.  No dice.  Crud.  Now what?

We called the plumber back.  He was back Thursday morning.  We had to subdue the dog in order for the poor man to work.  I explained my theory to him and he took a look.

As it turns out, I was right.  The air in the pipes blasted through the pump and deposited some of the gunk that was in the pipes into the pump, damaging it seriously.  Very much the same way that the stuff on the walls of your blood vessels can come loose and do massive damage to your body.  In essence, the toilet had a stroke.  Wonderful.  You remember what I said about how having the plumber in was like visiting the doctor?

He ended up having to replace the entire pump assembly.  He only charged us half price, as it was partly his fault.  Which was mighty nice of him.

Hopefully, our water issues are done for a while, and we can get back to normal.  At least until the next disaster comes along.