G.F. (girlfriend)
asked me to come by today and fix a leak she had in her bathtub faucet by
replacing a worn out washer . I tried to tell her it was my grandfather who
was a master plumber and he had died two months before I was born. In my
mind, anyone who can change a washer is a master plumber. If you want proof
that I'm not my grandfathers reincarnate, all you have to do is have me work
on any plumbing job such as hooking up a hose pipe. But she does fix me a
pizza once a week, so I do have to stay in her good graces, at least till I
discover what her secret for the best pizza I have ever ate is.
I'll try not to use to many technical plumbing terms in this post like,
pliers, screwdrivers, break, #%#&, @%&#, and, of course,
**&^%^%$%^&*^^##*(#^*.
I knew before I even started that at least one handle would be froze to the
stem. And sure enough. Things went downhill from there following Chuck's
first law of luck. Refer to previous post called "Play me or trade me"
The handle was removed from the stem by applying heat in the form of some
blistering language and a good deal of leverage, leaving a small piece of
the handle permanently and eternally welded to the stem. So far so good. The
chrome covers for the stems were, of course, badly scarred from either the
language or pliers, I'm not sure which and needed to be replaced. Not to
mention the cracked tiles around the opening. Those weekly pizza's seemed to
be rapidly receding into only a fond memory, but I had warned her. That
ought to count for something, but I knew it wouldn't.
Since she had already bought some "cute handles" from Lowe's, I figured I
could run out there and pick up a new stem and some over sized covers to
hide the cracks and be finished in a hour leaving me plenty of time to
satisfy my multitude of readers with some quality posts.
Yeah, right.
I arrived at Lowes minus my Dollar Store reading glasses. My arms are
getting to short as most of you who are my age know all to well. I couldn't
find a stem and covers that matched my needs, but I did find a complete set
for refurbishing a bath and surprisingly didn't require me to take out a
loan to purchase. I called the store associate (remember when they were
clerks?) over since I couldn't see the fine print and he assured me that the
package would completely take care of my problem. When I got back to G.F.'s,
I found out the stems were the wrong diameter. Back out to Lowes, and
couldn't find the right size, so I got my money back and went to Home Depot.
The clerk there said "Where did you get that. I haven't seen one that size
in years. Try one of the plumbing supply houses." The first supply house
said he could order it for me and it would be here in four days. Since
Friday is pizza night, that wasn't a option. The next, West Georgia Plumbing
Supply had three in stock. I told him I would take two, not realizing that
they were made from a rare and priceless metal and cost slightly more than
having a hot tub installed, but, by this time, I was desperate. I was almost
back at GF's when I realized I had forgotten the chrome covers.
Finally, I was back and ready to install the new parts. It went amazingly
smooth until I tried to attach the "cute handles". They wouldn't fit, so
back to the supply house for a set that did.
Finished, I went outside and turned the water on again and went in to view
my work.
Drip, drip, drip
posted by lighter at 12:44 PM
Friday, January 10, 2003
© LCM3
Rimfire at Idlehourwebs dot com
