26 May 2020

You Can Do Yukky Things

The Rule at our house is there are Kevin's jobs and My Jobs.  My jobs are the Inside Stuff, what Kevin calls "women's work" because he knows it hits a nerve with people.  His are decidedly less fun and definitely more work; Outside Stuff: lawn mowing, drain cleaning, repairs, car maintenance, etc.

While sometimes it's unevenly distributed, it really isn't when it's him on a ladder, in the dark and pouring rain because we live in the PNW and the drains are clogged with leaves.  I will take having laundry to do over that any day.

One of the tasks that crosses the boundary are sink drains.  I do the treatments because Science! But when they're actually clogged, it's his gig.  And he hates it.  HATES it.  Fusses about it. Avoids it like it's going to magically disappear.

Well, after this long weekend AND a requested reminder note, the sink remained slow draining.  And I am left to my own devices.

Eff this, I think, I've got the university of youtube and google. I can work on a racecar. I can do this.

So, after my "work" day was completed, I gathered the tools I've seen Kevin use, my phone, and the most important tool: my stubbornness.

A few things:
I am mostly a minimalist so there isn't stuff under the sink.  RECOMMEND.
Kevin installed a quick disconnect for this very task.
This is one of those tasks that it helps being small.
You can learn anything from the internet.

Five minutes at the most and I took it apart pretty easily.  While doing so, I thought "I should write this down"  because I know who I am.  Just as quickly though, I thought "Nah, it's fine." (this is what we call foreshadowing)

It was gross, for sure.  But I've worked with young children nearly my whole adult life, it takes a bit for me to tap out. (vomit will make me tap out. Every.Time.)  This wasn't to that level.  It does, however, make me want to treat the drains more often.  If you are the tiniest bit squeamish, this task is not for you.  I just told myself that if I can watch countless Bones episodes, I can deal with this guckiness.

I cleaned everything up and began to reassemble the drain.  Feeling triumphant a little too soon, I took a photo and sent it to my friend to show my handiness.  Then finished up.  Only to find a small washer sitting on the cabinet floor once everything was re-assembled.  

Son of a biscuit eating dog.  Sometimes karma is instant. The gods don't like arrogance, I always say.

And then Kevin phones.  Because of course he does.  Kevin is not aware that this project is underway because he will be displeased that I am doing something "gross".  (bless his heart, he means well)

Nearly twenty minutes later, we finally disconnect. (the guy who helps with the racecar had phoned him and he was telling me what was learned)  While listening to him, I figured out where the washer belonged but couldn't replace it while on the phone.  I couldn't put the phone on speaker because he would hear the reassembly noise.  So I'm sitting cross-legged on the bathroom floor regretting ever starting this project.

Finally we disconnected and I realized how late it had gotten.  He was due to leave work soon so if this went sideways, I was out of time.  But I disassembled the piece where the washer belonged and put it back together WITH the washer this time.  Out of all the things, this was the most difficult because it requires hand-eye coordination that I don't always possess. And patience, which had certainly waned at this point.

Finally, I turned on the water again and tah dah! No leaks! And it was draining!  Success!  For real, this time.  Feeling sheepish, I sent one more message to my friend.  "This will be funny in a minute" I tell them.

I cleaned everything up, put Kevin's tools away and left no trace behind. Now we wait.  I would imagine he'll notice when he brushes his teeth but you know, it took him a week to notice a newly painted mud room so we'll see.

There are a few morals of the story: You can learn anything from the internet.  Girls should know how to do the yukky stuff too.  As always with me: Pay Attention.





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