{"id":30196,"date":"2024-08-28T05:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T09:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=30196"},"modified":"2024-08-27T22:16:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T02:16:03","slug":"eureka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/28\/eureka\/","title":{"rendered":"Eureka"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After yesterday\u2019s epic whine about the vicissitudes of home ownership I looked around for some kind of salve for my male ego.\u00a0 And fate or something provided me with the opportunity to redeem myself.\u00a0 A clogged bathtub drain.\u00a0 For the last few weeks, the drain in our tub has been getting slower and slower.\u00a0 Lately I\u2019ve left the plunger near the tub and after every shower I played a game of trying to get it to break loose.\u00a0 All I achieved was to dredge up a goodly amount of black flakes that were some kind of fossilized soap scum.\u00a0 And all that achieved was to waste ten or fifteen minutes while I cleaned up the tub of this disgusting residue.<\/p>\n<p>But today I had had enough.\u00a0 I gathered my equipment:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Screwdrivers \u2026 check<\/li>\n<li>Needle nose pliers \u2026 check<\/li>\n<li>Accordion Toilet Plunger with Large Bellows for Extra Powerful Plunge, Black \u2026 check<\/li>\n<li>Snake auger \u2026 check<\/li>\n<li>Electric drill \u2026 check<\/li>\n<li>Safety glasses \u2026 check<\/li>\n<li>Disposable rubber gloves \u2026 check<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All that was left was to let Camera Girl see that I was preparing for battle and even though I would be expending tens of thousands of dollars to have someone competent repair my home, at least I was capable of saving the cost of a plumber to get my bathtub back in good operating condition.<\/p>\n<p>I solemnly explained to her how I would be removing the plunger from the trip-lever stopper to properly auger the drain line.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it would be possible for me to overstate the intensity of contempt her look communicated to me.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s the problem with women.\u00a0 They don\u2019t understand or appreciate technical genius.<\/p>\n<p>So, I removed the drain filter and tried pulling out hair with the pliers.\u00a0 Nada.\u00a0 Then just for old time\u2019s sake I put six inches of water in the tub and tried the \u201c<strong>Accordion Toilet Plunger with Large Bellows for Extra Powerful Plunge, Black<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 I pushed down on the stupid thing once and the tub drained in seconds.\u00a0 And of course, Camera Girl walked in just as it emptied and gave me the same look.\u00a0 She picked up the plunger and asked, \u201cHow much did you pay for this?\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cten bucks.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAnd this?\u201d (pointing at the auger).\u00a0 \u201cSixty dollars.\u201d\u00a0 She shook her head and walked away.\u00a0 Women don\u2019t understand about contingency planning.\u00a0 Very short-sighted.<\/p>\n<p>Well, as pathetic as my victory was, it has transformed my attitude.\u00a0 We\u2019re definitely on the upswing.\u00a0 And after she took a shower, she readily admitted that a working bathtub drain is not a commodity to look down your nose at.\u00a0 And there\u2019s no telling what I might do next.<\/p>\n<p>Who knows, maybe I\u2019ll tell my builder to stop all work, figure what I owe him so far and take over the job myself.\u00a0 I mean how long could it take me to shovel ten thousand pounds of gravel?\u00a0 And how hard can it be to jack up a building off its foundation?\u00a0 And who needs a truck to pour concrete anyway?\u00a0 What was it Archimedes said?\u00a0 \u201cGive me a place to stand and a lever long enough and I\u2019ll move the Earth.\u201d\u00a0 Well, some of my ancestors came from Sicily.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019m related to Archimedes (at least by marriage!).\u00a0 Well, baby steps.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll shock Camera Girl and brew my own pot of coffee.\u00a0 How hard could it be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After yesterday\u2019s epic whine about the vicissitudes of home ownership I looked around for some kind of salve for my male ego.\u00a0 And fate or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,288,3366,818,1263],"tags":[300,3341,965,993],"class_list":["post-30196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-humor","category-life-in-dunwich","category-ocf","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-camera-girl","tag-dunwich","tag-marriage","tag-the-war-between-men-and-women"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.4 - 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