Friday, August 31, 2007

Plumbers, Pancakes, and Painting......


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[Click the Title:Song:Tears for Fears "Everybody wants to Rule the World", Free Pancakes if anyone can tell me WHY I love this video]
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So my son and I were having the perfect crisp almost Fall day. We were painting his room, and finally finishing This Project that has taken alot of hard work. ( The College kids that rented my beat up old house before us, had for some Unknown Reason painted the Best Bedroom in the house Electric Piss). His room is now a beautiful Tropical Torquiose, with white trim around all the windows, and new creamy egghsell curtains. So we had decided that when we were done we would have pancakes.....I also told 6-6 that I would wash all his sheets and his favorite quilt so that it wouldn't smell like paint. Sooooooo.

I went trotting downstairs and put the laundry in the washer, in the basement, and came back upstairs and threw on my favorite jammies, getting ready to make the beloved pancakes....humming, relieved that the Painting Project that has haunted me most of the summer was Finally done....phew....and THEN.....KABOOOOOM...PHOOOOOOOSH...
and then me running down the stairs and kerplunk kerpunk to the basement...and Yes, a Pipe had exploded in the basement and was shooting water like a friggin Geyser 20 feet throughout the basement... It was very very noisy, so noisy I did not have have to worry about the Foul Language spewing out of me...So I ran upstairs and banged on my Side-by-Side neighbor's door ( because I know they have MORE tools than me), and Yelled for Help Like A Screaming Idiot...And of course NO ANSWER....(because they are the neighbors that pretend daily that I do not exist).

So I ran down the street and banged on my friend's door, Ms. Canadian, and begged for tools, and she ran up the street with me and we played Plumber, or tried to, turning off most of the Valve -Like Things in the basement.....and slipping, and both soaking wet and me still cursing....and me of course phoning The Landlord, attempting to sound Cool, Calm and Collected in my messege.... ( Now it is Thursday Night of Labor Day Weekend, so it is 50:50 chance he is in town.)

Now here is the Thing...anyone who reads this blog,KNOWS that I have spent Many Many hours cleaning up my basement- that it was flooded most of August, and I JUST GOT IT DRY 2 DAYS AGO.....so yes, I am not happy. Anyways you got a canoe? Come on over....

So today I will be attempting to get a Plumber....because I really think I need Water for Labor Day weekend...and so here I sit with Tropical Torquoise in my hair....and a soaking wet basement....I hope that I get a nice plumber...hopefully one that knows how to swim and has a sense of humor.

23 comments:

Anon-Paranoid said...

enigma...
I hope you get one too and just to help you out I want you to go and check out this link.

Watch the video vlog and have a good laugh compliments of me.

A (Water)Closet Full of Republicans

Enjoy my sweet rose and...

God Bless.

enigma4ever said...

Anony....that guy in the video is sooooo funny....OMG...excellent..so please everybody go see his video...

Dada said...

Oh, enigma, bless you! I was born under a water sign, but when it comes to plumbing and the potential for The Great Flood it contains, I've never gotten on well with pipes and valves and the torment they give me in return.

I don't know which of those came first. But always my run-ins have always been minor annoyances in comparison, i.e., I've never hit an iceberg with my basement.

BTW, whatever became of the pancakes? Good luck trying to acquire a more normal holiday weekend!

enigma4ever said...

Ahhhh Dada....No pancakes...yet...as soon as the plumber leaves....he is suposed to come this morning....( Landlord was not away and was actually very nice about the whole thing...thank heavens..)

oh...and it turned out that I turned off the neighbor's water too.....oooooops. ( so I guess that is not going to increase the love...)

Whlep...I guess the basement will be very clean now...

jmsjoin said...

enigma
It isn't funny but listening to you it is obvious that you are a "normal" person with the standard problems. The difference is how you handle them and you do well. Just keep smiling and happy. You and 6-6 will be fine. You are funny. I am going to check out that video now before I get things going now.

Anonymous said...

I'm a fair plumber; I can fix a lot of stuff, but my methodology (heater hoses and clamps) are often frowned upon. Something like your problem I doubt I'd even attempt.

We are very proud to have you add us as an addition to your blogroll; we added you some time ago ;)

Robert Rouse said...

The Blog World Report Awards have been announced and you are a winner! Congratulations!

LET'S TALK said...

Hi Enigma, it sounds like you've had your hands full again. Sorry to hear about your water pipes, I hope the Plumber gets things together for you.
I love the song "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" I guess that is one of every ones favorite song.
Take care and be safe over the holidays

jmsjoin said...

Congratulations on the Awards enigma. You deserve them and more. That should make the pipe problem easier to deal with.

Larry said...

What a way to start the day with plumbing problems.

Larry said...

Congrats on your blog award Enigma.

Anonymous said...

My plumbing knowledge is pretty much limited to knowing where the water shutoff valves are under each sink & behind each toilet. I once had a friend who panicked when the toilet overflowed & instead of simply reaching down to turn off the little valve on the wall behind the toilet, she ran out to tell me "we" had a problem & by the time I got in there, yup, ankle-depth pooh.

sooo ... apparently your basement problem wasn't just the water hose from the wall to your washer that burst? With that, you get geysers and the joy of trying to turn off the laundry wall spigot while fighting a wildly careening spewing hose. The pipe behind the wall is tougher, but at least you knew you needed to turn off the water!

I'm guessing the main house line valve was rusted shut or calcified in place & so you needed tools? hope your landlord's plumber installs an easy hand-turnable ball valve or lever. That would save a lot of future anxiety. Burst pipes aside, maybe he could also figure out why your basement is flooding so much?

Enigma, your common neighbors are real shitheads. Even when you don't particularly like a neighbor, you don't ignore a knock on the door pleading for help. I believe Karma was guiding your turning off so many valves, thus ensuring the neighbors also lost their precious water.

BTW, if your washer hose was in any way responsible for your woes, consider replacing it with a flexible metal laundry hose (avail at home depot). A bit more expensive than the std thick rubber hose, but it won't burst. I've never had another problem with ours since we replaced it a dozen yrs ago.

Wishing you good luck with your pipes! Plumbing is so messy. I hope you & 6-6 get those pancakes tonight. If I owned a canoe, I would paddle across country for those. Just take a left at the Big Muddy, a right at the Ohio, & look for a swearing redhead, right? ~~ D.K.

fallenmonk said...

In spite of the plumbing problems have a great weekend and have extra pancakes just because.
Congrats on the award.

Chuck said...

Hi Enigma!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! for your win at The Blog Report Awards! :)

Gryphen said...

Wow talk about having a good news/bad news day.

I am very sorry for your soggy situation, but I am thrilled that you and your wonderful blog were recognized. That is awesome!

Have you thought about just turning the basement into an indoor pool? I mean I think that it is clear it does not want to be a basement anymore.

Just a thought.

Take care Enigma

enigma4ever said...

Oh dear..better get caught up here...
BREAKING NEWS ( OR IS IT BROKEN 7:30 PM FRIDAY NIGHT....CRAIG IS TO RESIGN TOMORROW AT 10AM)

Gryphen: Well, thank you , that is a nice idea...indoor pool...hmmm, I could have little umbrella drinks served on the veranda and lap times and oh, I am getting carried away....oh, and about the award....so nice...( to be honest there are so many great blogs out there, much better than mine ;-)

Chuck : Congrats to you too....another wonderful Ohio Blogger....

Fallenmonk: thanks so much....hope the heat is subsiding down there....

DK: you are quite the Handyman special....wow...you have all the inside scoop...whelp the problem is a little of everything...took all day to kinda resolve and kinda clean up...and the washer is part of the problem and that is still not fixed all the way...but it is an OLD house full of surprises...always...so I am still a bit grumpy....believe me...but thanks for all of your great insights and thoughts....

Larry: thanks and thanks for understanding my lovely situation...I am not always such a grump....

okay ....now I need to do round II of this,.....

enigma4ever said...

Lets talk: thanks for letting me grump here...things will eventually all get fixed...I just hate the soggy mess of it...you stay safe and take care too...

Robert: ahhhhhh gee, thank you so much...such a nice thing...Awards are always nice....Everybody should go over and have a lookie and at the wonderful NEW blog and also the awards...he does an awesome job....

Jolly: I would love to have you come and work your magic...any magic..sigh...thanks for having me on your blogroll...

Patriot: thanks for all of your nice notes...very nice..it's just a grumpy day that is all....

enigma4ever said...

Soooooo....after all was said and done..now Friday Night and I have cleaned and tidied and swept ALL the water in the basement....AND I went to take a nice long bath...now that everything is fixed....and I flush the Toilet just to check it......yup....everywhere...FLUSHHHHHuppppploppppp.......more to clean up...and I have to ask is there a Patron Saint of the bathrooms ? ( well, if so I bet Craig is praying to them....)...anyways...

So I wrote above that I love this video...and it is THE CAR...I have No idea what kind of car that is....but I love that little speedy car....and how it hums down the road....

Anonymous said...

after watching the video a couple of times it seemed that maybe one of the little boys in the opening or @ 2:46 reminded you of 6-6 when he was closer to 3-3 would be why you loved the video, or maybe the little puppy @ 3:15. i'd thought the car to be a long shot, but alas... It is a 67 Austin-Healey 3000...

Glad you were able to get most of your plumbing dealt with successfully... (catholic patron saint of plumbers is Vincent Ferrer; Mawaya-no-kami Japanese deity of the toilet; Ganesha is the remover of obstacles)

congratulations on your latest award!

Namaste

Mary said...

Oh E I am so sorry about that pipe. 2 days dried. Wish I could help. Cos I would.

enigma4ever said...

Mary: Oh, thank you soo much...I just finished this eve getting it all cleaned up...phew..but thanks for the offer...I know you woould too..me2 ..( hope you never have a flooded basement...)

Ball Of Light: thank you...and yes, it is THE CAR....I just love that little car....hmm, it just hums along....sigh....anyways...thanks for coming by...take care..

willyloman said...

You poor thing. I hope all is dried out by now and all you have left of the chaos, is this blog post, your son's beautiful room, and your nieghbors peeping out the window. I hope your weekend is getting better.

enigma4ever said...

Willyloman: thank you for what you said...so nice..no all is well on all fronts..6-6 's room is so nice..and done -finally...and neighbors- we are at peace..and they too are glad to have water again...and I can get on with my next projects...( it is an old house there are always more projects...) You mentioned above your writings, but alas there is no blog to go read your writings ;-(