plumb crazy

 

I think that I do more plumbing jobs around the house than most people. Not because I’m too cheap to call a plumber, but because the plumbers in our part of the country have become so arrogant that they demand at least fifty bucks to come to my house to tell me how much they are going to charge for the job that I need done. No joke. No exceptions. I have a plumbing company that I call to do big jobs like replacing a water heater or replacing pipes. I like the guys, and they do a good job, but still, there’s no over-the-phone estimate about what it costs to change out a water faucet. Which is what I have to do this morning.

It’s a simple enough job except for contorting under the sink to loosen the nuts that hold the old fixture in place. Although I’m not very big, and am in reasonably good physical condition, I have to do a bit of contortion to get at one of the nuts. Interesting fact: the part that is the most difficult to get at is the one most likely to be corroded. I guess that’s why plumbers feel so smug about charging money for an estimate for a job that they probably do fifty times a week and know exactly how much time and effort it will take. Unless you have the exact tool that has the single purpose of reaching into a four inch space to unscrew a rusty bolt, you will turn a five minute job into a three day job.

Well, I have some time on my hands, so plumbing it is.

Nancy Sherer

 

 


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