Handy Andy in Training

We are continually having plumbing problems in regards to slow running and stopped up drains. Currently the drain in the upstairs bathroom sink is just not draining at all. I tried the liquid plumber to no avail and so decided to take a more plumberesque route. I scooped out all the standing water and then thought, well, perhaps I just need to put some suction and knock the clog loose. So, I grab the plunger and start plunging away. All that did was bring up more dirty water which then had to be scooped out of the sink like the water before it. Okay, so it won't come up, I will just push it down. I got a hanger and stuck it down there thinking that I would reach whatever was clogging it and just push it loose. Well, the hanger wouldn't make it past the bend in the pipe, not bendy enough. It was at this point I call for John. Now we are both in there. He removing clasps and I critiquing his removing of clasps, as if I knew any better. At this point we have made it to the "we will try to snake it" point of the exercise. My job was to stick it down the pipe and his to twist it. He is twisting. I am sticking. At the first bend in the pipe, it didn't want to go but he just kept saying that I had to push it and twist it and push it harder. So that is what I did. Pushed and twisted and pushed. Finally I just couldn't get it to go any further and he said that we could go ahead and bring it back out. Um, it won't come. Just pull harder. I am pulling harder...it won't come. Did you force it too far in? You said push hard. Not force it. That's what push hard means. Great, now the plumber is going to come out and I am going to have to explain why there is a snake stuck in our pipe.

You know, when I imagined a snake, I always thought of some telescopic thing with a light on the end and a video screen that lets you see the pipe as it travels through it. The coil thing made my hanger idea not seem so silly. John was eventually able to get the snake out and another random, "Hey, I think that I will try to fix it myself" episode was put to bed. Of course, until the next day when I thought that I would just try sanding a cabinet and ended up out on the porch with a belt sander. Those things are wicked cool. Way more fun than my random "I think that I can replace tile"...