Had a wrenching experience today. Getting ready for work this morning I was rushing around and accidentally tossed an earring into the bathroom sink. Right down the drain. Isn't there supposed to be something in there to block earrings and stuff? Yeah, mine is just a hole into the pipe.
One of my favorite earrings. A lozenge of amethyst, purple like a glowing grape. Surrounded in a thick ring of silver. Expensive. Favorite.
I dashed off to work, expecting a very bad day. We were told a month ago that there will be layoffs and cutbacks. Some of us thought today was the day. It wasn't. It was the day I threw an earring down the drain and spilled blueberry juice on a new shirt.
I asked a co-worker what to do about the earring.
"Did you turn off the water right away?" he asked.
"Yes. Wait. It wasn't on," I replied.
He told me to use an adjustable wrench to remove the bottom of the trap. I went to the Paris Farmer's Union and looked at wrenches and traps. I found a big adjustable wrench that would fit a trap, $12. I also purchased some potatoes to plant, and a tarp ($20) and bungee cords (10 @ $1.35 each) for my deck canopy. The old one was shredded in the hurricane last fall.
Back home I put on a stained old T-shirt. I got a step stool, a basin, and my new wrench. The trap to the bathroom sink is just below the basement ceiling. The trap came off easily. There was a little sand in the bottom, no earring. I left the basin below the pipe and ran upstairs to run some water, hoping the earring was trapped in the pipe and would be dislodged by water and would be flushed into the basin. I ran upstairs and down many times. 10? I turned the faucet on and off, ran down to check the basin: repeat.
Failure. No earring. Where is it? Trapped in the elbow of a pipe?
Oh well. I used a wrench.
One of my favorite earrings. A lozenge of amethyst, purple like a glowing grape. Surrounded in a thick ring of silver. Expensive. Favorite.
I dashed off to work, expecting a very bad day. We were told a month ago that there will be layoffs and cutbacks. Some of us thought today was the day. It wasn't. It was the day I threw an earring down the drain and spilled blueberry juice on a new shirt.
I asked a co-worker what to do about the earring.
"Did you turn off the water right away?" he asked.
"Yes. Wait. It wasn't on," I replied.
He told me to use an adjustable wrench to remove the bottom of the trap. I went to the Paris Farmer's Union and looked at wrenches and traps. I found a big adjustable wrench that would fit a trap, $12. I also purchased some potatoes to plant, and a tarp ($20) and bungee cords (10 @ $1.35 each) for my deck canopy. The old one was shredded in the hurricane last fall.
Back home I put on a stained old T-shirt. I got a step stool, a basin, and my new wrench. The trap to the bathroom sink is just below the basement ceiling. The trap came off easily. There was a little sand in the bottom, no earring. I left the basin below the pipe and ran upstairs to run some water, hoping the earring was trapped in the pipe and would be dislodged by water and would be flushed into the basin. I ran upstairs and down many times. 10? I turned the faucet on and off, ran down to check the basin: repeat.
Failure. No earring. Where is it? Trapped in the elbow of a pipe?
Oh well. I used a wrench.
