Dear Kay,
OK so that color test thing totally sucks. At first I was all, “Neat! What a fun little test!” but now that everybody has taken the test and gotten everything from a perfect score to a deeply human and beautiful score, I realize that a test like that is the L.A.S.T. thing any of us should be taking. Unless you work at the Pantone Corporation or Benjamin Moore LLC or the Yarn Naming Department of Rowan Yarns, who gives a rat’s backside whether you can tell the difference between a bunch of colors on a screen?
Very sorry. Very sorry about that. I’d like to think that we are helping things here, not making them worse.
In the interest of being helpful, here you go.
Last night the kitchen sink spontaneously backed up. Ceased to function, just like that. We (and by we I mean I, because everybody else in the house stopped by the sink to express concern, disappointment at not being able to fix a glass of water, and general gross-outedness) did the first of two things that we usually do when this happens: we got out the plunger. We vetted as carefully as possible its credentials as the SINK plunger and not THE OTHER plunger, then commenced plunging.
Nothing happened.
I started to do the second thing I usually do, which is to call the plumber. Despite the fact that we have one of those pipe augur snake things on a shelf in the garage, I have never really explored what one would do with such a thing. I think Hubbo bought it when he was a bachelor, which puts the snake into the realm of Reagan-era relic.
Last time the plumber came, I noticed that he used a snake of the exact shape and color as the snake in our garage. And charged us $125 to perform a maneuver that involved a bucket, a wrench, and that snake.
SO.
In the interest of saving $125, this morning I dialed up a YouTube entitled “How to Unclog a Sink Using a Drain Snake.”
There is so much to love about this video: the humble, nameless guy who is JUST TRYING TO HELP. The fact that he actually dismantles the pipe under the sink in a way that looks achievable. The fact that he teaches us the name of that pipe under the sink: “The P trap.”
I learned, as I unscrewed the “slip nuts” of the P trap, that the P is for “PFAFF IT HE DIDN’T MENTION THE GUSHING WATER INTO THE BUCKET PART.” Fortunately, the amount of gushing water was a lot less than the capacity of the bucket. But I was unpleasantly reminded of the way it feels when you flush a toilet but it isn’t really flushing right. This was the challenging moment of this project.
“Snaking” followed the P trap removal, and in a quick and gratifying maneuver, I DID IT.
Total time spent: 23 minutes, including the unceremonial dumping of the slop bucket in the backyard. I have spent a lot more time trying to cast on for a pair of socks.
So if you are looking for a way to feel really competent, go snake out your kitchen sink. You can spend the $125 you save on yarn, or shoes, or a Costco-size container of Purell.
Love,
Ann
Congratulations!
I feel that more than anything, a successfully accomplished plumbing task makes me a more grown-up, sophisticated, mature, responsible home-owner. Learning a new cast-on is neat – fixing plumbing puts you into a whole new category of capable.
Here’s a fun color play to help heal the wounds:
http://colorschemedesigner.com/
And for the record, if you work for Pantone, it’s illegal to make you take the test before they hire you – it’s considered a physical ability and would be discrimination if they use your color test score in hiring.
Very interesting/informative! Thanks! Isn’t it a good feeling to do something so weird yourself?
Congrats on the plumbing achievement! My husband and I felt a huge amount of satisfaction when we reupholstered our kitchen table chairs (kitty liked the fabric a bit too much).
I’m so proud of you, I love YouTube, and I love doing stuff like this. I once replaced my whole kitchen faucet (PRE-INTERNET) using just the directions on the box. I had to wait until my husband was out of the county so I had plenty of time to tackle it! and the color thing was fun but I got a TERRIBLE score. Back to my sock toe now!
Excellent advice (although I don’t have a snake or one of those wrench thingies.) Got an 11 on the color test, beating my husband by A LOT.
I watched a similar video on the operation of a toilet auger. I think I’ll stop right there actually because you probably don’t want me to go any further.
Hurrah! I learned to unplug the garbage diposal myself so that I didn’t have to listen to my husband. And then I went to the big box store and bought the highest horse power garbage diposal available and I have never had to clean it out again!
My sister had a bathroom sink drain issue that she was trying to deal with in her apartment. Every time she said “P trap” I assumed she was saying “pee trap” and I was thoroughly confused why there would be a pee trap in a sink. I guess one could pee in the sink in an extreme emergency, but…
I’m so impressed! (But will stay with my standard J.O. of calling the management office and letting the building engineers handle it. Not even sure where I could take the slop bucket without violating some city code…)
I am proud of you. Not just for accomplishing the disclogging, but for trying in the first place. Yay. You definipately deserve to spend the $125 on yarn.
Impressive!
How exciting for you!! Now you’ll be up to all manner of household and plumbing repairs!!
I really need to start comparing the time it takes to do certain household tasks to various knitting tasks. It might just increase the chances of them getting done.
Oh you have no idea how truly helpful this is!!! Very cool. My plumber is like a family member at this point. Also, I totally failed the color test. And I thought I aced it.
The secret to unplugging a sink with a plunger is to plunge UP. With the sink full of enough water to submerge the plunger head, gently push the plunger down over the drain, then when its lips are sealed against the sink surface around the drain, jerk UP. The suction should bring up whatever is plugging the sink. Warning: the clog itself will be really gross, but be sure it does not slip back down the drain.
You have two plungers? Seriously?
Wow, big huzzah to you, Plumber Lady!
That color test reminds me of a friend who ran a design shop. She hired a designer who hid from her the fact he was completely color-blind. It took a long time for her to discover this, because he had the Pantone numbers of all her favorite colors memorized.
There’s always a way 😉
You are amazing! When I try to do stuff like that, it takes 4 hours and I break the slip nut and find you can’t buy another one that size anymore. Every damn time. Yes, go buy the yarn!
And then there is this.
http://zipitclean.com/
The empowerment! The cleverness! I love everything about your plumbing adventure. FYI if you ever need to replace a bulb in your car headlight, YouTube can be your friend too. Nothing like sticking it to The Man, I say.
Oh, well done! Always a bit of worry when mucky water is involved. x x x
It’s a testament to how entertaining your blog is that I just watched that complete video and I don’t even have a clogged sink. I think I’ll go spend $125 on yarn anyway…
I felt the same way when I replaced the guts of the toilet tank so that it flushed correctly and didn’t spray water (clean, thank god) out of the top fill tube or run all night. And Jane @ 2:25, I waited until Durwood was out of town to do it too.
I loved the color test, got a 30. *sigh* I thought I did so well.
I felt the same way when I replaced the guts of the toilet tank so that it flushed correctly and didn’t spray water (clean, thank god) out of the top fill tube or run all night. And Jane @ 2:25, I waited until Durwood was out of town to do it too.
I loved the color test, got a 30. *sigh* I thought I did so well.
I fixed my sink this summer with the same kind of thinking…What’s a plumber going to do? Snake the drain & pour in a bunch of chemicals. I can do that. I used a book. Next time, I’ll try your YouTube guy.
More color playing:
http://design-seeds.com/index.php/search
that’s hilarious
I am all manner of impressed!
I totally sucked at the color test as well, so you’ve got company. And apparently I do not walk around with totally bad colors that I wear, so there! Even my colorwork in knitting is ok.
Oh my heavens, I’m getting one of those wrenches and a snake tomorrow and I will impress the heck out of my kids with my FIXING ABILITY. Yay!
I think I know what the clog is, too. It’s Legos.
You are now my official heroine! I have never had to deal with a clogged drain myself and I hope I never have to, but if I do and I do it successfully, you may take full credit.
my father once remembered to put a bucket under the P-trap to catch the water. but then he lifted it up and dumped it down the sink. the same sink.
I had to smile when you said “fix a glass of water”. My southern (KY) sorta step father always said that, as in “Verol, fix me a glass a’ milk” even though he was standing or sitting right by the refrigerator! Verol was my ma’s name. Don’t that sound southern??? My German-American grandma read it in a book..
(Sorry for the bad punctuation, but iPad won’t do the parentheses and period correctly.)
Love this story! Congratulations on unclogging your sink yourself and saving all that yarn money!
I know it’s late, but I have to pipe up (!). I have lately been repairing my washing machine. Success! Except that I can’t seem to get the drain hose re-attached to the back of the machine which leads to basement floor gushers. Work in progress. BUT, back to the sink. My lav sink backed up just about nine months ago. I was nervously getting ready for a first date. Being a somewhat middle-aged widow, I was incredibly nervous and fumble-y. But the bathroom sink was backed up and I was the only one who could fix it. I texted my fix-it friend. Go buy a snake. I went out and bought the snake. Came home and snaked. Nothing moved. I plunged. Nothing. I poured Drano. Nothing. I got dressed for my date and attempted to ignore the sink. Paced while waiting for date pick-up. Went back to look at the sink. Decided to plunge the sink again. In my date dress. Yes, Drano spots down the front of the cute dress on its first wearing for my plunge into dating. When the plumber came the next day. He found that a SQUIRREL had gotten into the plumbing vent pipe and caused the sink back up. SQUIRRELS! D’oh! The happy ending? Nine months later, I am very happily dating the same guy. The end.
I imagine a full on Silkwood shower was necessary after this…
However, totally worth it!