\u201cWe are going to walk the dog,\u201d I said to my husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood! I\u2019ll be able to take the sink apart and fix the drain\nwithout the dog in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t say it, but I thought it. Right now? Is this the\ntime? It\u2019s a holiday tomorrow. A plumbing project right before a holiday means\nwe can\u2019t call a plumber if it goes wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We came back and it had gone wrong. I still didn\u2019t say\nanything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh well, we could brush our teeth in the kitchen sink. One day\nof a plugged-up sink, alright. We\u2019ll get through the 4th<\/sup> of July and\ncall for help on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is pandemic marriage. Let go of the things you CAN let go\nof. We\u2019re all stuck in this together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My holiday morning started nice and cozy, me and the cat,\nthen my daughter and dog all joining in lazy activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Chris woke with a mission. He would keep working on that\nsink. And that faraway look in his eye made me nervous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time I said something: \u201cI don\u2019t\u2019 think this is a good\nidea. Is this how you want this holiday to go? It could go very wrong and you\u2019re\ngoing to be frustrated no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I said it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But he had a mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Great. My holiday down the drain, because the drain wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Situation: Huge plug of my hair down the drain, and he had\ntried to snake it, but it went past the trap and deeper than he could reach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019d tried using our decrepit plunger in the sink, but it\nwas good and stuck<\/p>\n\n\n\n Action plan: but Liquid plumber from the hardware store and\na funnel to pour it in past the trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least he took the daughter to the store and let me and\nthe cat to pursue laziness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Result: liquid plumber was added, and that didn\u2019t clear things.\nBut some time passed and <\/p>\n\n\n\n EUREKA!<\/p>\n\n\n\n He had bought a new plunger and that plunger in the sink was\nthe key. Six Dollar plunger for the win!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This plunger had an adapter to work on smaller drains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither of us were aware that plunger technology had made this\nsignificant advance. We know a lot, but that one had complete escaped us. For six\nbucks, this was a no special fancy thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was braced for an expensive and time-wasting hassle. But\nthe solution was waiting right there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know very little about plumbing. I do know a lot about remote\ncollaboration and communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I knew, when this\nstay-at-home thing started, that it was waiting for everyone. It wasn\u2019t\npainless, but it was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m proud of us for\nnot blowing up and sticking to the point, getting work done. Things are working\nout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good for me for not losing\nmy cool at my husband either. With a little patience and persistence, things\ngot unstuck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWe are going to walk the dog,\u201d I said to my husband. \u201cGood! I\u2019ll be able to take the sink apart and fix the drain without the dog in the way.\u201d I didn\u2019t say it, but I thought it. Right … Continue reading