Plumb disasterous

Okay, I exaggerate. I knew he was not going to be here till 9, but his dispatcher called at 8 (I was still in bed) to say he was on his way. So I rushed to get up and dressed and medicated and bananaed and egged.  He was on time, snuck in behind someone at the gate.

First job was to remove the toilet and install the new one. I expected a dual flush model, but instead he brought a standard one, he said the dual flush had a smaller outflow. OK, but it'll be a few days before I know for sure if it works.

Second job was to remove the divided sink and broken disposal, and replace them with an undivided sink and a new disposal. The new sink is deeper than the old one, and we knew he had to cut up the pipes and rework them to make it fit.


But it seems he brought a sink which was too large. He did measure before he got it, but it did not fit. He blamed this on the original sink cutout being off center which it was not. His solution was to break out the rotary saw and cut away some of the faux marble counter. He was at it so long and hard the house filled with smoke, I think some of the wood may have caught fire. Every smoke alarm in the house went off, and turning on all the fans and opening windows did not help all that much. I should have made him stop but was trying to watch a friend's facebook live cooking show, and had my noise canceling headphones on. Spook hid under the bed.

And then he discovered that the faucet had been held in place by tie wraps. Actually the hoses were, and he probably could have made that work, but instead went and bought another almost identical faucet.

There had been a switch under the counter which switched between the disposal and the dishwasher. He had never seen anything like that before so he removed it. He didn't get it that the wall switch controlled the dual a/c outlet below the sink, and he plugged both the disposal and the dishwasher into that. He did not understand when I explained to him that this meant the dishwasher could not run unless the disposal was grinding. I put the overcharged bill on a credit card and sent him on his way. And went online and sent a message to my electrician asking them to rewire the dishwasher. It may be as simple as separating the two halves of the AC outlet, or it may need a dedicated outlet or wire to the dishwasher.

The dishwasher was full, since I had not been able to use it for 4 days, so I ran a load and then unplugged it and plugged in the disposal.

And then I found the bucket which I had placed under the leaky pipes --  half-filled with water, near the microwave table. I dumped it into the sink.

And thanks to all the grinding, everything on the counter was covered with dust. I grabbed the can of air from the computer desk and blew out the Hgl meter, all the med holders, the Kleenex box and so on.

The good news is basically I got what I wanted. It took 3x longer and made a small mess. I know who not to call if I need a plumber again.

Collected the garbage and wheeled the bins out to the curb.

Spook handled the situation well, she hid in the bedroom or behind the recliner, and came out when he went on a parts or food run. It's hotter inside than out so I have the front and back doors open, she is lying in front of the front screen door. She used the office cat tree for the first time in ages while I watched storm chaser streams.

My stream had about 3 chatters on, none were worth talking to.

Made a nails appointment for Tuesday afternoon with a salon in Henderson which looks to be all women.

Lunch was trail mix and Ritz crackers, a melted cheese on rye sandwich became dinner, and an instant mug chocolate cake with too much water was still delicious if not attractive.

Took out my trumpet and confirmed that my lip is shot, it would take several days of practice to be able to play a respectable Taps, so I won't be doing that tomorrow.

Plans for tomorrow:
3:30 skype with J
Bring in the bins
7:30 short stream
8 pm BASFA Zoom meeting
There should be storm chasers out
If I leave the two remaining lamb chops out to thaw, I could make curried lamb
Or I could order prime rib from DoorDash or GrubHub.