Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Out of my element
Out of my element, over my head, driving without a map, flying blind...
It appears that a device as simple as a sump pump is too much for me, college education and all. Son of a bitch! Came home from work yesterday and the pump was running, meaning the water from the clothes we washed the day before never pumped away. "Didn't I already fix you?" I asked it. It just continued to rumble at me, like a low growl. Two hours later I had completely disassembled the thing, cleaned it again, tested the pump with the outlet pipe removed (yes, it pumped the water up immediately), reassembled everything, plugged it in again...
...and it didn't work. It continued to run, but the water just swirled around.
To quote Darth Vader in Return of the Sith:
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Removing all the pipe fittings and lifting the pump out apparently worked my triceps, and they are aching today. An editor doesn't use triceps! Ouch!
So, dirty, sweaty, and shaking with excursion, I went upstairs, and with a voice dripping with complete and utter defeat, told my wife "We need to call someone."
A shower, two aspirin, and a beer later, I could almost laugh about it. There are things I cannot do, cannot understand, and cannot figure out, regardless of how much internet research, despite all the diagrams, labeled pictures, and step-by-step procedures I find. Sometimes you just gotta call a professional. My wife is off a few days this week, so she'll likely let the person in and let (s)he get to work on it. It will probably take five minutes to fix. It's probably something obvious I overlooked, some step I missed, something I didn't tighten well enough.
Mood: Freaking annoyed with myself.
It appears that a device as simple as a sump pump is too much for me, college education and all. Son of a bitch! Came home from work yesterday and the pump was running, meaning the water from the clothes we washed the day before never pumped away. "Didn't I already fix you?" I asked it. It just continued to rumble at me, like a low growl. Two hours later I had completely disassembled the thing, cleaned it again, tested the pump with the outlet pipe removed (yes, it pumped the water up immediately), reassembled everything, plugged it in again...
...and it didn't work. It continued to run, but the water just swirled around.
To quote Darth Vader in Return of the Sith:
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Removing all the pipe fittings and lifting the pump out apparently worked my triceps, and they are aching today. An editor doesn't use triceps! Ouch!
So, dirty, sweaty, and shaking with excursion, I went upstairs, and with a voice dripping with complete and utter defeat, told my wife "We need to call someone."
A shower, two aspirin, and a beer later, I could almost laugh about it. There are things I cannot do, cannot understand, and cannot figure out, regardless of how much internet research, despite all the diagrams, labeled pictures, and step-by-step procedures I find. Sometimes you just gotta call a professional. My wife is off a few days this week, so she'll likely let the person in and let (s)he get to work on it. It will probably take five minutes to fix. It's probably something obvious I overlooked, some step I missed, something I didn't tighten well enough.
Mood: Freaking annoyed with myself.
# posted by smacky @ 7:06 AM 
Comments:
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It happens to the best of us, pally. Here's hoping that it's something beyond your control and really does require the "crack" services of a plumber.
Have the plumber teach your wife how to fix it. Then, next time, she'll be armed with enough knowledge to fix it herself while you crack open a beer. (Or not. It never really works out that way, does it?)
P.S. De: That's a horribly horribly corny joke. :D
P.S. De: That's a horribly horribly corny joke. :D
Sometimes, it's just so much easier to have somebody else fix it. Plus, you can just stand there and grunt and ask them annoying questions, which is always fun.
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