When the Plunger Doesn't Work . . . .

 

Yup, we're dealing with one of "those" days. 

Our plunger did not work on the downstairs toilet yesterday afternoon.

That means Joey, the plumber, will be here this morning. 

Joey sez it's probably a septic-tank problem. 

We all know what that means.  

We're not quite sure where our septic tank is because we have not had to deal with it for the almost 18 years we've lived here.

We think we know, and we hope Joey can sleuth it out without too much digging. 

So, that's how our Friday is starting off. 

How 'bout yours? 

This situation marks another of life's road bumps that we encounter every so often, probably designed and timed to humble us and remind us that life is not smooth sailing every day. 

The problem also puts us into immediate action.  When Bill and I were wearing ourselves out yesterday taking turns with the plunger, we finally decided he should go to town to get a snake. 

So, he did.  Before he left, I had used a couple of towels to dry up the overflow and had thrown them in the wash. 

I had also tried the vinegar-soda trick which is supposed to eat away at anything clogging up the toilet. 

When that didn't work, I continued with sessions of plunging interspersed with clicks into You Tube. 

Another You Tube suggestion involved Dawn dish washing soap.  The guy said to put it in and let it work for about half an hour, so I did. 

About five minutes later, the washer started its empty cycle.  About one second later, the toilet water with Dawn dish soap began to rise while big white bubbles formed from the soap. 

It took about five seconds of watching that scene for me to hurry to the washer and turn it off. 

"This IS a problem," I surmised out loud and then called Bill. 

While waiting for him to come home, I plunged again, almost desperately, with no luck. 

Our phone conversation had also brought up the dreaded word "septic tank." 

Hope it's not the septic tank and if it is, I hope we can find where it's located I thought to myself. 

Later, after texting Joey, he responded during an accidental Messenger face time call, and HE said the word "Septic Tank." He also advised us to avoid any more washes and showers overnight. 

So, here we are half an hour from Joey's visit and with no clue what the day bring. 

I do have one concern about where I think our septic tank is located.  Erma Bombeck famously said the grass grows greener there. 

Not much grass in this particular spot.  So "Hail Mary's" are in order that we have guessed the right location.  

Somehow any plumbing problem will bring us to our figurative knees because the situation is always urgent, often costly, and, for sure, an occasional challenge for our personal urgency.  

So, we'll see how today turns out.  Hoping for Joey and Jada to have smooth sailing as they diagnose and then treat the problem. 

In the meantime, we're back to sunshine this morning after snow yesterday. 

Throughout my entire conversation with my friend and editor Helen yesterday, we exchanged weather reports. 

She lives in town about ten miles from us. 

"It's sunny here," she said, after I told her I had come inside because a snow squall had started. 

Later, I told her the flakes were getting bigger. 

"Still sunny here," she responded. 

Toward the end of our conversation, I had to break in to tell her that those bigger flakes were now twice the size as those in the previous report. 

"Still sunny," she said. 

When the flakes here in Selle began to diminish in size and number, I told her it was probably time to end our conversation. 

And, so we got caught up on our respective news during a sun-snow event. 

We're due for another nice weekend and warmup, so that will be nice. 

And, now it's time to "plunge" into the uncertainty of this day. 

Happy Friday.