Sunday morning I awoke to "Mom, the toilets not working right because there is water coming out".
Ughh...not what I want to hear at any point, especially prior to 8am. And definitely especially since I knew that "someone" (although they were all 'not me') took the plunger outside last week for who knows what. I'm sure it made a cool play weapon, or javelin, or something. But it got left outside and the guy who mows our lawn must be blind because he didn't see the bright yellow handle and mowed it over. The plunger was ripped in two while the handle was made into nice chunky yellow plastic mulch in the yard.
So Most Wonderful Husband in the World goes to get the plumbing snake. I told him I had a sneaking suspicion the missing towel hooks were down there. We had 4 of those 3M brand plastic hooks stuck to the wall, and at some point last week 3 of them disappeared. Brother Bear said Carebear threw them in the potty, but I was sure he was wrong. Was- now at 8am I am sure he was right.
He retrieves a matchbox car, a nail polish bottle and small Thomas the Tank Engine train. No joke.
Yet it still won't flush. Life being what it is, he actually had a crisis to handle at work and had to go into the office yesterday. So later in the afternoon, I had to work at the toilet some more, to no avail. I had two options- call a plumber or buy a power auger. Neither of which I had the money for at the moment. So a third option presented itself- the shop vac.
So I trepidatiously sucked the water out of the toilet, and as the water level dropped really low I held my breath and said "please work". I imagined something going horribly wrong and a plumber having to come out anyways and I would surely be the laugh of the month or the inspiration for the $50 prize for funniest story in some Plumber's Monthly magazine. Well- let me tell you how horrible the house smelled. I know I know- sewer gasses and all, what else did I expect? I knew it would smell but I didn't expect it to permeate the whole house instantly. Experimental Child immediately ran around and sprayed air freshner and lit a few candles. I told him to open a few windows. Brother Bear was gagging- I told him to go outside. Of course, so was I but I couldn't go anywhere. When it appeared the toilet was draining and flushing properly I was faced with a new problem. What the HECK do I do with the contents of the shop vac??? I carefully poured them back down the toilet making sure anything heavy stayed at the bottom of the vac so I didn't just re-clog the toilet. That all done- all that was left to do was mop the floor with bleach, wash the towels that had been used to sop up the overflowing water and oh yeah, wash out the shop vac in the front yard with a hose and hope. to. God. the neighbors didn't notice the smell coming from it. And of course- take a shower. Because even though I don't think I got dirty, boy did I feel it.
Oh- and the 3 plastic towel hooks. Still missing.
Ughh...not what I want to hear at any point, especially prior to 8am. And definitely especially since I knew that "someone" (although they were all 'not me') took the plunger outside last week for who knows what. I'm sure it made a cool play weapon, or javelin, or something. But it got left outside and the guy who mows our lawn must be blind because he didn't see the bright yellow handle and mowed it over. The plunger was ripped in two while the handle was made into nice chunky yellow plastic mulch in the yard.
So Most Wonderful Husband in the World goes to get the plumbing snake. I told him I had a sneaking suspicion the missing towel hooks were down there. We had 4 of those 3M brand plastic hooks stuck to the wall, and at some point last week 3 of them disappeared. Brother Bear said Carebear threw them in the potty, but I was sure he was wrong. Was- now at 8am I am sure he was right.
He retrieves a matchbox car, a nail polish bottle and small Thomas the Tank Engine train. No joke.
Yet it still won't flush. Life being what it is, he actually had a crisis to handle at work and had to go into the office yesterday. So later in the afternoon, I had to work at the toilet some more, to no avail. I had two options- call a plumber or buy a power auger. Neither of which I had the money for at the moment. So a third option presented itself- the shop vac.
So I trepidatiously sucked the water out of the toilet, and as the water level dropped really low I held my breath and said "please work". I imagined something going horribly wrong and a plumber having to come out anyways and I would surely be the laugh of the month or the inspiration for the $50 prize for funniest story in some Plumber's Monthly magazine. Well- let me tell you how horrible the house smelled. I know I know- sewer gasses and all, what else did I expect? I knew it would smell but I didn't expect it to permeate the whole house instantly. Experimental Child immediately ran around and sprayed air freshner and lit a few candles. I told him to open a few windows. Brother Bear was gagging- I told him to go outside. Of course, so was I but I couldn't go anywhere. When it appeared the toilet was draining and flushing properly I was faced with a new problem. What the HECK do I do with the contents of the shop vac??? I carefully poured them back down the toilet making sure anything heavy stayed at the bottom of the vac so I didn't just re-clog the toilet. That all done- all that was left to do was mop the floor with bleach, wash the towels that had been used to sop up the overflowing water and oh yeah, wash out the shop vac in the front yard with a hose and hope. to. God. the neighbors didn't notice the smell coming from it. And of course- take a shower. Because even though I don't think I got dirty, boy did I feel it.
Oh- and the 3 plastic towel hooks. Still missing.
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