Home Repair Despair

I would draw a diagram of my master bathroom but it is nearly 4:00 a.m., so I'll just try to describe it. There is a vanity and a closet on each end (the west and east walls) and these areas are carpeted. Between these two areas is a tiled area with a garden tub on the northern (exterior wall) opposite a shower and toilet on the south wall. On Saturday I discovered that the carpet was soaking wet on the west vanity side. I had showered and knew it was shower related because my shower had been draining slowly and was backing up some.

I called the plumbers on Monday and told them to come on Tuesday after 10:00 a.m. I set my clock and got up. I carried the phone with me all day. They had called early to tell me they would call when a plumber became available. My daughter called once that afternoon and like a loon I shouted, "Call back on my cell phone! I Have to get off the phone!" (I don't have call waiting - I hate it.) Finally, close to 4:00 that Tuesday afternoon, they called to apologize and reschedule for the next day. Well, Wednesday comes after Tuesday and I had Meals on Wheels, grocery store, etc. so I told them Thursday after 10:00 a.m. Again, I set my clock (I usually sleep until 12:30 or 1:00) got up and dilligently carted my phone around like a cat would a freshly killed mouse. They called shortly after 10:00 to let me know they would call when a plumber became available. They called around 11:30 to ask if I would need any drain work because they had a plumber available but he had "no drain equipment." And that guy's a plumber?!? WTF!?! So I said, "Uhm, yeah, I'm gonna need somebody WITH drain equipment." They called at 1:30 to say, "This is a courtesy call to let you know we will call you when the next available plumber is on his way over." You gotta love that phone call that says "We are calling to say we're gonna call."

I had a roast I needed to marinade for Friday's dinner and chicken breasts to marinade for tonight's (Thursday's)dinner. I did not want to miss the phone call, so I figured out a way to marinade my pork roast with only one hand (it required rubbing an olive oil paste all over the thing) and it was quite tricky. However, I knew I couldn't clean chicken with one hand, so I was going to wait to hear something. At 3:55 they called to say the guy was on his way. In the past when a service company calls to tell me someone is on the way, the guy shows up in 15 or 20 minutes. I thought, "Great! I'll have the chicken done before 5:00 and it will have two whole hours to marinade." The guy didn't show up until FIVE O'CLOCK!

He said the water leak problem was one of two things: Either my shower pan was leaking - which is bad news or it was leaking around the tiles where the caulk was not good. Last fall I recaulked the bathtub in the other bathroom with the full intention of also redoing my shower. All the stuff is in there, but I never got around to it because it was SO MUCH MORE FUN to strip wallpaper. So on Friday (legally, TODAY) I'm going to recaulk my shower. I imagine this will be a blast what with my bad knee and all. After the caulk has cured, I will shower in there again and if it still leaks, well then it's the shower pan. Crap.

News not related to my shower woes: My Meals on Wheels training day went well. She was a cute 36-year-old and quite friendly - I had her drive me in her car because of my knee. She had recently sent her hair off to Locks for Love. I thought that was sweet. Everything went well and it was nice just to be out. I had a fun lunch at Bennigan's and then some beers at another place with a girl that I know from Bennigan's. I almost enjoyed going to the grocery store. My knee was pretty much okay for driving. The only problems with my knee were from getting in and out of cars. It's a lot better though. I just hope I don't irritate caulking the shower.