J and I have a history of calling people to fix things around the house that normal, able-bodied, moderately handy people would tackle on their own. If you know us well, you've probably made fun of us for this habit, and we've laughed along with you, knowing that you're right--we can probably do most of this ourselves.
For the last several months, the hot water knob in our shower has not shut the water off completely. In the early days, we could turn it back on and try again with some success, but for the last couple of weeks, there has been a constant drip. This morning, J finished his shower and turned off the cold water. The hot water knob spun in his hands, and the water kept flowing.
On most days, we would have reacted in our typical way--I would call a plumber and hang out all day waiting around for the bad news. And I freely admit that for a brief moment, I pictured a process so intense it started with knocking out tiles to reach the faulty faucet and ended with a new bathroom vanity (yes, my imagination sometimes gets carried away).
Today, however, I decided it might be an easy fix, and that just maybe, calling a plumber was unneccesary. I called my dad for telephone backup and removed the inner workings of the knob to discover a very old, cracked and almost non-existent washer. One quick trip to Ace Hardware later (yes, I stopped and looked lovingly at the rain-shower faucets on the way to the washers), a little reverse engineering, and we have a fully functioning shower.
Now I need to take apart the sink faucet to figure out why it keeps dripping, too. Maybe if I wait a little longer it will break in such a spectacular fashion that I'll get my new bathroom, after all...
Title: The Plumbing Song, by Weird Al
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