Frustration

For the past couple of days I have been trying to clean the P-trap from the girls’ bathroom sink. It is a disgusting job, but not too difficult. Or so I thought. I watched a plumber do it in the master bathroom a few months ago. He even explained the process to me.

Everything went well until re-assembly. No matter how hard I tried, the seal was not water-tight. Not even close.

I went to Lowe’s and Home Depot, discussed my problem with a blue vest and an orange vest, and made purchases at both places: a washer and an entire assembly. No luck. I’ll spare you the very frustrating play-by-play. I’ve tried to think of everything, from gaskets to leverage to magic.

Finally I threw in the towel and called my handy friend Ron. He quickly determined that an o-ring was missing. I probably inadvertently threw it out (I don’t see little things like that very well.) I promptly returned to store, bought the rings, and eagerly tried to finish the job. Unfortunately, it requires a minimal combination of coordination, balance, and strength, which I lack presently. I quit. I should probably return my Home Repairs merit badge.

(making matter worse, this drain also serves as the outlet to the A/C condensation run-off, and you can’t stop that trickle without turning off the air conditioning. But then we’d all die, so our choices become (1) just let it drip and rot through our floor and into the master bedroom (2) jam a bunch of tortillas up it so the run-off must default out the side of the house, or (3) place a large bowl beneath it and get up every two hours through the night to empty it. And we don’t have any tortillas.)