Sometimes You Just Have To Take Action

Below is a true story; this one's from 2015. It's a story that will have kind of a moral at the end; actually, you've seen the moral in the title but go with me here and just enjoy the story first.

This doesn't look like much more than a sink, does it?

On that particular Sunday night, it was full of water. It wouldn't drain, and it seemed like it was getting fuller throughout the day.

A quick trip to Wegmans for some Drano, the heavy stuff, produced nothing; it just didn't work. I went to bed hoping it might drain in the morning, after siphoning some of the water out and pouring in the rest of the stuff in a different container.

I woke Monday morning and went to check the sink; nothing. I was a bit downcast. I had a day of marketing planned; all out the window.

I didn't know what to do. I mentioned it to my ex, who was out of town at the time; she didn't know what to do either. I needed to think, so I went back to bed. I know, that sounds goofy, but sometimes it's just what I need to do. At the time we'd just changed the time on the clocks, and my mind was muddled because I hadn't slept much. I wasn't used to the time change yet, and I had the stupid sink on my mind.

Sleeping helped my mind think clearer. In what was my last little dream... I decided what I was going to do, and it woke me up.

I got up, got dressed, and went to the "helpful hardware store" to buy a drain snake. I figured 25 feet might be overkill, but I was going to get it done; I'm getting that drain open.

Came back home, went to the snake... and nothing. Discouraged? Not me!

I went to YouTube and watched a video telling me how to potentially fix the sink. Those of you who know me know I'm not Mr. Handyman, but I was willing to give it a shot.

Without the proper tools, I still figured out how to loosen the things that bind the pipes (plastic pipes; they might be washers but I'm not sure). Since I'd previously drained most of the water, the little bucket I put under there easily handled the rest of the water.

I pulled out the little pipes I'd disconnected and looked into them; nothing. So that wasn't the problem.

I got my snake and popped it into the pipe I knew ran into the basement; it wasn't happening. No matter what I tried, I just couldn't get it to go in too far.

Me2 via Compfight

What to do, what to do... I didn't want to call a plumber out of the phone book (how many folks still use those?), because years earlier it cost $80 just for the guy to show up and another $80 to repair something that took less than 5 minutes. I knew this was going to be bigger than that and it was going to cost a lot more. What to do...

Got it; check Craigslist! I couldn't remember the last time I'd been there but I didn't care. True, it's not what it was back in 2015, when it was one of my "go to" sites.

I looked there and found one guy... just one guy; stunned by that. I called him and he agreed to come over after he ate dinner; I thought that was pretty nice since it was after 6:30 in the evening

He finally showed up around 8PM with his snake and drill. The sucker churned and churned, but fought him all the way. Eventually we went into the basement where he was able to determine that the entire pipe was clogged; so it wasn't anything I did (whew!).

Through lots of finagling, an idea I had that ended up helping, then some other testing, he was finally able to get it all cleared; whew! He was there almost an hour, and you know what it cost me? It cost $80, plus the $20 tip I gave him. I was happy to give it to him.

The sink was clear, the pipes were cleaned out, and I could finally eat, as all I'd had all day was a medium Mickey D's fries; sometimes that's a full lunch for me. I couldn't cook anything because I couldn't clean anything; that's how my mind was working.

Sometimes you just have to work through your problem. When you finally figure out what to do, you have to take action. It might not work out perfectly, but taking action breeds more ideas as things either work or don't work. Once you get going, if you're persistent and driven, things will get done.

Someone said that stuff never seems to break down when you're ready for it. So true; but I got it done, and treated myself to a cookie!

What action will you take today to get through a problem you've been having?