Sunday, February 03, 2008

Bad Day Gone Good

I woke up this morning with another splitting headache. On friday I smacked my head on this low beam in my office and now I have a god sized goose egg as a reminder. It hurts! And it's giving me a headache. It's either the bump on my head or the fact that my house is so dry even Lola has dandruff and sinus problems :(

Anyway, I decided that today would be the day that I clear the clog/slow drain in our tub. I got a bottle of Drain-o and poured it in. I waited the recommended hour before pouring hot water down the drain for 10 minutes. It didn't work. At all. All I was left with is a tub full of dirty Drain-o water.

Yes, now the drain doesn't move the water down at all. I plunged it to no avail. I sat there and cried for 30 minutes, hoping my hot tears would move the clog along. Swearing really loudly didn't help, either. Kicking the tub REALLY didn't help things along. Hey, I've got the PMS. That's how I roll.

And then I had a brainstorm.

I went to the kitchen and rifled through the cupboards. I found what I was looking for (thankfully!). I poured 1c baking soda, 1/2c salt, and 1/2 cup white vinegar into the drain. Or, as close to the drain as I could get, seeing that it was murky and disgusting, and made me pretty nauseous.

The baking soda and vinegar fizzed like the volcano I made in 5th grade science class. I let it fizz and bubble for about 20 minutes. I made sure I took myself out of the bathroom because it was driving me crazy watching the water go nowhere. After about 20 minutes, I went back into the bathroom and, to my surprise, the water was going down.

IT WAS GOING DOWN!

I waited another 30 or so minutes until there was about an inch or two left in the tub, and I repeated the process. 20 minutes later I turned on the faucet and let the hot water run. I figured two things would happen. 1) it would sit there like the last time and I'll have to call the slumlord who won't ever come over to fix it, but will call is "friend" who may or may not come within in the next two weeks to "see what he can do", or, 2) it'll take care of the clog and I'll finally be able to shower.

So I decided to wait and do some vacuuming. 10 minutes into my vacuum session the smoke alarm starts wailing. Lola positively freaks out! I drop the vacuum and run down the hall. All the steam coming from the bathroom had set the alarm off. So I frantically start waving a catalog in front of the smoke alarm until it stops beeping. I bust into the bathroom to find that the drain has been fixed.

I FIXED IT, PEOPLE! NO MORE CLOG!

I'm unsure if it was a combo of the Drain-o and the baking soda/vinegar mix, or just one of the two. But I don't really care. I fixed the clogged drain and I couldn't be happier. I was so happy that I did a little dance right there, with Lola watching me from around the corner.

Now I can shower and shave my legs without having soapy water almost up to my kneecaps. Ahh...the luxury!


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In other news, I bought this Ultimate Shine shampoo bar at LUSH at the Mall of America last night and, I have to say, It's worth the $10.08 I paid. If you're not a LUSH lover, you should be. Their stuff is amazing.

1 comment:

Michelle said...

Wow... what a great drain clog remedy! I'll have to try it. My drain is horrible, too. My landlord blames it on the pipes and refuses to do much about it. Grrrr....