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.

This and That and the Other Thing

I completed my first week at my new job. It started out rough, but evened out toward the end of the week. I like my office - especially the location -and the people seem very nice. I like having a job where I'm able to do my own thing and not have a boss breathing down my neck. I feel I'm more productive that way. Anyhoo, this is a contract job that I'm praying turns into a permanent position after the new year. That would make my, well, year.

Sometimes when I'm bored while waiting for the bus I like to play a little game called Gay or Virgin? I watch men walk down the street and determine if they are gay or a virgin. You can tell a lot by the way a man walks. Also by his shoes. Although shoes are a bit misleading, especially since there are so many meterosexuals out there, so I keep that in mind. I see lots of gay men, which is great, but not so many virgins. So far, I think I've only spotted one virgin, but the tip-off was the Magic the Gathering* cards he was looking through and not the way he walked.

I also like to play a game called Famous People On The Bus. I see people who look just like famous people on the bus. For example, today I saw a dude who looked just like Mark Ruffalo:

So, yeah. The guy on the bus looked just like Mark Ruffalo only blonde. I also saw a Gene Hackman, and I swear I work with a John Krasinski look-alike. Awesome. I ♥ Jim Halpert.

Yes, this is how I pass the time to-and-from work. Well, in between listening to my favorite podcast in the world: Movies You Should See. If you're into a bunch of intelligent and hysterical Brits talking about films, you really need to listen to their podcast. I have listened to everything they have for download and now I'm entertaining the thought of purchasing last year's episodes just so I have something good to listen to during the day. I seriously can't get through the day without it. Sad? Yeah, but so?

I also watched the entire first season of Californication. Holy shit, that's a good show (but I also love David Duchovny). I don't have Showtime so I watched the episodes online. I had to wait a week until the finale was up and running, but it was worth it. I wish I could afford the "good" cable TV so I could watch all the good shows. Oh well. Maybe, someday.

Tonight I'm doing nothing but lounging and eating chocolate cake. I'm PMS-y so BACK OFF.

*if they weren't Magic the Gathering cards, they were something similar, I swear.