I have now officially cooked two large holiday meals for many guests without the benefit of a fridge on the same floor as the stove (not to mention the fact that the downstairs fridge holds approximately two yogurt containers and a head of lettuce).
Yesterday in the middle of preparations the sink backed up. I skittered around trying to pretend that all was well and only admitted otherwise late last night after dosing it with chemicals. Byron took the trap apart and poked around but the problem was beyond us.
This is what I learned today: hiring an on-call plumber during a holiday is very expensive. Also: even if you can afford to pay, the problem may not be resolved.
If you happen to own a house that has been renovated from a one-room bungalow to a two-apartment four-room duplex there are many complicated jerryrigged pipes.
If you are an especially lucky person you may learn that your house has not one but three (or more) connections to the street sewer line. If you are even more fashionably eccentric you may be informed that existing pipes lead to no known outlet. Or that the upstairs toilet is leaking and rotting portions of the carpentry and downstairs walls.
To learn these lessons, you may find that many large holes are knocked into your kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom. Without any noticeable improvement in the drainage of the sink.
But after paying the plumber and resigning yourself to the idea of taking out a second mortgage to fix the whole system you may find that the sink suddenly works again – mysteriously, hours later, and for no discernible reason.
All is well if you don’t mind big holes, enormous repair bills, and the impending doom of bathroom repairs.