5:00 p.m. | 2002-08-11 Who Doesn�t Love Plumbing Emergencies? Especially on Sundays? So I�m sitting in my recliner reading and so far into relaxation mode, I�m almost comatose. Then, all of a sudden, I hear hissing, popping and water gushing. Uh oh. I rush towards the sound (kitchen), throw open the cabinet doors under the sink and watch in horror as water is gushing from somewhere and flooding the kitchen. What to do? What to do? Oh yeah, turn off the water. I turn off the water valve under the sink, which stems the flow quite a bit. However, it�s still leaking because I need to turn off the main water valve. I would do just that except that I don�t know where the water main is other than it�s somewhere under thousands of vines in the back alley. So I shove a bucket under the leak, drag the sopping-wet rug outside, clear everything out from under the sink, mop up all the water on the floor and page my plumber. On Sunday. Every 15 minutes, I empty the bucket and mop up any water that�s escaped onto the floor. (My mop actually breaks during this exercise, so that complicated things some. Note to self: get a new mop.) I page my plumber again. After a half-hour, my plumber calls me back. (He was in church.) He asks me what the problem is. Here�s our conversation. (Try not to be unduly impressed with my technical knowledge of plumbing matters.) (CI:) Well, the thingie that goes to the hot water popped off or something and water came gushing out. So I turned the valve off but the main is still on so water is still coming out of the thingie that�s attached to the other thing. Water just went everywhere because it broke. And, there was hissing and popping. (P:) Is it still flooding? (CI:) No, I stopped the flooding and put a bucket under the thingee so everything is under control, I just have to empty the bucket every 15 minutes so something needs to be fixed. (P:) It�s going to take me at least 30 minutes to get there. Is that okay? (CI:) Yeah, that�s fine. Everything is pretty much under control for the moment. (P:) I�ll be there as soon as I can. (CI:) Thanks, you�re the BEST! Let me pause here and tell you all a little about my plumber. I LOVE him. He is the best plumber in the whole world! He�s independently wealthy so he only plumbs because he likes it. (I�m not sure why anyone would like it, but I�m glad there are those out there that do!) He lives in a very exclusive area � the multi-million dollar homes are in a gated community with a guard shack and a guard. But he�s not pretentious at all. He�s handsome, tall, fit, and trim, and doesn�t wear a toolbelt or sport butt-crack when he bends over. He�s married, has grown children and goes to church. He�s empathetic and just a plain nice guy. His rates are very reasonable for the services he provides and often he forgets to bill ya for stuff. And, he�s a damn good plumber. And, get this� if he has to come take care of something when I�m not home, he leaves me a note describing what was wrong and exactly what he did to fix it. And, he spells everything right, even my name. (He�s the only repairperson I allow in my home when I�m not there.) Plus, he�s been my plumber since I�ve lived here so he knows all the little quirks about my house. My house is a little more than 70 years old so it has a lot of �character�, like the main water valve being three feet underground in the back alley under a bunch of vegetation that requires a special �key� to turn it on and off. And, if he has to go into my basement (the water heater is down there as are a lot of pipes), he has to move my desk over by about 3 feet. (The basement access trapdoor is in my office under my desk.) By the way, he can do this without unloading it or disturbing anything on it! And he apologizes for the inconvenience because I can�t use my computer during this process. (I just gaze at him in awe.) So he rushed over here and fixed my little plumbing emergency. He also showed me where the main valve is so I would know. I don�t have a key for it but it�s good to know where it is just in case I ever have to call someone else if he�s out of town or something. (By the way, he was out of town last weekend and will be out of town this coming weekend. It�s just divine intervention, karma, or whatever, that he was around this weekend.) And we marked the spot this time. He caught me up on what�s going on with his wife and kids, etc. Asked if there was anything else I needed his help with. The usual stuff. Okay, so obviously he is the best plumber in the world. But, it gets better. He told me that he worked very hard all week and was looking forward to relaxing and watching the game and golf this afternoon and then he got my page. He said he was glad it was an easy fix but he had to come take care of it because he couldn�t have relaxed watching the game and all knowing that someone was out there having a plumbing emergency. So, now he felt better because he could actually go home and relax and watch the game and golf knowing that everything was fixed. On an interesting sidenote, he almost left his main valve key here, but he remembered it at the last minute. He told me that he�s always leaving stuff at jobs and I told him someone left a tool at my house a couple of years ago and I left it outside for awhile but no one ever came back for it. He asked me what it was. I told him it was one of those tools that is fairly large and adjustable and wrench-like I guess. He said it might be his. I told him I would go get it, and that he could actually have it if he wanted since I don�t know what to do with it. I brought it to him and he recognized it instantly. He said he lost it a couple of years ago, it was part of a set and that he had been making do with the smaller and larger siblings of this set but had been missing it for some time. He mentioned that, of course, he could have bought a new one but ya know, it�s a set and all. Suffice it to say, he was happy to have it back. As an added benefit, I mopped my kitchen floor today. It�s been needing it. And, thank goodness I was home when it happened. If it had happened while I was at work, well that would have been a whole different and more dramatic event. I probably would have sworn much more and cried and all. And, he is on my list of heroes but not one that I have a crush on. He�s no Uncle Bob, of course, but he is a damned good plumber and a great person. your thoughts? seed flower