9:59 PM — Winter Woes I've been having the damnedest week. Weeks now. Wednesday, January 19, in the morning my kitchen sink drain went from being slow to stopped. Prior to that I'd been leaving the water dripping to prevent the pipes from freezing. Of course, now that the sink was stopped up, I couldn't run them anymore. Wednesday evening I tried plunging the sink a bit, but not too much since it was after a chorus rehearsal and I was beat. Thursday evening after further plunging attempts, I called the landlord. Left a message. Friday I called the landlord and knocked on his door. Saturday ditto. Sunday the snow hit. When I saw the landlord was out plowing, I threw on clothes and went to dig my car out. Now, I don't actually have a shovel, so I was hoping to borrow one from my other upstairs neighbors, landlord's roommates, but they refused to let me--and instead shoveled my car out themselves! Rock on! Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to talk to the landlord about the drain (by now I figured either he was ignoring me, or his answering machine crapped out), but I did tell one of the roommates, who said he'd tell Aaron. Monday comes, and my car won't start. But that's okay because Campus is closed. By the way, Worcester doesn't know how to handle snow. Typically, they plow at the very end of a snow storm, with the result that it is physically impossible to travel during the actual storm, and it's also that much harder for them to do it when it finally does stop snowing. No exception this time, but that's just a side note. So at 1 in the afternoon on Monday I go to start my car so I can go out and get some draino and it won't (start, that is). I tried to give it gas, but the pedal didn't seem to want to move. I was just about to call a tow truck when my wonderfully helpful neighbors (not including the landlord) pull up in their car. Oh, what I neglected to mention is that Aaron's roommates work at his car shop. Five minutes later Steve is revving my engine nicely while I'm on Dave's cellphone telling Aaron about the drain. Every night starting Monday, Aaron then works to fix my drain. By the end of the night, Aaron is convinced it's a combination of ice and a normal clog. My kitchen is the only one on those pipes, and they run through an outside wall, so if they froze no one else would notice. Tuesday he shows me the three-foot long section of pipe that he pulled out of the wall, filled with ice. Apparently there was an inch wide crack in the house's wall that let in cold air, and the insulation on the pipe wasn't enough to keep it warm. It's not clear how a drain pipe got filled with standing water, but that's a different issue. Wednesday was my birthday, and I drove to campus at 11am for my 12noon class through another fucking foot of snow because it was open this time. Until noon. This time the City of Worcester decided to plow during the storm--Wednesday night, while Aaron's trying to break through the remaining ice with a blowtorch and 1" drill. More came down over night, and there were no plows for the additional half foot we had by Thursday morning, and campus was open again. We've now had 6 academic days, and I've only had my classes meet 2 of them, and I haven't taught a single real lesson! Thursday , day 9 without drain, Aaron tells me he broke through the ice. After running the sink for a minute or two, I check in the closet downstairs of my kitchen. He broke through all right. Broke through the pipe. Thursday night Aaron shows me the hole in the pipe that he's just pulled out through the floor under my cabinet. Anyone else wondering why he hasn't yet called a plubmer? Night 10, Friday, T$ arrives for the weekend to celebrate my birthday with me, and Aaron fits pipe sections together downstairs without disturbing us. It's currently Saturday night (#11) and he's piecing things together in my kitchen cabinet floor. Despite the cooking grease I've been sending down my bathroom drains, they are still running. For now. Nathan keeps suggesting I kick him in the nuts while he's under my sink. It's becoming increasingly tempting.  ¶ permalink | 0 musings