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Cuba Chronicles
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Cuba 2006:
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Water, water everywhereSunday afternoon (why do these things always happen on Sunday?) we discovered the hot water pipe under the kitchen sink was leaking, and possibly also the tap. Not just when the tap was on, understand, but all the time. Not a huge amount either but enough to require digging everything out from under the sink (and what a mess of forgotten, rotten, crusty items THAT was) and bodge up some sort of container to catch the drips and stuff rags and old towels around the pipes to keep water from leaking into the basement and shorting out the fuse box. Being Sunday, everyone would be wanting me to cook them a nice roast dinner, and water being a necessary element to cooking and cleaning up afterwards, turning off the water altogether was not an option. So we made do, turned off the water right after the dishes were done and called the plumber first thing Monday morning. And seeing as yesterday was the morning my cleaning ladies come (yes, “ladies” plural – apparently they are required to come to my house in teams, now) we had to arrange for the plumber to come in the afternoon. Now that tap’s been dicky for a while and recently has become very loose in it’s moorings, so when the plumber told me the whole thing would need to be replaced it wasn’t a surprise. When he told me the boards under the counter were pretty much rotten and would also need to be replaced at some point that was not much of a surprise either, but having the entire counter torn out and the tile and sink and cupboard replaced wasn’t going to happen just then. So I said to do the best he could to make it secure and go on his merry way. The kitchen was pretty much a mess when he left – so much for having the cleaning ladies come! After work, Redman and I set about cleaning up and putting things back the way they were (less some of the more disgusting old cleanser bottles) and I pulled out all the filthy rags from under the sink and prepared to give them a wash. No sooner did I turn on the washing machine than water began to pour out the bottom and all over the laundry room floor. I shrieked, turned off the washer as quick as I could and stated hollering for something to sop up the water. Unfortunately the only rags I had at hand were the wet and dirty ones I was about to wash. Redman grabbed all the dishcloths, then ran upstairs and came back with all the best bath towels. (why is it when men need to clean up a mess they always grab the best towels?) Then began the struggle to see what was wrong. First there’s pulling the machine away from the wall, wiggling in behind it and trying to figure out how to get a look inside. We tried undoing two clips at the top of the back and pulling the top off but it wouldn’t unhook in front. So no joy there. Then Redman took off an access panel at the back and could plainly see a hose had come loose. So - and here I make it sound much easier than it was in reality - he replaced the hose and put back the access panel (losing one of the three screws that held it on inside the machine, never to be seen again) and we were good to go. So now I had to wash not only the dirty rags from under the sink but all the dishrags and the bath towels that had been used to sop up the water. Ran a load without a problem except for the rather distressing squeak the washer made for the first few seconds after I turned it on, but as I was pulling the things out to put in the dryer I decided they needed another go. Fine right up until the final rinse and spin, when the load got unbalanced and started banging. I rearranged the load, stood by to make sure it was OK, the rinse cycle started and water started pouring out the bottom of the washer again. Off went the water, out came all the towels back onto the floor and now I have a washer that doesn’t work and a laundry basket full of dirty soaking wet towels. I’ll call the Maytag repairman this morning, I’m sure he’d like to get out for a while. Filed under General, Feb 12, 2008
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