No Potato Peels

Friday, February 23, 2007

Note to self: do NOT put potato peels down the disposal!

While making dinner last week I discarded some potato peels down our kitchen disposal. It did occur to me at the time that maybe I shouldn’t put them down the sink. But, what the heck! Dinner was good but the flood in our basement wasn't nor was the water that ran back up the kitchen drain when the dishwasher ran. After a failed attempt at clearing the clog with Drain-o and another flooding of the basement, the professionals were called in.

It's been over a week now and the situation is just about resolved. I have never been so happy to be able to wash dishes. As you can see from the photo, Chloe certainly didn't mind that we couldn't cook or wash dishes as she enjoys her spaghetti and breadstick from Olive Garden to go.

We now have a hole in our basement wall and our kitchen has been re-plumbed. Was all of this caused by the potato peels? Not exactly. The peels were just the added touch to completely clog our drain and draw attention to the fact that our kitchen was plumbed incorrectly.

After presenting the large plumbing bill (that ended in the word "thousand") I got a nice lecture from our two plumbers along with a list of items you don't put down the disposal (peels, celery, coffee grinds, egg shells, carrot peels, apple peels, etc.). I was then treated to a description of the items they pulled from our drain - a massive amount of potato peels and hair. Hair!? I don't shed enough to clog a drain! After questioning the hair I was then told that there was "tons and tons of hair". Great, someone is shedding and now I have to go and buy a hair trap for our bathroom drains!

This news was all presented to me after I returned home from visiting my primary care physician. I got two shots, a pneumonia and tetanus, and two referrals for a dermatologist and an allergist and a diagnosis of carpel tunnel. I now have to add to the shopping list a wrist guard. Nerd alert!

After the plumbers cleaned up and cleared out (they get to return next week to sheetrock after the basement has dried out) Chloe ripped off her diaper and pulled up her pants sans underwear. She then peed all over herself and the rug. I discovered that Chloe wanted the diaper off because in 1 hour she had filled her diaper to the max. She apparently held it all day until we went to the doctor and I put her in a diaper (because I didn’t want to have to get up and leave during my physical to take her to pee). Her diaper weighed like 5 lbs. Overall she is doing well with the potty training. I think I have the problem. I’m not ready for her to leave diapers.

So now after these events I am thinking about my Chinese New Year horoscope. As an Ox on the Chinese zodiac I am supposed to have 8 bad months and 4 good months in the Year of the Pig. So, now I know that after this month I can decrease the bad months by one! Bring on the good months!!!

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