when the plumbing plans your day

“... when the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go …”

Well it wasn’t men on a chessboard telling what to do this morning. It was a sink drain telling me it was broken. Actually my wife did the talking. Plumbing was not scheduled in any of today's plans. Plumbing can be rude and pushy like that though.

Nothing like a broken do-hickey on your drain pipe to mess with your day. The socket holding the pivot lever which makes the stopper move up and down broke off. The remaining drain pipe was left with a hole in it’s side. It’s easier to just say the do-hickey, doodad or thingamabob broke on the pipe.

I searched around for a picture/diagram of the setup. I discovered a new name in the process, clevis strap. Next time I’m at a hardware store I should inquire about their selection of clevis straps.


At least part of my pipes are clean now.

Remember this other Jefferson Airplane song? 

When the drain is found
to be clogged
and all the joy within you dies
don’t you want somebody to fix-it
don’t you need somebody to fix-it
wouldn’t you love somebody to fix-it
you better find somebody to fix-it

dumb and dumber go boating

Just a quick post about a funny/stupid/strange youtube clip I stumbled on.

I have never been to this beach.  In fact, I had to replay the video to pickup where this fun in the sun took place.

It takes place in Grand Bend Canada (being just over the border don't assume dumb and dumber are Canadian but it does seem that they may have grown up in the back woods wilderness) which is on Lake Huron.  Apparently they have never heard of a boat ramp or why people use them.

I thought oh maybe there are no boat ramps nearby.  Well just a few minutes (maybe they don't know about internet searching) of searching and I found a few marinas with boat ramps.  Clicking around I even found a web cam of one of the boat ramps (you'll never see these idiots on that web cam).

This clip is long.  About 9-10 minutes.  But the action starts right away and plot thickens quickly.  I suggest you stick around for the tractors to show up.  They are really the stars of the show.

Also if you start to go numb in the brain while watching, fast forward to the end part which has a good view of the first SUV that started the whole thing.

Confused?  Just watch the clip.

another circus 

What’s wrong with this picture

Vacations are broken in the US. This is not news for me or probably you either. I found this interesting article titled “The no-vacation nation”.

Having worked with Europeans and my working time in Ireland showed me first hand how the attitude toward vacation time is different in Europe. I wish our attitude here was more like theirs.

But that’s about all I’m going to say about that (follow that link for more).

There is something else that is very common in vacation pictures missing from that “vacation” picture. That picture was taken in Chicago in front of The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The common element found in vacation pictures and missing from that picture is WATER.

Jillsy Girl’s June challenge is “water”. Maybe she will accept this entry. The pictures are older than this month but these words and thoughts are fresh.

There certainly is some quality of water that draws people to it. Maybe because we need it to exist?

I’m not sure if that’s it because we need food and I have not planned any vacations focused on food. Do you agree that vacations and water just go together like peanut butter and jelly (I knew I could work food into this)?

Even if it is not a lake, river, or ocean beach, we often take pictures of water attractions.

Fortunately I have numerous vacation memories but one very special one was my last vacation trip with my Dad. I could go back to that lake cabin but he can’t. Well maybe his spirit could make a visit.  He would do it too, because he got a thrill from scaring people.

That Canadian fishing trip was a blast. It was in the wilderness where the only way to the lake was by floatplane or canoe portage. We were dropped off by the plane.

My dad in boat on the water.

I plan to write more about that trip in the future. Stay tune.