Friday, September 14, 2012
The Trolls Above us Attack!
(1)
Something about last week's posts must have irritated local trolldom. (Sipping on beer #1 at 1544.) Kootch woke up very early as is her custom nowadays, and discovered the bathtub half full of water with large amounts of dirt littering the bottom of the tub. I later noticed the same thing during a potty visit. It appeared that the trolls upstairs (304) had intentionally poured large amounts of very dirty water into their tub. The dirt eventually blocked the 'waste line' somewhere below our tub but above the tub in 104. The dirt and water bubbled up into our tub. Kootch called the maintenance boss, who called in a plumber. He arrived about mid-afternoon and began trying to clear the plug. Dazed and hungover, I checked on him periodically. He was trying to clear the plug using an electric-powered flexible metal 'snake' - a common method to clear waste line plugs. He worked at it for two or three hours, then gave up, saying that he would bring another plumber with him Sunday morning around 10 AM or so. Kootch and I did not shower that day. Before he left, I told the plumber that I suspected that there was a (unauthorized) valve on the waste line below our tub and that the valve was 'closed,' preventing his 'snakeline' from getting more than 4-6 feet into the waste line. He (correctly) couldn't see why someone would put a valve into a waste line. But it was the only theory which seemed to me to explain the facts.
Something about last week's posts must have irritated local trolldom. (Sipping on beer #1 at 1544.) Kootch woke up very early as is her custom nowadays, and discovered the bathtub half full of water with large amounts of dirt littering the bottom of the tub. I later noticed the same thing during a potty visit. It appeared that the trolls upstairs (304) had intentionally poured large amounts of very dirty water into their tub. The dirt eventually blocked the 'waste line' somewhere below our tub but above the tub in 104. The dirt and water bubbled up into our tub. Kootch called the maintenance boss, who called in a plumber. He arrived about mid-afternoon and began trying to clear the plug. Dazed and hungover, I checked on him periodically. He was trying to clear the plug using an electric-powered flexible metal 'snake' - a common method to clear waste line plugs. He worked at it for two or three hours, then gave up, saying that he would bring another plumber with him Sunday morning around 10 AM or so. Kootch and I did not shower that day. Before he left, I told the plumber that I suspected that there was a (unauthorized) valve on the waste line below our tub and that the valve was 'closed,' preventing his 'snakeline' from getting more than 4-6 feet into the waste line. He (correctly) couldn't see why someone would put a valve into a waste line. But it was the only theory which seemed to me to explain the facts.
