The not wise-crack of my plumber’s nightmare

Three thick and folded throw rugs didn’t soften enough of the hard cabinet’s edge as it dug into my love handles Sunday night. I had wiggled my way deep under our new kitchen sink and I was attempting to saw apart the existing drain stack. The hacksaw blade was dull. There was no room to move. My brow sweat was dropping among the random mouse turds. I knocked over my flashlight constantly. I was not enjoying this home improvement project.

Like all the plumbing fixtures in my little house, the old sink and faucet was originally purchased near the bottom of the price and quality scale. Everything was new when I moved in, a whole plumbing system installed by the BEST. The dream team of Mr. James Carpenter and the Ray Steanson did it all. Now, after too long of letting the cheap rotten kitchen faucet leak, I was attempting to replace it.

Why not put in a new sink too, while I’m at it? Sure, can’t be that hard… Right.

Anyway, as I was under that cabinet for the umpteenth time, and was hurting and sweating and throwing my back out, I wondered why I decide to try these things…

I am cheap. Yes. If I think I can avoid paying to have something done, I will try it myself. Usually, I wait too long. I wait till the problem is almost an emergency and then start learning and researching about the skills it will take to fix it. Maybe it’s a house thing, or a car thing, or maybe something random, at the restaurant. I do try things that are out of my comfort and ability zone…

Luckily Sunday night, my beautiful wife was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor. With only my lower half sticking out of the darkness, I’m sure she saw an ugly sight. I wildly flung around kicking the Clorox bottles, the orange carboard trash-bag box, and random pieces of PVC pipe while she attempted to hand me tools. Mostly it was just her smile that helped when I was wanting to cuss out the world. Her encouragement slightly adjusted my attitude, which did help my progress.

Eventually, after fitting and refitting, gluing, tightening and then disassembling everything again once more, I had the faucet hooked up and the sink set. I had rebuilt the drains to accommodate the deeper basins and the swap of the disposer position.

This project took me the whole day.

After one trip to DIY at 1:00, and then the first try at it, I realized I forgot sealant for the basket strainers… In grumpy protest, I sat in front of the computer for the afternoon and watched an episode of Ink Master on YouTube… That 45 min spent on mindless artist drama did not help with my sink install… Darn, I thought it might.

It was Saturday when I tore out the old sink. I purposely began the demolition part of the project to force me into the next step. On Sunday afternoon, after getting almost nowhere, I wished I hadn’t done that. Smartly, I tricked myself into making it happen, by starting without any plan on how I would finish.

Eventually, after another trip to town, after crawling in and out of the undercabinet tiny torture chamber a hundred times, I had it all hooked up. Water flowed in, the water flowed out. No leaks and the garbage disposal worked. One of the most important things was that I did manage to make the the little inner cross pieces of the strainer look squared up, and the Kenmore logo is not upside-down on it’s silver ring inside the sink…

After everything worked and we had cleaned up my many messes. My wife looked happy. I saw that she appreciated the completed result…

Funny thing though, it will take me awhile to think the same way. This was a hard project for me. I am not talented with handy-man skillz. Almost all of my family and friends are probably better at this kind of stuff than me. I truly was ticked-off for an entire day over this silly sink and new stainless spray wand. Even almost a week later, my back is still out of whack and I look at my accomplishment, noticing a tiny scratch by the three-hole cover plate instead of the overall functionality and improvement…

‘How we do some things, is how we do all things.” according to author Steve Chandler. This sink install is a perfect test sample of how I tend to do everything in life.

I wait too long to start. I procrastinate until I have almost no time left. I bite off more than I can chew. I don’t practice ahead of time, I don’t repeat the same things over and over. I usually try something that someone else would be much better at, and do it rather sloppily. I kick and whine and mope around. I don’t enjoy my projects while they are in progress. I wish I had never started them in the first place. I spend my energy in rebellious pouty-ness. I try to get sympathy and want everyone to see how hard what I have chosen to do is. I want attention and positive reinforcement. Overall, I act like a brat, yet I do continue on with the work…

Eventually, usually, I get the desired result. I get everything I want. I get to be cheap, trying to do it all myself. I get to jerry-rigg and invent solutions Macgyver style. I must secretly enjoy this self-punishing approach because it is how I do everything it seems…

At the end of the day. Usually I can look back and be proud of something I have accomplished. I do have abilities and skills that that I don’t trust myself enough with. I want to be a big baby about it all, yet I can make neat things happen when I try…

In in the big picture. From the birds eye view, or even from a higher spiritual perspective, I think all the whining and crying and negativity fades into the background noise. I’m not sure any of it really matters. I only lower my own enjoyment levels, I could let all that go. It isn’t what counts… I can throw a fit all I want… and really I don’t think anyone cares.

What matters is, what I end up with, not how I get there…

Have a great week Y’all 🙂

With Love,

Sincerely,

Aaron Nichols


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