Thursday, June 15, 2006Plumbing IssuesSo last night finds me in the kitchen with a huge problem on my hands. I am deep in the thick of a nasty night. My kids and I are fighting, I am having an end-of-school-year self-admonishment fest inside my head, I started off cleaning Chris' backpack out and ended up -- after cleaning out the entire garage as I went to put the papers to be saved forever into their appointed box -- in the kitchen.I needed something. Actually, I needed some lubrication. For the kitchen counter. I wanted to oil the kitchen counter. So I braced myself and opened the door under the kitchen sink. Big problem. It is HORRIBLE under there. A slimy, moldy, swampy mess that has been growing ever worse for the three years I've lived in the house and something that I am finally unable to ignore. There's a leak on the side of the sink, you see. Big holes that let the water drip down below. I have covered the holes but the water still gets in, and festers, and it was BAD. And it was a bad bad night for me to open that door. Round about midnight I'm standing there. I've pulled everything out, stripped the bottom of the cupboard, dug out some old floor tile from the recesses of the garage, relined the cupboard and am doing my favorite thing -- sitting on the floor cleaning the cleaning products. I put everything back but I know I have a problem. I have a huge hole in my life that needs to get filled, otherwise this is going to happen over and over again. I stand, contemplating what I can do to fix it when suddenly I realize what I need. I need some caulk. That would fix the hole in my life. That would keep the incessant dripping from causing so much damage. If I could plug up that hole, with some caulk, I'd be in good shape. And I know where to get some. I go and fetch the best caulk I can find from my garage. I haven't used it in awhile, god knows, but I still remember how to do it. It's white caulk -- and I've heard that, in some situations, black caulk can do the job more effectively -- but for this situation I have some white surfaces that need dealing with. So white caulk it is. I get it going and suddenly it's squirting out all over the place. I remember how it dribbles out the end, but that's OK. I'm busy with my finger, pushing it deep into the cracks, getting it WAY down in there so that it's really REALLY filling those holes. Now that I'm into the process, I realize there are several holes that need filling. I use the gun over and over, pushing all that caulk right into the right place. I need to use lots of paper towels -- didn't remember how messy the whole thing was -- but that's OK. I moisten them and keep using my finger and it starts getting really really good. WHEW. At one point I stand back. The caulk is dripping, about halfway spent, into the sink. That's OK. My tools and I have worked together well tonight. My holes are BEAUTIFULLY filled up and I feel OH so much better. This morning in the shower I reflected on how deeply satisfying the whole experience was. Then I started looking around in the cracks and saw, hmmm... we may need a little in here later on tonight.... # posted by Katherine Doughtie Nolan @ 10:39 AM  
Comments: Great post with a great analogy! I'm also glad to know I'm not the only one who enjoy sitting on the floor cleaning cleaning products. The more I read your blogs, the more normal I feel. Either that or, we're both crazy. Love, LoriAnn # posted by  LoriAnn's Blog : 6:25 PM
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