Matthew’s intrigue with this job has led to all kinds of adventures. I found the charger for my Nintendo DS in the trash in the office the other day. It’s a good thing I needed it before it was time to take the trash out. Gayla has had to put the trash in the kitchen closet up on a bucket. All the other trash cans are either behind a closed door or have a child protector in charge of preventing the eminent disappearance of otherwise considered somewhat useful items.

Trash cans are not the only vulnerable portion of our waste management system. It seems our commodes, which due to the presence of one grown, and three other mostly potty trained males, are commonly left with their lids up. I’m not entirely sure what found it’s way 1/2 way down the pipe in our downstairs bathroom. The discolored level and somewhat foul color of the water did however make it evident that nothing else would be making the desired journey in that direction. I’m also not entirely sure that Matthew is to blame for this new predicament. It does seem strangely coincidental though. Our dilemma seems to coincide too nicely with his new found duties.

Well, suffice it to say, the plunger’s good heave was not enough to dislodge the blockage. It was time to make a trip to our favorite place to spend money on the weekend, Home Depot. Did you know, for $14 you can get a nice 25 foot snake with a handle and a self containing winder that keeps the thing all sorted out when it’s time to put it back in the closet. I opted for the cheaper $12 system that gets all tangled up with itself. Anyhow, my new buddy and I came back to the bathroom and started working. It took me two tries to figure out how to get Mr. Snake down those tight turns at the bottom. Never one to give up however, I succeeded in pushing something far enough down the pipe that the water and other less desirables disappeared.

If the story ended there, I’d be happy enough and may not even have bothered to write all this down. It just so happens that two days later, the dreaded situation was back again. I fear we’ve got something in there that is a little meaner than I’d expected. It lets things by when you bother and push it, then it slowly collects debris until “flush,.. it’s a no go.” This time, I was prepared and it didn’t take two tries to get Mr. Snake down through the turns. After a little wiggling, we were back in business.

Unfortunately, we’ve had the same problem once again. I’m afraid my new friend might not be up to the task of clearing the pipes further. Whatever is in there seems to be valuable enough that it doesn’t want to disappear entirely. My only hope is that whatever is causing our issues down there is something replaceable. We may never know.