When It Rains, The Gutter Is Probably Clogged

Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours of quality family time with . . . my kitchen sink. The sink with a clogged drain, which backed up as the dishwasher was running, spilling dirty water on the kitchen floor when my Darling Wife was home with four children and no husband? Yes, that one. Bonus points: it's a double sink, so TWO plungers were put into service. Lots of hot water and dish soap, lots of plunger action . . . and up from the non-garbage disposal side of the sink comes: a popsicle stick. Thanks kids. It had likely been there a while, because it was totally water-logged. Several sinks-full of steaming water (with lots of dish soap) later, and the sinks both drain properly, and the dishwasher runs fine.

Plumbing pro tip: when you need to run gallons of hot water down the sinks, instead of boiling the skin off your hands pulling the drain plug, you can (last time) tie the drain plugs together with a long string and pull the string, which will pull both drains at the same time, or (this time) use a plunger over each drain opening and pull the plungers from a nice safe non-burn-you distance.

Aaaaaand today, I figured that I need one of these so that the clothes dryer will work again. Of course, that means I also need to crawl around in my attic and check the vent line for clogs, but at least it's cheaper than a new heater, which was what failed the last time the dryer went out.

Thanks GOD for making me so handy. I couldn't afford to be a homeowner if I couldn't fix the home when it breaks.