Hmmmm....the ceiling is wet!

That's what Susan and I noticed a few days ago in the living room. The many marks on the ceiling (from where I incorrectly measure the Christmas tree, scrape it across the ceiling and they take it back out of the house, scraping the ceiling again -- it's a Christmas traditon) are one thing, but water spots - well now they are a much bigger problem. Mostly because it reinforces that I know less than nothing about plumbing. Surprising since I've used it all my life, really missed it for about 6 months when I lived without it, and am generally a big fan. Reminds me of the scene from History of the World - "Plumbing! The newest invention to hit Rome, pump the you-know-what right out of your house".

The plumbers arrived and determine the problem is not the bathtub (which was my incorrect diagnosis), but rather the toilet. Then, I mention that the valve in the toilet is not working. I get a brief look like that seems to say - 'I can't believe you haven't fixed that yet, it's the easiest thing we do!'. So, I start to feel bad about myself and think, 'Wow, how stupid am I that I can't fix a toilet?' So then I start to think, 'Oh Yeah, well how about you stop by the office and fix the billing system!'. (Then I realized that I would probably need Kent for that too, which really makes it a bad example.) The point is, while I don't know how to fix a toilet, I can fix other stuff. The difference is these guys charge about $80 an hour (plus parts) to fix the plumbing. I only charge about $12.75 to fix a billing system.

The bottom line is that the plumbing is fixed, the ceiling should be dry, and I learned a little about a toilet. Maybe next time, I'll try to fix it myself. And, if that goes south, I'll call the professionals again.