An Issue of Drainage

Well, we're safely moved in to our new home! As I look out the window I can see green -- lots and lots of green! -- and our little creek bubbling away at the bottom of the hill.



Of course, we're not completely settled yet. But we're getting there, one box at a time. How did we end up with so much "stuff," anyway? We've been busy fending off wasps, spiders, and bugs of various sorts (all of this "nature" comes with a price), but I think we're winning the battle. I think.

But none of that has anything to do with the title of this post, which is really meant to document our first real "homeowner" situation occurring yesterday at approximately 11:39 a.m.: The dreaded clogged kitchen drain. The "why are both sides of my sink spitting up disgusting remembrances of last week's lettuce?" type of clog. After optimistically running the disposal for a few minutes (the only result of which being even more gunk!), I left the sink alone until Pablo came home.

I informed him of the morning's events, and we both peered under the sink skeptically. We tried plunging the sink several times, hoping that it might force the clogged debris through the pipes. To no avail.

My brilliant husband determined that since there was an odor coming from the sink, the clog had to be before the curvy P-trap. With a bucket to catch any spills, he unscrewed the P-trap. And it was then that we discovered why the plunging didn't work -- no amount of plunging can force a table knife through a u-shaped P-trap! Various discoveries have left us to wonder about the previous homeowners, but this discovery left us with a better picture of their mental sanity (or lack thereof!). After the removal of the knife and a few more plunges, we once more have a clean, odorless drain.

What I'm still wondering? How they got that table knife down the drain in the first place...