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fixing the pisser III
Monday, March 30 2015
Every two and a half years or so I have to dump some Liquid Plumr (active ingredient: Sodium Hydroxide) down my flushless urinal to break up the clots of urea that gradually accumulate in its 3/4 inch PVC pipes. It had been nearly two years and four months since I'd last done this procedure with my urinal, and, judging by its performance of late, it needed it done again. It's been so cold lately that it's been hard to tell whether the poor flow rate was being caused by frozen urine in the system or chunks of solids precipitating out of that urine, but by today it had been warm enough for long enough that ice could no longer be blamed. So I used a large suction bulb to remove all the urine I could from the urinal itself (whose bowl consists of a four-inch-to-two-inch PVC fitting). And then I dumped in a cup or two of Liquid Plumr. This immediately started to foam as it broke down whatever Sodium Hydroxide can break down of accreted urine solids. Unfortunately, though, the Liquid Plumr was not making it further into the system. To force that to happen, I used a tool that I'd evidently made the last time I'd had to do this procedure. It consisted of a large PVC plug capable of fitting snugly into the urinal bowl. Into this plug is a single air compressor fitting, which I attached to the small air compressor I keep in the laboratory. It didn't take much air to force that Liquid Plumr down into the system, where it burned away obstructions and opened up the pipes. This time I was careful to catch the mix of Liquid Plumr and urine that came out at the bottom end of the system (near the northeast corner of the house, where the urine normally collects in a five gallon bucket full of leaves or pine needles). I didn't want this somewhat caustic fluid to go directly into the environment, so I dumped it on the asphalt of Dug Hill Road directly in front of the house. There it could mix with the road salts and dry out before being washed away at great dilution in the next rain.
This evening our newish friend J of J & L came over with her dog Lulu for dinner (L was down in Washington, DC at the time). Ramona quickly picked a fight with Lulu in the kitchen and Gretchen had to pull her off, so that was an upleasant way to get things going (and it sent Eleanor, who has developed a low tolerance for anxiety, into a fit of trembling). But we all immediately took a walk down the Farm Road and back, and that seemed to calm everyone down.
J was full of stories about a recent dog sitter who works at Stewarts, her brother, who does undercover work for the IRS, and her history as film writer in Hollywood. On that latter one, we learned some interesting details related to her involvement in the origins of a very popular television series in the early 2000s. Dinner consisted of an incredible roasted cauliflower soup and a less interesting (but still delicious) dish of shell-shaped pasta with pesto (both obviously made by Gretchen). At some point Lulu discovered Celeste the Cat (formerly "the Kitten") and, as other dogs have done before, she camped out a few inches away from her where she was holed up. This time it was among the legs of the vintage ironing board that we use as the table to support our living room stereo system. I lay down on the nearby dog bed to watch them and my nose gave me some unwanted information: one or more of our cats has been urinating on that dog bed of late.
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