I like to think of myself as a pretty handy kind of gal. Someone who could bust open a box of tools and know what the heck she’s doing with them. If there’s a problem with the plumbing, I’m usually the one to solve it. I’ve had moments where I’ve taught guys how to jack up a car to fix a flat tire. I can usually do a pretty solid patch up job if something around the house decides to break down, but I confess, I haven’t a clue what I’m doing when it comes to blocked drains.
Oh, and another thing about me, I am stubborn beyond belief. Stupidly stubborn. So when the plumbing in my Melbourne apartment completely freaked out a couple of days ago, I decided that I would be the one to try and fix it. I guess as someone who’s grown up around the internet, I could simply ask for instructions on drain pipe unblocking and receive them. To be totally honest, every single thing I did only made the problem worse. And worse.
There comes a time where most people would probably realise they’ve come to their limit and call a professional. This week I discovered that, for me, that limit is when you’re living in an inch or so of water. I’m not proud of this, and am in part putting this all out on the internet in the hopes of shaming myself to never do anything like this again. Calling a 24 hour plumber in Melbourne is not – I repeat is not – a source of shame. People take years learning how to be a plumber, and it’s arrogant as all get up to assume that you can internet search all the answers in less than 20 minutes. Besides, you may end up making things even worse by trying to help – which I definitely did. Emergency services exist for a reason. Use them.