[OT] [WAY OT!] A triumph over time and matter - Yet another maddog story (fwd)

[Ben Scott]

On 11/20/05, Jon maddog Hall <maddog at li.org> wrote:
> This may seem small and insignificant to you, but to me it is a triumph over
> time and matter....especially matter.

  Dark matter, even.  ;)

> A few weeks ago my sink started getting critical, and I decided to pour a
> couple of bottles of liquid plumber ("SAFE FOR SEPTIC SYSTEMS") down the drain
> to see if that worked.  Nada.  Bottle after bottle, waiting the obligatory
> 15 minutes, pouring hot water following it.  Nothing.

  FWIW, if you're going to use the strong chemical stuff, the thing to
use on slow-but-not-stopped drains is the foaming stuff.  Wait until
any water has drained, then poor it in.  The foam fills the drain pipe
(and usually the sink bowl) for many minutes, giving the chemicals a
chance to eat away at the "matter".

  The liquid/gel/powder stuff is more suited to stopped drains where
you have standing water to suspend the chemical agents.  And, of
course, as you have discovered, nothing beats a pipe snake.

> Tomorrow will be a hard day.  I have to go down to the Brazilian Consulate in
> Boston and beg them for a Business Visa in less than one day, so I can meet
> my obligations to my friends in Brazil (another long story).  I am afraid that
> our current administration's policies on visa administration will make it
> very hard for me to do this.  I will have to get up very early, and I am sure
> that the whole ordeal will be stressful.

  Perhaps using an auger on them would unstick that process as well? 
Hmm, then again, probably not.  Still, it's an entertaining thought.

> I wish all of life's problems were as easily solved.

  I am not a religious man, but to that I say heartily: AMEN!  :-)

-- Ben