I was going to update yesterday’s post but then thought forget that I am tired and going to bed. I wrote my daily post early yesterday thinking what could go wrong that I would need to comment further. All in all it was ok but right after I posted I went to the kitchen to do dishes and found my sink backed up. Then I started my laundry but forgot to close the lid so instead of washing clothes the machine just filled up with water and drained the water, no agitation or cleaning was done. There went wearing my favorite jeans for the day because there was no way they would be rewashed and dried in time. Two of the three kids were sick so that wasn’t helping either. It was like I tempted fate by writing the post early.
I went about my day and left the sink backed up till today. I have had the sink back up before it usually is just a simple fix of removing two little pipes and clearing them out. That would not be the case this time. It took me hours to get it fixed. I am glad my dad taught me how to snake a drain and let me use his snake or it would have been an expensive call to the plumber.
I started out by removing the two little pipes, the usually suspects. They weren’t really clogged up that much though so I was surprised the sink was backed up. I put all the pipes back on and figured it was all good but it wasn’t. I went outside to the main plug and opened it up but saw no clog there either. It would turn out the clog was much further down the line.
With one of my sons inside the house with the window open and me outside the house I had him turning off and on the water while I snaked the outside pipe. I could get the snake to go pretty far into the pipe but the sink was still backing up. I did run into resistance in a few places so I could tell there was build up in the pipe but I couldn’t get it to come out. Luckily it was a straight section of pipe so I finally resorted to using the broom handle along with the snake to break up the clog, I know not very plumber like, but it was at least working. I started to see this nasty, smelly and absolutely yucky stuff coming out. The sink was still backing up though. It would drain but very slowly.
As a last resort I did the big no no and put drain cleaner down the sink. I don’t know why it is a no no but all the drain cleaners I could find said not to use on the kitchen sink. Despite the warnings not to, I did it anyways and it worked. I made sure to not put any other cleaners down the sink until I ran the water for awhile afterwards. I do know that there are certain cleaners you can’t mix with others or it will produce a toxic gas so maybe that is the reasoning and my reasoning for running the water for awhile after I put the drain cleaner down the drain.
I was suppose to be packing stuff and getting ready for tomorrow but instead was fixing the drain. Once I got it fixed I got the dishes done and then got dinner done for the kids. My oldest had, earlier in the day, gone to a friends house so I then had to go pick him. Trying to get organized when you are going to be away for two weeks takes a lot of work on top of doing my normal daily stuff and not sleeping right (boy I am starting to sound like a broken record on the not sleeping right…I need to stop that).
I did start packing and then unpacking and then repacking and unpacking. I was trying to get the most amount of stuff into the least amount of space. There are ways to pack stuff efficiently and I was trying them all out to see which would be most efficient. Took me a little while but I found a system that worked for me. Tomorrow I will finish packing the little stuff and be good to go. Whenever I have to pack anything at all I always end up waiting till the last minute but this time I wanted to do it right instead of scrambling around at the last minute.
As I mentioned I will be away for two weeks but thanks to my BlackBerry and the ability to email my post in to the website, I will still be able to keep on posting. I love my BlackBerry I really do. A friend tried to talk me into the iPhone awhile back but I stuck with my BlackBerry. I do have to say that Verizon is giving me fits right now and after 16 years of being with Verizon, I am beginning to think it might time to find a different provider.
I am disappointed in Verizon at the moment and it is not even the wireless division I am upset with. I have residential service through Verizon and that I just got in the last year and half. That division is the one giving me fits. I do like having all my services with the same provider so if I have to give up the residential service, I will in all probability be giving up the wireless as well. Sixteen years with Verizon Wireless and not because they are the cheapest or the best value but because their customer service was stellar. I rarely had issues and when I did the customer service had been wonderful. I can’t say the same about the residential division. I have had issues from the beginning and I have spoken to at least 30 customer service people not including the technical support people and the issues still remain. I get different answers each time I call, I have had my services shut off on more than one occasion and the customer service people just don’t seem to care at all.
When this two weeks is up I have to make some hard decisions about Verizon. I know I will try one last time to get some resolution but if it doesn’t work, I think it will be time to make a change. I am truly amazed that one company can have two different divisions with such radically different levels of customer service. All I know is that at the end of the day it is all Verizon and if I have to get rid of one, I will get rid of the other. Who knows maybe I will give the iPhone a chance after all.
Well I am off to bed to hopefully get a good night sleep because I have to finish everything up tomorrow and make sure all my basis are covered and the kids are squared away for the two weeks. Thank goodness for all the help and support I get from my family. Without my mom and dad I am not sure what I would do some days. As far as parents go, I think I am pretty lucky to have gotten the ones I did.
The billing dept is the worst now. Before a simple overcharge or mischarge was corrected immediately. Now, they claim they will “research” it and call me back. I never get a return call and their research always indicates all charges are correct.
Just one example, trust me there are plenty, Verizon charged me for a cable box that had broken and been sent back to them. I asked them to remove the charge when I saw they didn’t do it. I was first told they never received the cable box back. When I provided the shipping confirmation and the confirmation with a signature that Verizon had received the broken box they still refused to remove the charge. I was told once the charge is made I might as well keep the equipment because it will never come off.
Like I said I WAS a loyal customer. Now I am just waiting for my contract to end so I can find another service.