The saga of the sink

Yesterday at about 2 p.m. the spigot for the hot water on the kitchen sink broke. Something stripped out and it wouldn't turn off all the way. So.

First things first. Turn off the water. I crawl under the sink and learn-- after living here for the past 5 years-- that there are no water valves under the sink. Not that I can see, anyway. I go downstairs into the basement. There are no valves for just the kitchen. So I turn off the hot water to the entire house. It was the only choice.

I take the spigot apart and I realize that now that I've taken it apart, I actually don't have any idea of what is wrong or how to fix it. So, upon advice from my delightful wife Jenifer, I take apart the cold water spigot. And make a mess. Because I forgot, I only turned off the hot water. Shit.

So I run downstairs. and Lo, I can only turn off the cold water to the house entirely. So I do. Great. Now the whole house is without water until I fix this.

After considerable debate about the best approach to take  (Should we replace the faucet, broken part, or whole damn sink) I am authorized to buy a new faucet. (Taking the sink off seemed like too much work, considering that we plan on replacing the countertop in the next few months.) So I go to Home Depot.

Did I mention that we got seven inches of snow yesterday? So it was a long, slow slippery drive.

I got to the home depot, they didn't have the sink I wanted, so I had to buy one for $20 more. Urgh. So I jotted this.

Then I got home and finished taking the faucet out. Then I got the new faucet out of the box and realized that it had a hole in the neck. So, I grabbed my receipt and went back to Home Depot. So I jotted this.

At Home Depot, after another treacherous drive, I take the faucet to the service desk, where I am told, "That's not even the faucet that is supposed to come in that box."

"That's what I just bought, which is why I'm returning it," I explain.

Great. "Hold on." the woman says and she calls a manager. I smile and start chatting with the cashier who tells me that I should be more angry. I smile and think about the Jott I just recorded, wondering if Jott has some kind of profanity filter. It does not, I now know.

After a half hour the Cust. Service lady finally tells me just to go. To take the new faucet and go, because there's nothing to exchange. I'm not sure that that means, but I took my new faucet and went. End of drama, as far as I'm concerned.

I hitch up the sleigh and tiny reindeer and fly over the city back to the house where I install the new faucet with only three different incidents wherein I am soaked. Hooray.

However, by 5:30, sink project was complete.