Some days I waffle, but today I plumbed.

In the original plans for our house there are two bathrooms upstairs: a large one with a tub, and a smaller one with only a shower en suite to the master bedroom. Our builder, in his wisdom, convinced us we should have one large bathroom, accessable from both the master bedroom and the hallway, with both a tub and a shower. He tried to sell us on the idea of a bain tourbillon, but we were not interested. Instead we bought a large, cast-iron, footed tub (for $25 from the university, taking it from the house which we had rented for the previous two years) in which I can stretch out and luxuriate in my mounds of scented bubbles, and which also proved pretty handy for bathing small children when we had them. This story is not about the bathtub, or the shower for that matter. It is about a sink.

Opposite the door to the chambre des ma�tres is a long counter with two sinks therein. It is surmounted by a beautiful mirror which takes up the whole wall, and is usually covered with hard-water stains and toothpaste splatters. The sink on the left is used by Hubby and Little Princess, while the one on the right is the territory of Buddy Boy and myself. I do not know how this division of sinks came about, but it works (until two people want to brush their teeth at the same time, and one is forced to use the other sink). Anyway, for quite some time now, the sink that my son and I share has been draining very slowly. I used the last of the Clearline drain opener on it, but to no avail. I went to the hardware store, purchased more Clearline, used it, but with no better results than the first time. I used it again. Same story. Today I went back to the hardware store and bought an auger, sometimes known as a snake.

This particular apparatus is nothing more than a long, flexible metal cable reminiscent of Doc Ock�s artificially intelligent arms in the second Spiderman movie. One end has a coiled piece of wire and the other is smooth to fit in a sleeve that can be tightened on it, allowing it to be used as a handle. I followed the directions and slid the large end into the drain. Needless to say, it would not go up and around the U-bend. I put a bucket under the pipe, opened up the U-bend and found a 1964 penny in there, very shiny from all the drain opener recently poured over it. I inserted the auger into the open pipe, worked it in as far as I could, only to have it come up against some other bend behind the wall. When I pulled it out, disgusting crud followed, which gave me some indication of what was in there.

Despairing of ever getting the drain cleared, I tried using Clearline again, a double dose this time. The blockage remained as obstinate as ever. I decided on a different mode of attack, one I had tried before, which involved applying air pressure to the drain with a plunger. However, the last time I tried this, I forgot to cover over the overflow hole in the sink, and ended up with water all over the mirror and counter. This time I taped a piece of duct tape over the opening and rammed the plunger down.

Duct tape is not everything it is stacked up to be. The air behind the overflow hole simply forced it open, and I ended up with water all over the mirror, again. So, not to be deterred, I wadded up a plastic bag, shoved it in the hole, covered it over once again with a fresh piece of duct tape, applied the plunger yet again, and this time I had success. The obstacle was dislodged, the piped opened, and the water drained away with a satisfying gurgle.

Anyone want to buy a plumber�s auger, only used once?

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