Quarantine Journals - Plumbing Nightmare

Our toilet has been having issues in our master bedroom on and off, which I think I've mentioned previously. It started getting stopped up again in the last couple of days, and we put some drain cleaner and root killer in it on two separate occasions over the last week, and we thought that it was fixed this morning. But after using it just a few times, I quickly realized that it was not fixed. And it ended up getting stopped up again. We left it until we could address it later, and then Richard brought the kids in from the pool and was going to put them in the bathtub in the guest bathroom. He started to shower in the guest bathroom, and I came out here to get all of her, and then went back in there to find that the floor was full of sewage water. I was coming up between the toilet and the floor.  At that point, the guest toilet would no longer flush either, which meant that we no longer had a working toilet or any working water outside of the kitchen. So, he fussed with it for a few minutes, and couldn't figure it out, and I had to call a plumber.

I called the plumber that we've used multiple times before and left them a couple of messages, but no one ever called back. At that point, I went ahead and called Amy S. Because her husband is a plumber. And they advised that it sounded like a blockage on the main line, and hopefully the plumber should be able to fix it without having to come inside. He didn't have any recommendations for me on who to use, so I called Roto router at Richard suggestion. She had said it was probably gonna be expensive, and it was.  The dispatch said that he could have somebody out here within the hour, so that's what we moved forward with. After they called, penny was having a bathroom crisis, so I invited her to use Oliver's potty chair in my bathroom. When she was done, I grabbed the toilet paper, and I went into the backyard to pop a squat next to the compost bin and P. There is nothing more delightful than being a woman on her period and having to go out into the backyard to urinate because you finally drank your first glass of water of the day and it went right through you.

I had explained to plumbing service that I was looking for a no contact situation, and they said that would be no problem. Someone called to let me know the guy was on his way, and they said that the plumber would show up in full protective gear. Then he encouraged me to bring my own pen outside to sign the paperwork. I explained again that I was looking for a no contact interaction, and then I would not be coming out to sign anything. He said that was fine, and someone should be here in about half an hour.

The dispatcher arrived, and he called me so I could explain the situation. I let him know what was going on, and he said that it did sound like a mainline blockage and he will get to work. So, he started running a machine through the lines, and the sound inside had both of the kids scared. I went ahead and started a movie to distract them because Penny was super anxious about the idea of somebody having to come into the house. And honestly, I kind of snapped at her because I was also anxious, as was Richard, and it was just a lot of high energy high needs things going on at once. Once they were parked in front of the TV, she was able to disengage, and I was able to focus on getting the situation resolved while Richard focused on getting dinner together.

After probably half an hour of working on the line, the guy called and asked me if I could hear where it sounded like the line was going. I told him that it sounded like it was somewhat quietly in between the bathrooms, and he help me flush the toilet, and it was still stopped up. So he went back to work. About half an hour or more later, he called again and said that he was going to have to come inside.  He explained that he was having trouble knowing where to snake because he wasn't familiar with the layout of the house, and I explained him again that I wasn't comfortable with anyone coming inside, and encouraged him to do what he could from outside. I could tell he was a little frustrated, but he was still extremely accommodating, and asked if he could go into the backyard.

He tried snaking it from the backyard, but he kept going up through the vents and ending up in the walls. I was starting to get really stressed out because I was realizing there was no way this guy was going to get it fixed without coming in. I called Aimee again, and her husband was saying it sounded like somebody might have to get out the clog through the toilets, unless there was a company that was willing to do it through the roof vents. He said not a lot of companies would though.

At this point, I tried to call my dad again. I had already called him three or four times and hadn't heard back from him today, so that anxiety started piling on to the other anxiety I was feeling regarding the plumbing situation. I could tell that the guy had a snake up in the walls again because the whole wall was shaking and the lights look like they were about to fall off the roof. He called and asked if I could tell where it was, and I told him as much.  I expected him to admit to defeat, but he just thanked me and kept going.

At this point, my dad had finally called me back, but the plumber had also called at the same time. I got off the phone with my dad, and the plumber was telling me that he had called dispatch and they were going to send somebody out here with more experience under their belt to see if they could resolve it from the outside because he didn't know why he kept going up the vent. He said no charge for today.

But then we kept talking and it was like he was hearing some of what I was saying for the first time. And he said that he felt like it was definitely going to require somebody to come in through the toilet or somebody to come in through the vent on the roof since it didn't seem to be affecting the kitchen sink or dishwasher etc. And then I told him that the water level was down on the toilet and tried to flush it and it flushed. And then I flushed the other toilet and it flushed. And there is no water coming in on the floor. So he was just like "oh. I guess I fixed it and I didn't realize it."

I called my dad back and we tested the toilets while he was talking to me… Multiple times just to make sure everything was working. And the plumber called and had me submit my payment over the phone. The charge was expensive, but it included a six month warranty, so I'm hoping if he didn't actually get the clog all of the way out, they will be able to take care of it from outside next time without an additional charge.

As you can imagine, the entire experience was extremely stressful. Obviously, we can't live here without working toilets. And Richard can easily work from my dads house, and I don't think he would anyways… He needs to be in his own space, and that's fair. I was so anxious of the idea of having to have someone in here, and on top of that not hearing from my dad for such a long time was giving me a real stomach ulcer. I still feel just worn to the bone and stressed AF. But I'm relieved that the toilet seem to be working fine now. 

Today was supposed to be our weekend day. My one day off. Richard got the kids out early this morning to play in the pool, and they seem to really enjoy themselves, but it left all over needing a nap early, and then a total sob fest distress fit over the idea of going with Richard. So I gave in and took him for his nap, which means that I will get no nap time breaks for two weeks now.  And also meant that I missed out on my mommy penny time while Oliver usually sleeps with Richard. When Oliver got up, I gave him to Richard, and I went to sit down at the table with Penny so that she could have her planning day. She pretty much expects to spend every Sunday planning out what activities were going to do the following week, and what food we're going to eat for lunch. She wants to know what day she's going to get to play on her iPad, and what days we're going to go out to the pool. So we worked on that for about an hour before everything came crashing down into this plumbing disaster. Everybody's in bed now, and I'm about to sit down and try to get some work done.

We had our third harvest of tomatoes today, putting us at a running total of 97 so far.