MY SISTER TRISH was the first person to say it. We were talking for some reason about renting vs. buying, and I had to admit that I kind of didn't want to buy a house because I was paralyzed by the thought of having to learn to fix anything. She fixed me with a steely eye and said, "Denis, you are NOT handy."
Ouch. Such wisdom from one so young. But it's true. I'm not. I've had plenty of friends buy homes in the last little while. I've heard their stories of fighting contractors, or the joy of learning to grout a bathtub. I think these people are secretly from space. But you get this kind of thing regularly in Toronto, since I remember reading somewhere that we have the oldest housing stock in North America.
Which brings me to my kitchen.
The kitchen sink has got a real attitude problem. It's been building for awhile now. You turn the faucet on and the spray goes everywhere. It leaks from the base, and shoots out and gets everything wet.
Except.
There's this trick. If you just open it up, forcefully, hard to hot and cold, full tilt -- there's no leak. Taking half steps gets you wet. Going full bore gets you water to do with as you see fit.
See where I'm going here?
The knocks we so often get with material in this country is that it starts slow, or it pulls punches, or it doesn't take characters to the extremes. When it does take characters to the extremes, it isn't earned because there's a level of emotional inertness because we haven't pushed THAT to the extreme.
It's hard. Canadians can be a reticent and subdued people. Unless they're watching a hockey game.
But the only way you get the water is to make that faucet your bitch.
I got to talk to another couple of wonderful, positive, optimistic groups recently -- last night at the CFC Prime Time info session and over the weekend at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference.
I wish I'd told them about the faucet.
3 comments:
It's quite possible that minerals have built up in the filter at the end of your faucet. Try twisting that off and washing it out.
Your "O-ring" is shot. Easy fix. Really, it is. Grab a wrench, unscrew the faucet at the base (lefty-loosey), pull it out from the tap, remove the little black rubber ring and replace it. Put the faucet back but don't tighten it too much. Nothing plumbing-related is done with much force.
Many people will give you fix-it advice but if, as your sis says, you are not handy, it will be hard to put that advice into action. It sounds like you're doing just fine with that faucet - at least until it completely goes to hell and you have to call a plumber. Which is why, if you have to call a plumber anyway, don't do it now when you will pay $90.00/hr for a guy to replace a 30 cent o-ring. Wait until that faucet is imploding and has to be entirely replaced. At least when you have to pay $200.00 for a new faucet, the $90.00 for the plumber will seem justified. Rock on.
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