The drain brain

Robert is a big fan of listing pros and cons. If you want to know every eventuality or consequence to even the simplest choice, Robert is the one to ask. He can dream up dozens of consequences, several times removed from the initial question.

Recently he debated whether we should fix a slow drain in our bathroom sink. He googled the problem and found several easy fixes but he hesitated because seeing the water in the sink might teach Colleen exactly how much water she was using and possibly wasting when she brushed her teeth. Then he changed his mind because he didn’t think it would take her that long to learn that lesson and it would probably be more expensive if the clog got larger over time.

He told me that “plumbers are expensive because they are skilled at stuff nobody wants to do themselves.”

Robert offered to help me plunge the drain but, as he said, “for safety issues” he didn’t want any part of pouring boiling water down the drain.

Some people need practical advice

I had a great time at the George Michael concert last night with Catherine S., a friend from college. More about that later. However, one of the best parts about riding the Metro is the people-watching. We saw a prime example of it last night, when a woman standing on the train right in front of us was holding a paper with a Google maps printout.

I didn't see the exact start and endpoint, but no lie, it was just like this.


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There are so many ways this could have been avoided.

1. When you plug in your two endpoints and you see the simple one block-by-one block right angle pop up on your screen, you could simply commit it to memory and close the browser.
2. If you're not paying attention and print it out anyway, you could recycle the sheet of paper.
3. If you are so inept or insecure that you must carry a piece of paper to tell you how to go two blocks, for goodness sakes, fold the paper inward so the rest of the train can't see.

Thanks. That is all.