[Click for a larger beer.]
A month or so after replacing the toilet fill valve in our upstairs bathroom, I replaced the valve in our downstairs bathroom — fifteen minutes or so of awkward work that means a quicker fill and a farewell to the bizarre float ball that always ends up needing adjustment. The bottle of A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ was my self-chosen reward.
In advance of doing the work, I opened my dad’s toolbox to get a smaller pliers wrench (which, it turned out, I didn’t need). The smell of Dial soap is still strong inside.
[The Fluidmaster was recommended by one of the smart employees at our local Ace Hardware. An excellent recommendation.]
Monday, August 21, 2023
The plumber’s reward
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comments: 5
Michael, I was thinking hard about sending you this Harper’s article before this post. Now it seems mandatory. But I can’t save it as a PDF yet because it’s part of the current issue, and I worry the link won’t work for you. Still, “A Man Called Fran” is worth reading.
Here’s the link: if it fails, I’ll eventually email you a copy. https://harpers.org/archive/2023/09/man-called-fran/
Here’s hoping!
Stefan, the link works, and I’m taking it as a sign that I should subscribe to Harper’s.
What a great plumbing story. Thank you! It made me think of the time Rick Veach had to cut open our downstairs bathroom floor and take out (with two or three other guys) a similarly ruined piece of pipe. And then we redid that bathroom.
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it. It made me think of my dad, who persuaded all types of motors, engines, and household appliances to live on a few more years.
My toolbox smells of Safeguard soap. It's because I always keep a bar of soap in my toolbox to rub on long wood screws to "lubricate" the driving of the screw. An old carpenter taught me the trick. Maybe your father used Dial for a similar purpose?
Joe, I love your story. It’s possible my dad had a bar of soap in there at some point, but every piece of mail from my mom and dad also had the Dial fragrance. It just permeated the air of their second floor.
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