Step 15

“Make a list for me, and I’ll bring my tools and see how many items I can whittle away,” Hot Wheelz had said before coming home for the holidays.

I was excited.  As a result, the wood floors are less creaky.  The missing tile in the laundry room has been replaced.  He had installed a new back door on a trip over a year ago, and I never got around to replacing the tiles he had to remove.  There is caulking around the
kitchen sink.  There’s caulking around the baseboard.  There’s a new T-threshold of wood between the hall and the laundry room.  And number one on the list, the night before he drove back to Utah, he replaced a new rubber gasket on the garbage disposal.

The next day, after he left, of course, we found a puddle under the sink.  Poor Couponman, he was forced to wash the dishes by hand.  I guess that task motivated him to find the leak – at the junction where the garbage disposal fits onto to sink.

I called Daryl, my all around handyman friend.  He’s got me out of more than one bind
before.  “The new gasket is too thick,” he reported.  “The clamp doesn’t allow it to seal properly.”  An hour of heavy-duty effort did not resolve the problem. “You’re going to need to buy a new garbage disposal tomorrow.  It’ll cost you around $80.”  The disconnected parts rest all over the floor.

Mind you – I had a perfectly good  garbage disposal one week ago.  The only problem was that it had a chewed up rubber gasket.  So Couponman picks up the new garbage disposal.  Daryl comes back the next day.  He unwraps the box.  “Wow, you managed to find the only garbage disposal missing a power cord.”  So Daryl painstakingly removes the power cord from the gasket-less old disposal and attaches it to the new one.  Only the hoses don’t match up under the sink.  So off he and Couponman go to find some new connections – another $5.

Three hours later, we have a new garbage disposal, new gasket, and old power cord in place.  “Let us take you and Sue out to dinner,” we insist.  (Good time and good food had by all.)

The next day, Couponman excited to be able to use the dishwasher again, does a load of dishes.  Suddenly a solid stream of water, like from a fire hose shoots across the kitchen from the release valve when the dishwasher is turned on.  Couponman is back to dishes by hand.

The next day, Daryl comes back over.  He takes out the instructions for the first time – you know the man-thing.  “Step 15:  Remove the plug from the unit before attaching the dishwasher,” he reads out loud.   “Guess I skipped that one.”  He removes the garbage disposal once again and pops out the plug.  Now everything is back and working.

I had no idea new gaskets were so expensive.  Thanks Hot Wheelz.  I’ll take it out of your inheritance. 

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