These are called pâquerettes in French.I started working on cleaning out some of our drains yesterday. The gray water from our house drains down to the sewer system (which we got hooked up to in 2007) through three lengths of concrete pipe laid under the slab of the house. Those pipes get pretty gunked up, mainly with calcium deposits mixed with grease. Yuck.
I've been using a combination of a manual snake and a pressure washer snake to clear the pipes. It's not easy because they're "this far" from being totally blocked. I spent about two hours working on two sections of pipe on Tuesday. One section is completely cleaned out now. The other needs more work. Then there is a third.
Wish me luck. The good news is that I'm cheaper than a plumber.
Yuck indeed.
ReplyDeleteJames Taylor wrote a song about you. It's called "Handy Man". Great song, great singer.
ReplyDeleteMay the force be with you and your snake!
ReplyDeleteIt's a grotty job, but someone has to do it. Have a nice day!
ReplyDeleteKen just pointed out that I wrote "brown water" when I meant "gray water" so I've changed the text. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteYou need a houseboy to take care of all that dirty work.
ReplyDeletem.
Walt, I remember your writing about the riots in Saint Aignan a few years back after a young man was killed by gendarmes. I saw that a trial was held at Blois yesterday of the man--his cousin--driving the car that night. Do you know anything about this?
ReplyDeleteI can struggle through the article in French if I have to, but I thought you might know something.
do u put grease down the sink? we have a septic system and we try not to let any grease go down.....with sewer it might be ok, but sounds like ur pipes might not be able to handle it
ReplyDeleteLewis knows how to clean pipes with a snake also. He recently unplugged our dd's sink and had to crawl under her house, yuck. Guess plumber's earn their money.
ReplyDeleteEvery time, and I mean every single time, I see a daisy I hear HAL singing the Daisy song. Does that happen to you too?
ReplyDeleteYuk!! Good luck with the second and third. Sounds like you're finding good uses for the pressure washer.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, spring cleaning. That usually brings to mind someone vacuuming behind the couch, not snaking the downspout. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI think you are worth your weight in Euros, Walt. Have you thought about hiring yourself out??? (JOKING...)
ReplyDeleteBut - how to you know if the pipe's are clean? Besides seeing how quickly the sinks drain, of course.
Minor parking infraction on Monday. Driver pulled into empty spot next to me while I had my door open to get out of car. I was not hurt - car - est. $1700 and I have 500 deductible. UGH.
Mary in Oregon
wow! i am really enjoying your blog!
ReplyDeletehere is this blog i've been following, check it out!
http://operationpretty.blogspot.com/
Daisies will grow long stems if you dont cut the lawn too much, they do in our garden. But where I went to school, the lawn was kept very short and so were the daisy stems. I think they "get used" to being cut short like this. Very pretty picture, they are happy little flowers.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your job!