I swapped out the pivot rod on the bathroom-sink stopper assembly last night. That’s the technical name of the … well, you know when you pull the knob to close the stopper? That goes down behind the sink and hooks up to another thingie that goes into the drain pipe and actually makes the stopper go up and down. The thingie that goes into the pipe.
I’m always quite proud of myself when I do such things. Past projects included replacing the entire float assembly in the toilet, replacing a light switch (an old one with the wires not properly color coded), and installing ceiling fans.
Yes, these things are a little intimidating at first, but ultimately more fulfilling and a lot less of a hassle than calling the landlord to have her call an electrician or plumber then take half a day off of work to wait for some guy to come in and freak out the dogs. (And then have him show up late and drag crap into the apartment, scratch the walls, bang into crap with his tools, etc.)
Besides, what can go wrong? Aside from a bathroom flood or electrocution or an entire block burned down because I didn’t wire something properly.
It’s sort of like I tell people when training them on the computer software at work: “Look, you might get stuck, but you can’t break it anymore than it’s already been broken.”
Of course, the pivot rod had to be changed precisely because I broke it while snaking the drain, but no need to focus on that.
By the way, Snaking the Drain would have made a great album name for Motley Crue back in the day.
KEN WHEATON 