i’m not REALLY punking out here…

normally when an entry goes up late in the day like this, i’ll blame everything but the kitchen sink…

…but this time, i get to blame the KITCHEN SINK!

about a week or so ago i noticed that when i’d turn off the sink it wouldn’t turn off. at least, not completely. i saw this as a bad thing…but what i WAS able to rig up was the “hot side”. if i tried to pull the lever DOWN it wouldn’t just drip, it would actually still run a very slow stream – but if i turned the hot water off under the sink (i rarely have dishes to do anyway) i could turn the hot side all the way on and it slowed to a very, very slow drip.

i saw this as success, but keep in mind last week was a rough one for me so i basically didn’t want to exert shit for effort.

but towards the end of this last weekend it took a turn for the worse (when it rains, it pours, i suppose) and the “hot side” trick no longer worked…so monday i had to shut off all the water to the sink, which only REALLY inconveniences me when i have to get water for the girls (which is the new term for “the pups” as only buffi and copper, the two girls, are left) but tuesday was la tina’s birthday and a happy hour was in order so i used that as a reason to run to lowe’s and drop a bill on a nice brushed nickel faucet with produce squirter and the hoses to connect it all together since i KNEW the old copper pipes could probably stand replacing anyway.

the next day (yesterday) i started on the project. fearing the water pipes were gonna be the biggest chore i gave ’em a go with an adjustable wrench, and while i didn’t COMPLETELY disconnect them i did get them only finger tight and they seem to play nice (time will tell – keep reading). realizing i was doing this in the wrong order i took a turn at the two anchor bolts that hold the faucet in place. first one started to loosen with a socket set, but the angle was awkward and towards the end there i had to get up under the sink on my back, and while dropping little rusty bits of metal into my face and eyes (ouch) get that bolt off.

on the upside the “finger tight only” water hoses had a very slow, but very cold, drip on my forehead, so that was at least a bit refreshing…

i crawled out from under to get some fresh air and reached around sink number two to feel for the second bolt – i found it, but no sooner did i do so and the nut on said bolt CRUMBLED into my hand in a pile of rusty metal…

…but it turned out only 80% of it crumbled. the remaining 20% was enough to hold the faucet firmly in place…with an emphasis on the “firmly”. while there was NOTHING left to get a grip on with a wrench or pliers, there was enough holding on that i couldn’t force it through – even a crowbar gently, but firmly, applied on the sink side cracked the actual faucet in two, but the half that was FIRMLY bolted in place stayed FIRMLY bolted in place.

well, fuck.

so, i borrowed a dremmel tool from a buddy of mine and planned on fixing this bitch so the bit had a happy ending – but i need to go by cutting discs and i am SO not in the mood to deal with “the people of wal-mart” tonight, so it’ll wait till tomorrow morning when i hit the gym as wallyworld is across from the gym any way.

so, there we are – here’s to hoping sparks from cutting metal don’t catch the bare wall insulation behind the sink a’blaze and burn the house down.

wish me luck…