Dancing Walrus

I couldn't resist this. Thought Hey, it would go with the other Odds and Sods. Have a great Canada Day.

"Have Caulking Gun Will Travel" and Silicone almost anything

I found out recently that Silicone is a very sticky substance. (actually I found that out a long time ago). I have used Silicone or caulking to fix and seal a lot of stuff over the years. I have used it to mend sinks and along the floors to stop leaks, around bathtubs and basins. To hold tile and boards to mend boats and make gaskets to stop leaks at the trailer. Fill in little gashes on metal etc. I have used 100's of tubes over the years as part of preventive maintenance. Sealing the outside from getting inside on windows and door to roofing and flashing.

There was a problem last fall at the camp with our bathroom sink that wouldn't stop dripping. So in the fall as the water was turned off. I found the plumbing to be faulty in the bathroom and promptly went out to find parts for the trailer. As anybody would know who has also went to look for parts for your RV as you tend to need them ( parts) on the weekend the problems occur. You can buy a new trailer on a weekend but no parts what-so ever are to be found from an RV Dealership even those with Spare parts Dept. As the Parts Dept. are not open on weekends. It really doesn't make a lot of sense to me. As one only realizes, you have a problem or need something on a weekend.

So I cut the pipes knowing ( so I thought anyways) I could fix them in the spring, before I turned the water on again. So the Spring now arrives. I cannot find in any Hardware Store 3/8 inch Pvc pipe or connectors or any one who knows anything about Plumbing in a Plumbing Store or Dept. of Home Hardware or Home Depot or even Kent's. So I found out by chance something called compression fittings or caps in a 3/8 but know one has any idea how they work. Or even if they would work; to stop the water from flowing out and flooding the trailer once the water was turned on. So I bought 4. I got more Airmiles that way. I read the directions for use. Yes I actually did read them. As real men do-not usually read directions and just wing it. I would have been smarter just to wing it as they were written in every language under the sun with fancy diagrams but still didn't explain how they werre put together and how to use them.

So I did what any red blooded male would do or so I thought anyways. I reached for the Caulking Gun and my trusty Silicone Tube. I filled the water pipes both cold and hot with Silicone just a little at the top. I thought just in case it goes down a long ways and blocks the pipe altogether and then put the compression caps on the top of the cut pipe. Well It worked no water was coming through. So my plan was to use the Shower Hose from the Shower as it stretched to the sink for water to wash up with.


Brilliant I thought. Ginny had other ideas and told me so in very blunt english even I could understand. And asked Jim one of the gang we hang around with to look at the sink and fix what Don had done.. So he came in looked at it and promptly went home and brought back a bunch of stuff to put the water back on, connectors, metal hoses etc.

So He takes off the compression caps to hook up the water. Found we didn't have enough piping to do both hot and cold water as all he had; was standard stuff that didn't fit. No, problem we will just make due and put on the hot water only use the pipe that is under the sink and connect them." I found some compression tees to use ." He told me with a smile." Do not know if they will work though as I can't understand the instructions but they are 3/8." Well, it was deja vue . I already knew that. Didn't want to say anything as He is an Handy Man with the County Housing Authority. I am used to having someone repair what I attempt to fix anyways.

So He looks and sees silicone in the pipes. " Who the hell put silicone in the pipes." He asked rather loudly " I did" I said very quietly and starting to realize maybe it wasn't such a good idea. "Well you know where to shove your silicone the next time you have a plumbing problem . Just bend over." He scolded me.

Meanwhile this was attracting a lot of curious onlookers with their beer and rum as my repair job was becoming the joke of the camp ground. Due to the very excitable sounds coming from the bathroom of our Trailer. Well it got worse the little caulking I used was a lot and I managed to plug up both the pipes a very long ways down. He got a wire hanger and proceed to push it down through the pipe to clear the silicone which he thought he did. And put the pipe together with the tee connector. He then got the pipe connected to the hot water on the sink and put new taps in as well. The crowd was getting bigger and more laughter.

The magic moment arrived the water was turned on but no water. @@#@#$%$#@@##$%$#@ing. Which got even more laughs from the deck. Jim was beaten. My beer was all drunk.

"I WILL BE BACK IN TWO WEEKS GET SOME 3/8 PIPE AND WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER GO." He took my caulking gun with him and the crowd followed him back to his camp. I was now known as Silicone Don.

I went the next day on a Monday and lo and behold the Parts Dept of the RV places were open. I found the pipe I needed different color and the guy at the desk explained how the compression fittings were to be used. Emboldened or humiliated from the day before latter more than likely. I drove up to the camp to fix the problem myself. I asked Ernie to hold my beer and to watch so He was a witness and I managed to fix the problem myself but I had to keep cutting the pipe down till almost none was left to find water as the silicone went down a long ways. Even bought several washers I needed. The Water is now running and Jim is happy, the work has been approved by him. I thanked him for being a very good teacher.

It was a very good thing he didn't turn on the cold water tap . As I have Hot water coming out of the Cold water and Cold coming out of the Hot. Hey it works and I got a new Caulking Gun with Silicone just in case in the Bathroom drawer. You can never be too careful.

So what plumbing horror stories do you have??

Aphorisms

**************
* 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
* De ja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
* The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
* Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
* If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
* Always remember to pillage BEFORE you burn.
* Eagles may soar, but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines.
* If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
* Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
* For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
* Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.
* To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles.
* Two wrongs are only the beginning.
* The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
* A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
* If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.
* Change is inevitable.... Except from vending machines.
* Don't sweat petty things.... Or pet sweaty things.
* Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

Trip to British Columbia

Picture of the Harbour in Anacortes, Washington State.


Please follow the link to our Web Page. To view the pictures of our trip out West and to Washington State.

Boys in Training -Fixation starts early

Look at what I did. I planted my Dinky toy and watered it. Looky it growed.

Give me my Beer.

Ohh,look at those suckers. I am getting hungry.

Babe Watch is on.

That's different.

I am pushing the knob, but still no FM.

Hey, put me out first you "Bastard"

Went to the Halifax infirmary on thursday for my minor surgery. This is the 3rd time I have had my various Veins stripped. the first time I was in Hospital for a day or two. The second time was under general painkiller and out cold. Woke up with 150 staples ( doc called them clips) Clips my ass they were metal staples, felt like they were put in with a stapler ( not yours I hope mermaid).

So I went this time not knowing what to expect. No drugs, only a local painkiller . He marked my leg with felt tip ink and preceded to put a sedative in my leg like a flaming pin cushion. then Told me not to look, so Like a naughty boy I looked. Here was this mad Doctor slicing my leg with a scalpel, blood gushing out and what looked like spaghetti being pulled out of my leg.

Now the kicker was, I was done in 20 minutes, bandaged up and out to the waiting room. Ginny didn't even have time to drink her coffee. So I am waiting to have these Staples taken out ( oh, excuse me Clips). Then may have to go back and get my lower leg done as, he only did the knee to the groin this time.

Hopefully , there will not be a next time. Only took me 2 years to get to see him in the first place. Good thing it wasn't life or death situation. Next time I will have a few shots before I go. I will probably have to bring my own Band-Aids and tensor bandages as well as do the surgery myself. He did say only Healthy people come to Hospital now and you do not want to get sick here, as the food is worse than Mac Donalds or any fast food place.

I always thought Hospitals were suppose to be the place to cure you, not contract the plague. Hey, where are my drugs. Knock me out next time and do not tell me not to look.