plumbing problems and ripoff

Today I went to Bec's house to meet Mom and Dad. Dad was going to see if he could repair whatever was making water run from the upstairs bath down to the laundry room. Bec had to be at work of course, and I was already scheduled to meet the plumber at her house at 3:00. Dad (Pawpaw) was hoping to save her some money. First we all looked at the hole in the ceiling where the water had come through, but worse, we noticed that water was coming from the WALL of the laundry room and dripping down to the porch. I had stopped at the hardware store to get a new wax ring for the toilet if that was the problem. We took the commode off and put the new ring on. Flush----- and water again running into the laundry room. Fortuneately it would run right into the washer if the top was open. Then, we took the toilet off again and ran water right into the drain. It slowly filled up, but no water dripped down. The logic was then that the drain was stopped up, so the plumber must come. The flange was too short also, allowing water around it. We left the toilet disconnected, and I went to the liquor store to stock up on wine and to Harris Teeter for groceries. Snow is predicted so we MUST get groceries and liquor. It is a custom here. The schools have actually closed when there was only a prediction for snow-and it never snowed, but the schools were closed. I think of it as a town's excuse to close down. So I then went home for a little while to clean up and pick up Bella to take her to see Josie the dog.

We went to Bec's house and the plumber drove up in his big van truck. The toilet was disconnected so he snaked, then used another snake, and cleared the clog (we hope). But here is the shocker. He said the company's charge (Ben Franklin Plumbing) was 249 dollars to unclog, 249 to fix the flange on the toilet, and 249 to reseat the toilet. That is the biggest rip off. Rebecca began to cry and said to just leave the toilet disconnected. He then lowered the unclog fee to 99.00. I told him that it took us about 10 minutes to reseat the toilet today and that their price was highway robbery. You could go buy a whole new toilet and have it installed from Lowes for about 250.00. The way people take advantage is disgusting. Rebecca had been given the number of a plumber by some coworkers so she called him. He'll be there tomorrow evening if the weather is not too bad, or Monday if it is. Rebecca will be out of town Friday - Sunday. I'll be babysitting the dog Josie and Mr. Kitty again. They love it here.

I'm going to try to post a photo of the fawn twins who were born here this past spring, and who hung around all summer and fall. They are probably still part of the crowd that hangs out here, but I can't tell them apart any more.