Personal Note: House Stuff

Yesterday I had a plumber come to fix the sink (and I cannot say that without recalling the Electric Company's animated sketch -- ou sont les neiges d'antan?). Turns out that the leak I thought was coming from the drainpipe actually originated with the drain basket and the leak from beneath the faucet was perhaps just the result of it being badly caulked. So a lotta money later I have a re-caulked faucet and a new drain basket ... and a new strainer, the first one I've ever had that actually works (i.e. isn't built to default to plug-the-sink mode if you jostle it absently). Bonus! Next task is to seal the underlip of the kitchen countertop, which I can do myself once I lay in some 80-grit sandpaper and polyurethane. Yay for tasks that don't require hiring a contractor at great expense.

I hope the rest of my house doesn't take the plumber's visit as permission to start pulling a wonderful one-hoss shay, though. I went to do a load of laundry this morning and discovered that the washer was half-full of water. (!!) I drained it and am now regarding it with stern and piercing gaze as it goes about cleaning my sheets. I'm really hoping I don't have to replace it until after I've remodeled the bathroom ...