2013-05-24 Delayed Comic (Due to Plumbing Problems)

[jwhouk]

Form the bucket brigade, gang!

[Fairportfan]

Wow. Out-of-town company coming, on top of a plumbing emergency...

You sure Senior Director Oduya isn't running your life, Paul?

[Wyvern]

Yikes! I hope it's fixed quickly!

[Dave]

Here's hoping it's not the sort of plumbing emergency which tries to emulate a VE7 caldera-forming eruption from within your main sewer pipes!

(Fortunately those are usually limited to college dorms, when somebody does the flush-firecrackers-down-the-toilet trick during a floor party)

((No, I never did this myself.))

(((I did manage to create a small volcano of sorts, though, during my freshman year. The guy in the next room insisted on wandering into ours, while smoking a pipe full of pungent Borkum Riff tobacco... and both my room-mate and I were confirmed non-smokers. We managed to spike his tobacco with some potassium nitrate I had available from an old chemistry set. The next time he lit up... FZZT... a VE (-10) or so eruption. "You sons of bitches" was his only comment as he headed for the water fountain to put it out.)))

[Mark N]

I just hope that the problem is quickly and economically fixed for your sanity Paul.

[DilyV]

Here's hoping it's not the sort of plumbing emergency which tries to emulate a VE7 caldera-forming eruption from within your main sewer pipes!

(Fortunately those are usually limited to college dorms, when somebody does the flush-firecrackers-down-the-toilet trick during a floor party)

((No, I never did this myself.))

(((I did manage to create a small volcano of sorts, though, during my freshman year. The guy in the next room insisted on wandering into ours, while smoking a pipe full of pungent Borkum Riff tobacco... and both my room-mate and I were confirmed non-smokers. We managed to spike his tobacco with some potassium nitrate I had available from an old chemistry set. The next time he lit up... FZZT... a VE (-10) or so eruption. "You sons of bitches" was his only comment as he headed for the water fountain to put it out.)))

LOL... I had a friend who told me when he was in Kuwait during the cease fire after the first gulf war he had a platoon sergeant that kept begging dip from his driver then putting darn near the whole can in his mouth. Thing was, he didn't spit... he'd swallow it. He said he told the platoon sergeant that he'd get sick doing that. ( I almost DID get sick at the thought myself) The driver came to my friend and asked what he could do. My friend bought a can of dip from the driver (who's parents had sent him a whole roll). He then went to the medics complaining of being bound up... (those MRE's are really bad) The medics gave him six ex-lax capsules with instructions to take two, then one every eight hours until he took a dump. He opened the can, had the driver take out a good sized dip, then emptied the capsules into the dip and stirred up around, put the lid back on and gave it to the driver with instructions that if the Platoon Sergeant asked for a dip, to give him the can and tell him to keep it. He said after about six hours out on the desert blasting around at 40+ miles an hour and hitting some pretty good sized bumps, the Platoon Sergeant started screaming over the intercom to stop the track... about the same time, they started smelling the reason he was screaming. He said when the ramp dropped, the crew piled out of the back and looked up to see the platoon sergeant standing on top of the turret, suffering from explosive diarrhea from his knees to the middle of his back. He said the platoon sergeant never asked for another dip after that...

I guess that could be considered a VEI-7 or above explosion...

*Drops an empty ex-lax box in the pun jar in honor of my friend*

Seriously, I hope Paul gets it all sorted out and gets back to us on Tuesday!!!

[Timotheus]

Well, I've got all five seasons of Sailor Moon (plus the movies) and most of Inuyasha or Ranma 1/2 on hand. And I suppose we could grill some brats or burgers if someone's got a grill to use in the confusion corner. Since it looks like it's going to be a long dry spell.

(I'd be happy to help out, I've got my own plumbing kit (15 years Industrial plumbing). But I'm sort of trapped in Memphis.)

[Leak]

Yikes! I hope it's fixed quickly!

That's your real-life friday cliffhanger right there...

[MerchManDan]

Wow. Out-of-town company coming, on top of a plumbing emergency...

You sure Senior Director Oduya isn't running your life, Paul?

At first, I read that as "ruining." Which would still apply, I guess.

Anyhow, good luck & stay sane, Paul! We'll wait patiently for the next thrilling installment of Wapsi Square.

[shadowinthelight]

Sorry, Paul. I'd offer my bucket for cleanup but I forgot my mop and bucket at my old apartment in the process of moving.

[scantrontb]

I just hope that the problem is quickly and economically fixed for your sanity Paul.

Ye Gawd!... i hope it isn't his water heater... my place just had the heater finally let go at the bottom of the tank, the resulting leak took out the furnace next to it, got the wall to about 2 ft high and got under the hardwood flooring. during the rip-out of the wall the guy said they also needed to remove the bathroom sink unit to check for further damage on the other side of the closet/bathroom divider wall,and then replace it afterwards, and as we started to remove it he saw black mold in the back, ugh... so that had to go too... trying to remove it though, meant we had to totally destroy it, all because of the way the people that flipped the house made the bloody thing... after we finally got it out we saw there was black mold running almost the full length of the wall behind it too... weird thing was that it was higher in the center, rather than at either end... hmmm... the exterior wall end of the sink unit was where the heater was, and the actual sink was at the other end, so why was it higher in the center?... well... THAT was due to the UPSTAIRS bathroom drainage pipe... the junction where all three pipes from the toilet, sink and tub joined together had cracked and had been spilling everything out between the walls for the last eight years or so (the time we've lived here)... UGH!!!... so that wall had to completely come out too... as part of the water leak from the heater itself, it had leaked out the bedroom door straight across the hall to start going out into the garage, so the hall carpet we knew was going to go... but when the insurance guy shows up to estimate it, we find out that the hall and living room carpets are actually one piece!, so the whole downstairs living room carpet had to go... talk about stuff to move... blech, 10 bookcases 6ft tall, and 4 at 4ft tall, all with my sci-fi books, gaming books and all my DVD's and VHS videos... AND all the room-mates stuff from her room where the leak and the furnace were... blech. all told, with the four different contractors schedules, and us having to move a bunch of stuff out of the way, it took about 6 weeks to completely finish as well.

on the plus side, we now have a brand-spanking-new bathroom sink unit that does NOT have a one-inch-square-floor-tile surface any more (the ONE thing i demanded from the people that actually own the house: it MUST be a SMOOTH SURFACE... i can care less about anything else, but it had to be smooth...), we have brand new carpeting in the living room, and in the hall and the bedroom they put wood flooring back in both, instead of just the room and carpeting in the hall (woot!) and they even took out the carpet on the lower section of stairs up to the landing for the front door... that one we were puzzled over as it was technically a separate piece of carpet, but hey, we weren't going to argue!, so we also have really nice wood stairs now as well., the water heater is now an instant heat, tank-less design, and the furnace is brand new instead of the original-issue one from the late 60's/early 70's when the house was built.

all that was about $15K to take care of... so even though I REALLY HOPE that it ISN'T some huge problem like the one we had, I'm pessimistic... if it was bad enough that he couldn't draw a comic and post it, then that means it is a significant plumbing issue, likely a water heater blow out, or sewage system back-up... either way, time-consuming and very expensive... he may be switching his "help by me a car" advert to a "help me get a new floor" advert soonish...

[as363]

My sympathies Paul - glad I don't own a house anymore - My ex has it and I just rent . I think my 25 year old Glen Fiddich will be visited a lot the next few days.

[ShirouZhiwu]

I've heard it said that for every 10 problems in any house, water is the cause of 12 of them. Hopefully it's only a leak and no mold is revealed. The stuff is nasty and almost as hard to kill as a golem.

[kingklash]

Here's hoping it's not the sort of plumbing emergency which tries to emulate a VE7 caldera-forming eruption from within your main sewer pipes!

(Fortunately those are usually limited to college dorms, when somebody does the flush-firecrackers-down-the-toilet trick during a floor party)

((No, I never did this myself.))

(((I did manage to create a small volcano of sorts, though, during my freshman year. The guy in the next room insisted on wandering into ours, while smoking a pipe full of pungent Borkum Riff tobacco... and both my room-mate and I were confirmed non-smokers. We managed to spike his tobacco with some potassium nitrate I had available from an old chemistry set. The next time he lit up... FZZT... a VE (-10) or so eruption. "You sons of bitches" was his only comment as he headed for the water fountain to put it out.)))

LOL... I had a friend who told me when he was in Kuwait during the cease fire after the first gulf war he had a platoon sergeant that kept begging dip from his driver then putting darn near the whole can in his mouth. Thing was, he didn't spit... he'd swallow it. He said he told the platoon sergeant that he'd get sick doing that. ( I almost DID get sick at the thought myself) The driver came to my friend and asked what he could do. My friend bought a can of dip from the driver (who's parents had sent him a whole roll). He then went to the medics complaining of being bound up... (those MRE's are really bad) The medics gave him six ex-lax capsules with instructions to take two, then one every eight hours until he took a dump. He opened the can, had the driver take out a good sized dip, then emptied the capsules into the dip and stirred up around, put the lid back on and gave it to the driver with instructions that if the Platoon Sergeant asked for a dip, to give him the can and tell him to keep it. He said after about six hours out on the desert blasting around at 40+ miles an hour and hitting some pretty good sized bumps, the Platoon Sergeant started screaming over the intercom to stop the track... about the same time, they started smelling the reason he was screaming. He said when the ramp dropped, the crew piled out of the back and looked up to see the platoon sergeant standing on top of the turret, suffering from explosive diarrhea from his knees to the middle of his back. He said the platoon sergeant never asked for another dip after that...

I guess that could be considered a VEI-7 or above explosion...

*Drops an empty ex-lax box in the pun jar in honor of my friend*

Seriously, I hope Paul gets it all sorted out and gets back to us on Tuesday!!!

That's another kind of plumbing problem right there.
My Ma's second husband (Big G) had worked for the railroad. Part of the crew that repairs the tracks, swinging a sixteen-pound sledgehammer, and moving in new rails and ties. His dad had got him the job after getting back from Viet Nam. Well, there was this one guy on the crew who had gotten into the habit of sneaking into the locker car, and raiding everybody else's lunches. Now, if any of you know any Native Americans personally, you know we like us some good, solid, meat-and-potatos kind of eatin'. Which meant that G's lunch was one of the main victims, and his dad's as well. They knew who it was, but he was sneaky, and never caught right out. G's dad was an excellent cook in his spare time, and during a weekend off, went and bought some extra stuff when getting groceries. He whipped up some wonderful cupcakes, "Some of the best Dad ever made!" G told us. Then came the frosting. The fanciest, richest chocolate icing one man could make for catching a thief. Of course, he used chocolate Ex-Lax for a small batch on the side. The following week back on the rails, they made sure to display the normal cupcakes during lunch the first day. Next day, the doctored ones were in their lunches, and sure enough, they were gone come Noon. The poor sap spent a lot of time either running to the latrine car, or in the bushes. Then, when the other workers realized what had been done, they could report the dude to the crew chief, now that there was proof, sort of, of his method of "Free Lunches."

[DinkyInky]

My sympathies Paul - glad I don't own a house anymore - My ex has it and I just rent . I think my 25 year old Glen Fiddich will be visited a lot the next few days.

Ye be one lucky laird! I hav'na had that in near a decade(had a bottle gifted at the birth of my son, had a toasting drink, and the ex- roomie broad drank it, and complained how it wasn't as nice as a bottle of raspberry smirnoff. I could have killed her. She and her beau, and my ex all left like thieves shortly after). Tha's a fine single malt--one of three brands I drink when afforded a chance. Tip a glass back for me, would ya laird?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Here's hoping it's not the sort of plumbing emergency which tries to emulate a VE7 caldera-forming eruption from within your main sewer pipes!

(Fortunately those are usually limited to college dorms, when somebody does the flush-firecrackers-down-the-toilet trick during a floor party)

((No, I never did this myself.))

(((I did manage to create a small volcano of sorts, though, during my freshman year. The guy in the next room insisted on wandering into ours, while smoking a pipe full of pungent Borkum Riff tobacco... and both my room-mate and I were confirmed non-smokers. We managed to spike his tobacco with some potassium nitrate I had available from an old chemistry set. The next time he lit up... FZZT... a VE (-10) or so eruption. "You sons of bitches" was his only comment as he headed for the water fountain to put it out.)))

This reminds me of the less-than-humorous incident involving a rather irate geek, a preppy chick, and secretly replacing her Oxy10 with Silver Nitrate three days before Senior Pictures... NOT me, in this case, I'm not that cruel.

For those who are unfamiliar, Silver Nitrate is a substance mostly used in photography development but also having enough other uses in chemistry that most high school labs keep some on hand. When applied to the skin, it undergoes a chemical reaction which permanently stains the skin a dark grey until it has a chance to slough off naturally. There is no washing it off unless you use iodine and basically acid-peel it off.

End result, she looked like she got hit in the face with a mudpie. And it wouldn't wash off. Three days before Senior Pictures.

[as363]

My sympathies Paul - glad I don't own a house anymore - My ex has it and I just rent . I think my 25 year old Glen Fiddich will be visited a lot the next few days.

Ye be one lucky laird! I hav'na had that in near a decade(had a bottle gifted at the birth of my son, had a toasting drink, and the ex- roomie broad drank it, and complained how it wasn't as nice as a bottle of raspberry smirnoff. I could have killed her. She and her beau, and my ex all left like thieves shortly after). Tha's a fine single malt--one of three brands I drink when afforded a chance. Tip a glass back for me, would ya laird?

You're well rid of people like that. My maternal Grandfather was a Steam Engineer from the Shetlands and had a marvelous collection of single malts My father inherited in the late 50's and I acquired a taste for it from him . Straight up - no ice - but warm the class a little from an open flame and then take a deep sniff. You can smell the slight "peat moss" wafting up.

Simply to die for. Islay Mist is another that Gramps enjoyed - also very drinkable. Here's one to you sir.

[Opus the Poet]

Thursday cliffhanger not to be resolved until Tuesday? A-A-A-A-GON-E-E-E-E!

(oh and good luck with those visitors)

[Julie]

GACK! Hope the plumbing stuff gets resolved well...and that it doesn't impede the enjoyment of visitors for the holiday weekend!

On a selfish note, two Thursday cliffhangers in a row is totally unfair!

[sonicthunder]

Let us hope the out-of-town company didn't cause the plumbing accident.