There are times when I am on a job and the crazy presents itself and I tell myself “I must blog about this”. Today’s blog is about one of those CRAZY moments.
A new client from the Sunshine Coast rang me last week to get a quote over the phone for a new hot water unit for their apartment in Paddington. The existing hot water unit needed replacing and he had already received two other quotes from plumbers who had been to site. I rang through our quote and the client gave us the go ahead to do the work. He told us he had got our name from 96.5 radio station. We haven’t advertised for 2 years so it’s nice to know that we are remembered.
Upon arriving at the apartment, the existing hot water unit was in a cupboard in the middle of the unit on a shelf. At first I worried about whether the new hot water unit would fit into the allotted space and then my biggest concern was how we were going to get the old hot water unit off the shelf when it was full of water! The overflow pipe was not big enough to accommodate so much water if we were to drain it. We only had one bucket but would need another to catch the stream when we unscrewed the fitting.
So I scoured around the kitchen and emptied the tenants bin. The bin stank to high heaven and the rotting food at the bottom of the bin was worse than some toilet bowls I have come into contact with. Atleast it was going to get a good flush out.
The only problem is hot water creates steam and makes the smell rise. And rise it did, but I didn’t care, as long as we could get the hot water unit drained so we could lift it out of the cupboard.
So there were dad and I, each with our own bucket (well mine was the stinky bin), relaying back and thro from the toilet to empty our buckets of hot water to drain the hot water unit. It took us 20 minutes. Once the hot water unit was finally drained, we were able to lift it out and take it to the truck.
Getting the new hot water unit in nearly gave us both a hernia. But thankfully it fitted in – JUST.
Being a plumber means thinking on your feet a lot of the time. You can be as prepared as prepared can be but when you are presented with an obscure job, you need to think fast and sometimes outside the square. I always thought that I was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole when I was doing my apprenticeship. But when I can think on my feet and think outside the square… maybe, just maybe that square head is what makes me unique, different and a plumber that’s well regarded and sought after. Maybe I was meant to be a plumber- sorry plumbette after all.
