Taking the Time to Look, Listen, and Learn

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Clogfather

When we lived in Kansas, our plumber was called "The Clogfather." His logo on his card was in the style of the movie logo for The Godfather.  I don't remember his name because ... do I need to? The Clogfather is whom I remember.

He had dark curly hair and had almost always just finished a cigarette.  While outside de-clogging something or other, he'd continue smoking.

One time, the Clogfather had to fix the toilet in the master bathroom.  After showing him the problem, I left to go deal with dinner or a baby.  When I returned, I headed through the master bedroom toward the bathroom.  As I wheeled around the corner, ahhh! The Clogfather was standing there using the toilet!

"Sorry, sorry!" I backed out in horror.

"Oh, sorry, m'am! So sorry!"

I still can't figure out why he left the door open.  Scarred by the Clogfather.

Recently, we have had various repairmen at our house to fix a few things that the house inspection revealed needed fixing.  One air conditioning man came to give an estimate.  A large gentleman, he was dismayed to see the tiny passage leading to the attic crawl space.  He quickly changed directions and tested several other areas first.  Then he looked down the hall toward the attic passage as beads of sweat developed on his forehead.

"Oh, boy," he said, shaking his head.  Then he paused before heading that way.  "I need to go make a call."  He quickly walked out the front door and sat in his truck for a good 10 minutes.  He returned with the estimate all written up--having never set foot in the attic crawl space!  He explained all the reasons this would add up to $1000.  He was nice, but sorry, dude. That doesn't instill much confidence.

Today, a Russian electrician arrived. I had talked to him on the phone several times, and I was definitely picturing all the Russians I know best... Putin, Yeltsin, Gorbachev, and harkening back to the movie White Nights, Baryshnikov... never mind the fact that these Russians don't look much alike.  He was decisive from the moment he walked in the door.

"Is easy," he declared. "$250."  He fixed everything then and there.  Plus, the baby loved the tool belt and ladder and did his best to get in the way.  Because this man was built a little more like Putin and a little less like Yeltsin, he managed the crawl space just fine. As far as I know, all is well with the electrical world.

1 comment:

  1. We would sincerely like to offer our deepest apologies

    ReplyDelete