A Plumbing Scheduled Maintenance Day
Before I used the bathroom for the first time today, Sheila had already started laundry. Typically, that is no problem but as I was trying to wash my face and brush my teeth, the water pressure in my faucet diminished to a trickle. "Hmmm... that isn't right..." I immediately knew it was time to change the whole-house water filter so I jumped right into that project.
This is the first time I had to change the filter cartridge in this particular whole-house water filter since I installed it a few months ago. I've replaced many water filters in our old whole-house filter but this was the first time with this newer model so it required me to pull out the instructions. It took a little extra time to figure it all out but the filter change was painless. I removed the old, dirty filter cartridge that came with this filter and installed a better charcoal filter.
This set the ball in motion for today. I spent some time on our plumbing doing some regular maintenance. This also included removing and cleaning our showerhead.
After removing the showerhead, I placed it in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and submerged it in a bath of apple cider vinegar. Within a few minutes, I was able to see some of the caked-on gunk flaking off the showerhead... this was a good sign.
I let the showerhead continue to soak in the vinegar bath for about six hours. At this point, I was fairly certain the showerhead was about as clean as it was going to get so I dumped the vinegar down the drain and then went over the nooks and crannies with an old toothbrush. When the showerhead was looking new again, I went back to the bathroom to clean up the pipe end... then wound a few layers of teflon tape on the pipe... then screwed the showerhead back in place.
I turned on the water... saw some leaking... tried to tighten it... that didn't work because it started leaking more... removed the showerhead... wound a few more layers of teflon tape on the pipe... screwed the showerhead back in place being careful not to overtighten it... it was now clean and good to go!
This vinegar idea turned out to be a great idea. It was easy and we now have a showerhead which looks like new. By the way, I chose to use apple cider vinegar rather than white vinegar because I can tolerate the smell of the cider vinegar. White vinegar is nasty, stinky stuff!
It may seem like nothing worth writing home about but, for me, this was a productive day and that feels good!
Oh... and Sheila and I watched a couple of movies this afternoon... it was a good day! Now it is about time for our pot roast dinner...
This is the first time I had to change the filter cartridge in this particular whole-house water filter since I installed it a few months ago. I've replaced many water filters in our old whole-house filter but this was the first time with this newer model so it required me to pull out the instructions. It took a little extra time to figure it all out but the filter change was painless. I removed the old, dirty filter cartridge that came with this filter and installed a better charcoal filter.
This set the ball in motion for today. I spent some time on our plumbing doing some regular maintenance. This also included removing and cleaning our showerhead.
After removing the showerhead, I placed it in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and submerged it in a bath of apple cider vinegar. Within a few minutes, I was able to see some of the caked-on gunk flaking off the showerhead... this was a good sign.
I let the showerhead continue to soak in the vinegar bath for about six hours. At this point, I was fairly certain the showerhead was about as clean as it was going to get so I dumped the vinegar down the drain and then went over the nooks and crannies with an old toothbrush. When the showerhead was looking new again, I went back to the bathroom to clean up the pipe end... then wound a few layers of teflon tape on the pipe... then screwed the showerhead back in place.
I turned on the water... saw some leaking... tried to tighten it... that didn't work because it started leaking more... removed the showerhead... wound a few more layers of teflon tape on the pipe... screwed the showerhead back in place being careful not to overtighten it... it was now clean and good to go!
This vinegar idea turned out to be a great idea. It was easy and we now have a showerhead which looks like new. By the way, I chose to use apple cider vinegar rather than white vinegar because I can tolerate the smell of the cider vinegar. White vinegar is nasty, stinky stuff!
It may seem like nothing worth writing home about but, for me, this was a productive day and that feels good!
Oh... and Sheila and I watched a couple of movies this afternoon... it was a good day! Now it is about time for our pot roast dinner...
This is why I follow your post - honesty and the balance you manage to strike between good and bad days. For a long while, I followed a blogger who caught my attention with her irreverent honesty. After a bit, I noticed her falling into a habit of constant whining. While I appreciate the impact of her varied illnesses upon every aspect of her life, one must not be so routinely negative and expect to hold readers' attention.
ReplyDeleteI am early into masto (TMEP) and so grateful for a relatively easy ride thus far. I look to people like you to prepare me for the time when this is no longer the case. Most importantly, I want to know others have quality in living; a sense of pride in small accomplishments and joy found in simple pleasures.
Thank you, Patrick!
~Robin
Thanks, Robin... it means a quite a lot to hear this. I wish you luck with your mastocytosis adventure! ...Patrick
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