I spent most of today trying to stuff as much of myself as possible into the cupboard under the sink. This morning, I awoke to discover that my kitchen sink was leaking, a problem that is financially and environmentally costly. Being ultra-clever and overly optimistic about my plumbing abilities, I did a brief internet search for "how to fix a drippy faucet" and went at it with a wrench. My efforts succeeded in gouging several deep scratches into the faucet and making the problem worse. Four phone calls to my dad and at least two hours of work along with a cacophony of colorful language, I managed to get the entire faucet unit off the sink. It took me over an hour simply to unscrew the one screw holding the faucet in place. The entire thing was practically welded into the sink, and there is surprisingly little room to wield a wrench under a sink. I don't know how big, burly plumbers do it.

Once the faucet was off, it presented itself as being as most definitely broken now as opposed to merely leaking. I had been meaning to replace the sprayer anyway, so I decided to buy a new faucet unit. I also had to buy a new soap dispenser since the old one has been broken for months. 60$ at Home Depot (where I have been spending 3/4 of my money lately) and I had both a faucet and soap dispenser. I also had the news that my old faucet may still be under warranty and I might get a new one. I went home to discover that I had purchased the wrong type of faucet and that the soap dispenser had no interest in being replaced and put up a gigantic fight. After ripping out large chunks of the plastic, I realized I had been trying to unscrew the wrong thing, and that meant that I messed up the track that the nut was supposed to unscrew on. I finally had to get my neighbor to hold the unit on top so that I could unscrew it. Once the darned thing was finally out, it was easy to install the new one, so thankfully that works.

However, I am now waiting to hear back from the faucet company to see if I am eligible for a new one. So the upshot is that the sink is denuded of a faucet and thus useless as a washing station. I need to at least get the right type of faucet, but I don't want to go swap it out until I hear back from the company which will take a few days. I also foolishly unscrewed the garbage disposal tube, not realizing that the dishwasher drains into that particular tube: I realized this only after I caught sound of a cascading volley of water gushing across the kitchen floor. Everything that was under the sink is now stacked on the kitchen counter, and I am wondering when I will get my sink back. I am also wondering why all plumbing units must be 1) impossible to unscrew 2) in extremely inaccessible places that offer no space for any type of tools whatsoever.

Oh well. At least I am saving myself from what probably would have been a $300 plumbing bill. As much as I bitch and gripe, I don't really mind fixing things myself. In fact, I am rather happy that there are many problems around the house I can fix. But it will be nice to one day have a husband so I can tell him, "YOU deal with it!"