Slaying the laundry monster, or The Aftermath

[carbonel]

On Wednesday morning, the guy from Ron the Sewer Rat came and unplugged my drains. He informed me that the blockage hadn't primarily been tree roots, but rather what he euphemistically called "feminine products." Who knew? Actually, several people seem to have, but I didn't. So $135 later, I learned something.

Over the past few days, I have dealt with the entire mountain of laundry that had been in the general area. Only the bottom layer was actually affected, but for the first time in I don't know how long, everything got washed. I think even a couple of things that should have been dry-cleaned got washed.

Not everything survived the ordeal, but the dead articles have been bagged up, and the very last load of laundry is in the dryer at this moment.

Also, I have gone through a smaller (and less disgusting) mountain of mail and sorted out the junk from the bills, and set the bills aside to be paid.

I call this a productive day off.

Comments

[pameladean]

I didn't realize that feminine products would clog up plumbing as comparatively modern as yours. We had to quit flushing tampons years ago, but this house is much older than yours. We quit flushing cat litter, too.

P.

[carbonel]

I've been flushing tampons and cat litter for years. I suspect what's most likely to have caused the problem was the pantiliners that I've been using (and flushing) for the past several months. I'll stop flushing those and see if that solves the problem. Unfortunately, the failure mode is both unpleasant and expensive.

[arkuat]

You are mighty.

[biblio-tech.livejournal.com]

We learned our first Christmas in this house (of course, the only Christmas we've had company) that our sewer line and "feminine products" were not compatible. We were told we could dig up and replace the part of the line that goes the length of the basement and all would be fine--22 years ago we couldn't afford that, and now it's even less likely. I just warn feminine guests...

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Sewer mice.

K.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

You tackled the mail, too? I am impressed.

[carbonel]

Well, I knew that somewhere in the pile was a new credit card to replace the one that had expired, and a quick rummage through the pile without opening them hadn't come up with it. So I had an ulterior motive.

I was successful in finding the card, too.