Saturday, May 14, 2011

Our Plumber, Chick

Our plumber died.

I've actually been expecting it. I don't know how old he was, but he had children, grandchildren, and a rim of salt and pepper hair on his head with a combover. He'd also survived one heart attack. And he lived with a pacemaker and a hearing aid.

Chick was his name, and he was an old school plumber. Not only was his hair salty, but so was his humor. But he knew his pipes. And he was kind to my son.

I found him on the Internet after my husband poured two pounds of overcooked pasta down our kitchen drain. I wanted someone in my town, someone who owned his own business, someone who worked out of his home. I felt like plumbing services could get very expensive and often employed young, inexperienced plumbers who didn't always know their stuff.

We lucked out with Chick. He came over to clear our pipes. Not an easy task with squishy, soft, clogging pasta that refused to be pushed by a plumbing snake. In fact, the snake just cut a hole through the pasta without moving it. It took Chick all afternoon, trying different things. He finally blasted the pasta through with high-pressure water.

After that, Chick did a lot of work for us. He put in our water softener. He replaced our water heater after it blew and spewed water all over our basement. He installed a reverse osmosis water filtration system for our drinking water. He replaced pipes. He cleared clogs. And every time I called, I did it with one eye closed, half expecting to get his wife with the news that Chick had passed.

Recently our dishwasher wasn't draining. So on a late Friday afternoon, I said to my husband, why don't you call Chick. He'll come over if he can. So my husband picked up the phone. He got Chick's son. And as soon as I heard my husband say, "Oh, really? I'm so sorry," I knew. Our wonderful, kind-hearted, off-color plumber Chick was no longer with us.

We'll miss you, Chick. I hope you're in a better spot.

4 comments:

  1. Missy - my condolences to you and your plumber's family! He sounds (sounded?) wonderful! What a rarity to have found a plumber you could call anytime and trust that he knew what he was doing and keep you entertained while he worked! BTW, did his son or grandson happen to take up the family business?

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  2. Sorry about Chick, but he's gone now. And we still have to live with the conundrum of why Sean would put 2 lbs of pasta down the drain. It needs to be addressed.

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  3. Missy! When Sean called, his son said he could help us. But he never really followed through. I suspect coming out this way may not be convenient for him.

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  4. Kevin - You can address this with him when we meet Beckett :)

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