Maggie and I had a slow drip in the kitchen faucet, and it kept getting worse, so she wanted me to call a plumber. I kept bugging her to let me fix it but for some reason, she didn't have a lot of faith. Shame on her!
I finally wore Maggie down and she let me attempt to fix the faucet. When she told me I could do it I was so excited I ran to the garage to get my tools and was started in on the project in about one minute. I was in my element, great attitude and extreme desire to get the job done on my own (plus save a few hundred dollars in what I would've had to pay a plumber). I'm a smart boy.
Within a minute or so into the project and while disassembling the faucet, a huge geyser blew up and water was streaming from the faucet to the top of the kitchen cabinets. I was freaking out but trying to keep quiet because Maggie was in another room, and I didn't want her to know what was happening; it would be total humiliation with an "I told you so," that would last a lifetime.
So, what in the world happened? Well, in my excitement of getting authorization to take on the project from my boss (Maggie) I forgot a very, I repeat very, critical rule and that is to cut off the water supply before working on the plumbing. I'm not a plumber but trust me on this.
At this point it had gotten to where the kitchen was like a Lucille Ball episode. I was grabbing everything I could to stop the water. I did find that putting your hand on top of the faucet to stop the water from flying up was futile. All I was doing was spraying the water everywhere and not just to the ceiling as I was completely soaked.
We've all been in similar circumstances where logical, simple things, become complicated because we're basically out of it and not thinking straight. I realized I had to get to the water supply to cut it off but then I blanked out on where it was, so I called a buddy who was a real estate agent and fixer-upper and he ran over to pull me out of the mess I had created. Although at this point, I was already in too deep. The faucet was in pieces because of the water gushing out so at the very least, I'd need new plumbing.
By this time, Maggie had made her way to the kitchen, so my cover was blown. Although the cat would be out of the bag when my buddy (Chuck) showed up anyway. I'll never forget the first three words she said to me when she came across the madness in the kitchen and that was: "What the hell!" I was deflated. My plumbing career was over. I had to question what I was going to do with the rest of my life. 😁
After all the mess I had created, there was only one hope for recovery and that was to call a plumber. It ended up costing us about three times more to replace the faucet than what it would've if I had called the plumber in the first place. Plus, all the clean-up efforts we wouldn't have had to deal with.
Moral to the story, besides never forget to turn off the water supply, stick with what you're good at. If you're not a plumber, don't plumb. If you're not an electrician, don't electrocute. Well, that doesn't sound quite right but you get the picture. 😎 On a positive note, I did make some money selling a lot of my tools at our next garage sale. Great prices and barely used. 😉