down the drain
Just as I expected I would, I zonked out early last night, after having such a hard time getting to sleep on Sunday night and therefore only getting roughly four and a half hours of sleep. In contrast, last night I got a pretty solid seven hours of sleep, which I have known for a while now is the most ideal for me—eight hours is actually too much and leaves me nearly as groggy as if I got only six hours.
Shobhit worked swing shift last night so I didn't see him. I went straight from work to see Bad Boys for Life at Pacific Place downtown, and I really should have known better. Even Noah was bemused by it: as soon as I arrived at work this morning, obviously having seen my Facebook post linking to the review, the first thing he said to me was, "Bad Boys, Matthew? Really?" I did note that there was just nothing else to go see, and he seemed to kind of understand that. I have no further plans for movie-going until the end of the week, and I still don't even know what movie or movies I will see then. That's late January for you, really. I suppose I could still go see Like a Boss, just to kill time.
Anyway, last night's movie ended at about 7:15, for a 4:50 showing I left work at 4:20 to get to. I waited 8 minutes for a #11 so I could ride home instead of walk, just to save a few minutes, and then I took much more time than I would have preferred to finish the review because I had many distractions, both by Guru puking in the living room and the many attempts at un-clogging the clogged drain in the master bathroom shower.
Let's talk about that shower drain, shall we? I know you want me to! It's been clogged for about three days now. I've gone through two and a half bottles of either Liquid Plumr or Drano already; I bought two bottles of Drano on my way to the theater last night. I have followed instructions, leaving half a bottle in the drain for 15 minutes and then flushing with hot water (boiled in a pot) twice just yesterday and then leaving another half-bottle to soak in there overnight, which is probably bad for the pipe. I even did one more instance of baking powder with white wine vinegar flushed with hot water, and each time I flushed with hot water, it seemed to be draining a little more quickly. But, this morning once again, for what I realize now is the fourth morning in a row, taking a shower in there results in a large pool of standing water that then takes so long to drain that the water is still there even when I'm done getting ready for the day. Shobhit has been showering in the guest bathroom and suggests I do the same. But we clearly still need to get this problem fixed.
I even went the extra step last night of unbending a wire hanger to try and snake down the drain, but the clog has evidently gone quite deep down in there—unlike the state it was in on Thursday, when a whole lot of hair was still coating the very opening of the drain after the grated lid was pulled out of it, the pipe is now about as clear of any debris of any kind as it's ever been, at least down to the point where the pipe curves out of view. I tried to push the hanger down as far as I could, but never felt like it was hitting up against anything. I am trying now to decide whether to buy some kind of "snake" tool at the hardware store after work today, or if I should try another bout of baking soda and vinegar. I saw online that I should apparently let that soak for like half an hour before flushing, and I hadn't been waiting that long. I've literally never had a clog before that was this much of a persistent problem. I really don't want the expense of calling a plumber, though.
This just in: Shobhit texted me just before noon the water still hasn't drained. So, I'll definitely stop at the hardware store on my way home from work. If whatever I can find there still doesn't work, then I'll finally have to give up and call a plumber.
[posted 12:22 pm]