I believe it was Yoda that said, “Try not, do or do not”. I think if he had thought about it he would have also said, “Assume not, know”.
I remember in a management meeting the instructor wrote assume in big letters then he added a couple slashes to indicate what we do when we assume.
Ass/u/me
For some time now I have had a faucet in the master bath, which was dripping. Over time it had gotten worse and since I was not too busy today, I decided to attempt a repair.
It is a little known fact that my first full time job was working for a plumber. I got this job right out of high school. I got to do a lot of the digging and other dirty work, I did learn a lot about what to do and what not to do.
Back to my story:
Which faucet was it, hot or cold? Now the proper thing to do is to turn the water off from under the sink to either the cold or hot water and if it stopped dripping then that was the faucet that needs to be repaired.
I got down on my knees which is no easy feat, and removed all the items that are kept under the sink. I then skillfully reached in to turn off the cold water. The valve would not operate. It has been years since this valve was activated and it was frozen in place.
Not a problem, I thought, being a true optimist, I will turn off the hot water and see if the leak stops. Failing to activate either of the valves under the sink, I decided to take a different approach.
I knew that the cold water faucet leaked a little around the handle occasionally when activated, so I ASSUMED, it was the cold faucet that was causing the drip.
I proceeded to the local ACE hardware store (as much as I hated too) to purchase the faucet repair kit. $9.99 plus tax, title and license, it came to $10.81. There went our supper, you got it right, there will be no supper at the Ford Homestead tonight.
Returning to the house, I carefully read the instructions for installation. I then proceeded to turn off the water at the meter. Water off, I began by removing the handle, the lock nut, the stem along with the rubber seal and a spring. I then installed the new spring, rubber seal, stem, lock nut and handle.
The work seemed to have gone as expected. Could that be a sign that something is wrong? Was it too easy?
I then sprinted out of the house to the water meter, and turned the water back on to the house. All the way back into the master bath, I was wondering if it was leaking and had I completed the work properly.
As I stepped through the door into the bathroom, I immediately fixed my gaze on the faucet. Was it now repaired? No! It was still dripping!
“Assume not, Know!”
I now had choices to make. I could sit down and cry, I could get mad and break something, or I could repair the other faucet which was now obviously the one dripping.
I decided to repair the other faucet rather than break something. I went to look in one of my supply drawers (supply drawer sounds better than junk drawers) to see if I might have the necessary repair parts.
Surprise, surprise, there was exactly what I needed to replace the other water faucet.
I then repeated all the above steps in the process of repairing the second faucet.
The mission was a success, no more dripping faucet. I started to say, “No more drip” but then I knew someone would comment, “That I was a drip”.
When you get down to it, both faucets needed to be repaired, so I am now happy and contented. It must be nap time.
May all your naps be perfect!
Don Ford
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