Yesterday's Adventures in Plumbing
Our disposal has been cranky for a bit, and on Friday, right before Shabbat, it gave up the ghost. Through a series of circumstances irrelevant to this discussion, our building has had to cut its ties to the plumber we used to use (who, honestly, none of us were overly thrilled with). So mabfan, who had compiled a list of plumbers recommended by the denizens of the Jewish Boston mailing list, chose one off the list and called him yesterday afternoon.
We had anticipated that calling a plumber yesterday meant that we would have an appointment with him some time today, so I had cleared working from home this morning to await the plumber. So we were very surprised when the plumber said, "I can be there at 3:30 today." So I tracked my boss down (I was lucky that he was up visiting the Boston office) and said, "Is it OK if I switch to working from home this afternoon for the plumber?" He said yes, so off I went to home to wait for the plumber.
When I emerged from the underground section of my commute and had phone signal again, I had texts from mabfan: the plumber was running early. He would already be there when I got home and the babysitter would let him in. Somehow, we had found a same-day, non-emergency, running-early plumber. This was a species with which I had not previously been familiar.
I got home to find him and his assistant waiting outside for me -- the girls were napping and he didn't want to disturb them. He called to me as I came down the street: "Nomi? Ma nishma?" [Nomi? How are things?] I greeted him back: "B'seder! Ma inyanim?" [Good! How're things with you?] We then proceeded to transact all of our business in Hebrew. He had already assessed the situation, and was there to tell me that we were going to have to replace the unit. We discussed the various merits of replacing our current unit with an equivalent but expensive unit versus a less expensive but not as powerful unit. Once we had figured everything out, he went off to pick up the equipment and I worked on work-work.
He came back, installed the unit, and went on his merry way. All of this was done quietly enough as to not disturb Muffin and Squeaker's nap. And even though I didn't have the checkbook with me yesterday, he had no problem telling us the cost of the job and having us send him a check. When mabfan spoke to him later in the evening to confirm the address to which we should mail the check, the plumber expressed his pleasure at being able to transact business in Hebrew. And I got a major compliment from him when he asked how long I had lived in Israel, based on the fluency of my Hebrew. So now I have to study home plumbing-related vocabulary for the next time we (inevitably) need a plumber.
We had anticipated that calling a plumber yesterday meant that we would have an appointment with him some time today, so I had cleared working from home this morning to await the plumber. So we were very surprised when the plumber said, "I can be there at 3:30 today." So I tracked my boss down (I was lucky that he was up visiting the Boston office) and said, "Is it OK if I switch to working from home this afternoon for the plumber?" He said yes, so off I went to home to wait for the plumber.
When I emerged from the underground section of my commute and had phone signal again, I had texts from mabfan: the plumber was running early. He would already be there when I got home and the babysitter would let him in. Somehow, we had found a same-day, non-emergency, running-early plumber. This was a species with which I had not previously been familiar.
I got home to find him and his assistant waiting outside for me -- the girls were napping and he didn't want to disturb them. He called to me as I came down the street: "Nomi? Ma nishma?" [Nomi? How are things?] I greeted him back: "B'seder! Ma inyanim?" [Good! How're things with you?] We then proceeded to transact all of our business in Hebrew. He had already assessed the situation, and was there to tell me that we were going to have to replace the unit. We discussed the various merits of replacing our current unit with an equivalent but expensive unit versus a less expensive but not as powerful unit. Once we had figured everything out, he went off to pick up the equipment and I worked on work-work.
He came back, installed the unit, and went on his merry way. All of this was done quietly enough as to not disturb Muffin and Squeaker's nap. And even though I didn't have the checkbook with me yesterday, he had no problem telling us the cost of the job and having us send him a check. When mabfan spoke to him later in the evening to confirm the address to which we should mail the check, the plumber expressed his pleasure at being able to transact business in Hebrew. And I got a major compliment from him when he asked how long I had lived in Israel, based on the fluency of my Hebrew. So now I have to study home plumbing-related vocabulary for the next time we (inevitably) need a plumber.