Thoughts while waiting for the plumber

Thoughts while waiting for the plumber My mom always washed her hair before visiting the hairdresser, even though Monsieur Jacques of Dayton would be washing that same hair a couple of hours later. It was just a little act of courtesy, I guess. Before I call the plumber, I scrub every inch of the bathroom, even though I'll have to clean again when he's finished.  Seems the least I can do–to get everything tidy and smelling sweet, investigating the practicality of the task that lies before him. Plumbers are frontline heroes in my book, willing to go the extra mile most of us fear to tread. I don't know if you've put our county's Consolidated Sewer Maintenance Annual Report on your winter reading list, and if not, let me just give you a couple of Cliffs Notes.  Most notably, according to Code 20.24.080, as a homeowner you're liable not only for the sewer system that's on your house, but also the entire "lateral" pipe, that travels from the property to the main sewer line, however far from your property which could be. Public Works offers a phone number to call if you're not sure whether it's your line or the county line that's still responsible for any sewer backup–1-800-675-ELP.  If you call, I have a pretty solid guess as to what their answer is going to be. The County is one smart cookie. Because the reason I have to spend a lot of money every year to get many of the pipes snaked and root-free is because of  trees–County trees or, anyway, trees on County property. As to why the County doesn't take responsibility for the roots invading my pipes, well, I'm sure there's a county code that explains it all.  Yes, just as you are still responsible for the trees that the County has in front of your property, its all very tidy, they write the law to benefit themselves. I guess one should not even imagine it could be different.....ey next time you can get your lines snaked call Ram Rooter- they are local Altadena owned and based and do a excellent job not only at snaking, but they fix all my oddball 100 year old el wierdo stuff too. Weirdo plumbing doesn't even begin to address what's over this way, Steve. Whenever the plumber comes (local chap), I hear him mumbling in the basement, "What the heck? -- or words to that effect. Someone should invent tree-root-proof pipes. But then again, roots can do anything, given time - look at those huge granite rocks in the mountains that they've split apart. Thoughts while waiting for the plumber Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 24/02/2012