Plumbers and PVP

Jason was deep into his computer game last week when there was a small issue with the function of the toilet. One glance at Jason watching his screen intently and pushing the buttons on his keyboard with brute force told me if I wanted the toilet fixed quickly, I'd have to do it myself. I knew he was playing the game in PVP mode not because I can figure out what is happening on the screen but because his PVP game face was on. The look of deep concentration he had, the sound of gunfire and engine roars filling the living room and his mutterings at the screen told me he was in pretty deep. I'm not sure what PVP mode is, but when he's in it he can't just pause the game. I know this because he's ignored me many times when I try to talk to him while he's playing. Then after I've given him the hurt feelings silent treatment for so long that I forget I was giving him the silent treatment he will turn away from the computer suddenly and with predictable exasperation explain that while he is in PVP mode he can't just pause the game. Then after asking me what it was I wanted he sighs at the confused look on my face because usually by then I've already dealt with the issue myself or realized it wasn't that important anyway or completely forgot what it was that I wanted. I wasn't in the mood to deploy the silent treatment and there was no real emergency so I let him be and went to the bathroom to assess the situation more completely.

The toilet was dripping water around the flusher handle. After lifting the top off the tank and noisily nearly dropping it on my foot I flushed it a few times (which can be heard from Jason's desk) and proclaimed loudly (but in a manner that made it sound like I was talking to myself) that the tank was filling too full and overflowing to an area where it could seep out. Then after flushing it several times in a row I confirmed my diagnosis by saying (again loudly) "Yep. That's what it is all right. I just need to get the floater adjusted so it won't fill so fully." . . . (pause for dramatic effect) Hearing only the sounds of light sabers in combat and Jason muttering exclamations directed to a team member's poor performance in the game I proceeded. After several traipses through the house that took me right behind Jason's desk I began searching for tools. To get to the tools I needed I had to sort through tools that make alot of clanking sounds when one picks them up high and drops them back down, but eventually I had everything I needed to adjust the floater. Several more flushes, some important, loud mutterings of my own, a few tweaks with the pliers, an odd cracking sound coming from the pump looking thingy as it made a strange jerking motion and the repair was done. A few more flushes to make sure the tank was filling to the proper level, a loud porcelain clank as the tank lid hit the tank a little too forcefully, very audible footsteps as I walked behind Jason again, another clank as I tossed a tool back into its spot, a clatter as I rattled a few other tools, followed by the clapping of my hands as I brushed them together while bragging, "Man! I should've been a plumber." and I was done. I plopped down on the couch a few feet away from the gaming action with a sigh so loud it nearly made me hoarse.

Fast forward to today. Jason noticed a major leak coming from the bottom of the tank where the little pump looking thingy is connected. He went to his tools and I took note that I must have used the right ones in my repair because he made the same choices of tools. He headed into the bathroom and after a few seconds and sighs he said he was going to Lowes. He came back. He left again for Lowes. He came back. He started out the door again and I asked him to get one of those foam interlocking floor mats for Jedi since he was already going to Lowes. He came back, connected the new floor mat, went back into the bathroom for a while, came back out, victoriously held his hands high and proclaimed, "I should've been a plumber!" I told him that was funny because that was the same thing I said when I fixed it. His hands immediately came down and he asked when had I fixed it. Always quick on my feet I told him it was a while back ago. He sat down at his computer and I waited until he was in PVP mode before I mumbled quietly that there was a tiny possibility that I might have been the cause of the major leak when I fixed the minor one.

Later I went to the bathroom and noticed it was leaking again. I had a tumultuous internal debate for a while as to whether I should tell him. I decided I would let him find it himself and give him a few more moments of PVP stress relief. He found it while I was giving Abigail her lunch, got his tools and took a fussy Jedi into the bathroom with him. He fixed it with just a few tweaks of the pliers. Jedi got to see his Daddy fix something with a really cool tool and I got an excellent picture of the two men of the house saving the day by fixing the toilet. Just think if I hadn't have fixed the minor leak we wouldn't have had the major one that gave us a special family moment.

Yep. I should've been a plumber.