I’m working from home since the gutter were being replaced. The gutters look nice, though the downspouts make me wonder a bit. Are they supposed to be off the ground like that?

And this downspout looks a little crooked.

But I’m happy we finally got the gutters fixed.

Anyway, work — my work — continued apace until I met my co-worker for lunch. You, see, my parents have this evil kitchen sink that is hard to use. The drain leaks from time to time, it swivels hard, it turns on and off with much difficulty, and today the handle broke. I thought I’d go to the plumbing supply across from the place we went to lunch to get a replacement handle.

Well, I mentioned it turns on and off with some difficulty. The $9.95 handle replacement was no match for the stiff internal mechanism of this evil Moen POS faucet. I returned the cheap handle and went to a fancier plumbing supply. I bought the direct replacement handle that cost $47! For just a faucet handle! As long as I was at it, I decided to replace the “diverter” for that spray thingy since my mom complains that it doesn’t work right.

So, the easy part of the repair consisted of knocking over a pot full of sand that my mom had been keep for some unknown reason.

Even after dismantling the faucet, I couldn’t get the diverter off. I called Moen’s help line and they said, “You just have to pull it straight off.” Hell, I tried prying it off and I ended up denting the sink. I even called the plumbing store and asked if there was anything keeping the diverter on. They said, “No, it should come right off.” It took a 2×4 and a pry bar to get the thing off. Every time I do something like that I remember why plumbers are paid so much.

So, in summary, I made a big dent in the sink and I feel like a loser.

Oh, hey, I left an email for someone on OKCupid who is supposed to be my highest percentage match, a 37-year-old woman from Portland. She’s been on, but left no reply. The only email I got was from a putative 20-year-old. I think this sounds like trouble any way you look at it.