What the blog is all about

     I've been told by several well meaning people that I need to have a blog page now that I've published (well, I'm about to publish) a book.  Fortunately, I'm one of those people who like to write, and think I have something to say on most any subject.  I've been told I'm verbose and I would have to agree.  My wife wants me to concentrate on my new children's book coming out, but there will be time for that when it is published.  I promise I will tell you more about it before it hits the streets.  

     

     So, the blog from day to day at first will be about things that I think need set right with the world, things that are a lot wrong, a little wrong, and sometimes not even wrong but could go wrong and still need set right, (from my point of view that is).  It may never be something you might agree with, but I think from time to time I will hit on something that will hit your thought bone and make you ponder with me "why is it that way, when it could be so much better"?

     

     Let's start with something that happened just the other day.  My brother-in-law, kind soul that he is, told me that his pool fill valve was leaking.  It wasn't just leaking, it was really leaking - like almost full blast. (He had other problems besides that leak, but let's just concentrate on this one problem.)  

     

     It was an old fashioned gate valve that had been installed about 25 or 30 years ago and had never been a problem before recently.  So, being a guy who has done this kind of thing for himself, and actually repaired things for a living for a few years, I told him I would take a look at it.  I told him it would be simple to repair as long as the valve body seat wasn't damaged, and would probably only require a simple replacement of the washer that closes off the valve when you crank it shut.  

     He was worried that we wouldn't be able to get the thing apart because it had sat there for 30 years without being taken apart before.  So, we sprayed it with that old standby WD-40 (if it doesn't move and you want it to, spray it with WD-40 first - if it moves and you don't want it to, use duct tape - pretty much a rule to live by) and then let it set for a few hours and spray it again.  In the meantime, you can amuse yourself with a couple of cups of coffee, or a few brewskeys (and if the missus asks you what you are doing, simply reply "waiting for the WD-40 to kick in,") or if it's really old, grab that copy of War and Peace you've been meaning to get at for years and give it a go while you are waiting.

     Then we removed the valve stem with relative ease and it popped right out. The washer, as I suspected, was worn and corroded on the sides, but the valve seat itself was smooth as glass and all we needed to do was head to the local hardware store and find a replacement washer and replace it, then the old valve stem, then turn the water back on and watch everything just fall into place and voila, no leaks.

     Here's where things went south.  A visit to the local big box hardware supply store (which shall go unnamed) proved to be useless as after they took one look at the washer, took us to the washer supply wall and showed us that they didn't have what we needed and wouldn't be able to order it.  However, in all fairness, they did say, we could replace the whole valve at a huge cost ($45.00 or so, for the valve alone) or we could try down the road at a plumbing supply house which would probably have what we were looking for. 

     Let's see, spend $45 for a new valve, plus the work of replacing it, or going to the local plumbing supply house, get the small part we need and then go back and fix said valve.  So, off to the supply house, where there was only one person working, you know, in these hard economic times, so we had to wait in line until everyone in front of us was done.  (First thing in the morning, I'd hate to see what happens on a day where everything goes wrong and everyone heads down to the supply house to get what they need at the same time.)  Then we showed the guy the washer and waited confidently while he showed us where they had a box full of them, except he didn't do that, because he said, "We don't have that in stock.  We don't carry them and can't get them.  Try "----------" plumbing supply at the corner of such and such and so and so. That was across town.  Really, seriously across town and about $7 away.  At today's gas prices that's about 40 miles away round trip.  For a ten cent part. So we went back home and called them and they were nice enough: after a wait while the young lady we talked to talked to someone else who talked to someone else, came back on the line and said, "We don't carry that and they said you should replace the whole valve."  

     WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE.  I've got a 10 cent part in my hand that is probably available somewhere, but not a single person responsible for making customers happy, said, "let me call a supplier, or let me see what I can do".  Everyone of them to a person, said with a shrug, "Can't help you.  Sorry."  And, I might add, two of them actually laughed when we said, we need a 10 cent part and you want us to spend $45 to fix it, plus labor.  They just nodded and moved on to the next customer.  Just on a hunch I stopped at the big box hardware store's competition (another big box store) and got the same shrugs and answers.

     Being from the old school, and having never, ever, thrown away a part I thought I could use later, I went home and looked through my amazingly disarrayed garage and tool bench.  It only is disarrayed when I am looking for something that I have no idea if I even have.  Otherwise, I know exactly what to move to find that hammer I placed there 6 weeks ago, or was it last week, when I was making a minor repair that took some muscle.  (Hammers are excellent for that sort of thing, especially after you've used some WD-40).  

     And, in about the third place I looked, I found a sprinkler valve still in the box, that was of no use anymore as the system I now use has entirely different parts.  And, I'd saved it for at least 15 years, just knowing this day would come.  And, when I opened the box and looked at it, THERE IT WAS - MY HOLY GRAIL, a washer that was remarkably like the one I was looking for.  So, I took the valve apart, grabbed the washer and reappeared at my brother-in-law's with the new part.  It took about 3 minutes, if that, to replace everything and to put the new part in place.  Since it is slightly different, there is a chance it will skew out of place occasionally, and might need to be reseated.  But, since they only fill the pool occasionally, they don't need to use it that often reducing the number of times they need to use the valve.  And, now they can turn their water on without over-filling the pool all the time from a leaky valve. And I couldn't charge my brother-in-law, so it was free.  Besides, it was his birthday the day before, so I just said Happy Birthday.  He was happy and I was happy I could fix it - even though it wasn't as easy as I thought.

     Which brings me to today's gripe.  Everything today runs on a profit, and the big box stores have squeezed out the small guy.   In my younger days I could go down to the local hardware store, especially in a small town, and find just about anything I needed.  It might take a minute to find it, but they generally had it, but more importantly, they had someone who knew what we were looking for, where it probably would be, and/or exactly where to get it. Not just sending you off and getting you out of their hair.  Nowadays, you have to buy ten of everything you want instead of one, (if you can find what you are looking for), and they only sell the most popular parts for the most popular items.  I understand why, but I would also think they would have a central location for those more rare items, or at least some deal with the manufacturers.

     I was really happy I had what we needed, and we will search for places on the internet and or valve providers to find a more suitable replacement, but I still think you should be able to walk into a hardware store, show them what you need and they say it's right over here, or we can order it for you.  Even parts that are 25 years old.  Washers haven't changed that much in over a hundred years.  

     I found obscure parts for my 1952 Ford, 50 years later, easier than a 10 cent washer.  That's a darn shame,  and it needs set right.