Evilsciencechick

A month or so ago, one of us noticed that there seemed to be some sort of clear liquid pooling in the cabinet under the sink. We ran the faucet for a while and stared, and found no serious culprit. But just in case, I stuck an old plastic bucket that once contained goldfish crackers under some pipes, and declared ourselves to be MASTER PLUMBERS because surely, we had solved that problem once and for all.

Yesterday, Kev took a glance under the sink and commented that there seemed to be a reappearance of mystery clear liquid, only much more so this time. This time we ran the faucet and the garbage disposal at the same time, and bingo - a veritable fountain of water erupted from the bottom of disposal. Again, being master plumbers, we deduced that maybe that wasn’t supposed to happen.

The garbage disposal dated back to my first year in the condo. One night, not too long after moving in, I was cleaning the remains of my dinner, and ran some water in the sink, and then turned away to put something in the fridge, when I noticed that the sound of the water draining was different somehow…more “plinking” than normal. I leaned over the sink and staired into the drain. I saw…dishwasher detergent. And some Mr Clean. And basically, the inside of my cabinet. The garbage disposal had broken away from the sink and was leaning precariously to the right. This was when I fully realized that OH SHIT, I AM A HOMEOWNER and THIS WAS GOING TO BE MY RESPONSIBILITY and DAD LIVES 740 MILES AWAY!!!!! Fortunately, I had a home shield warranty compliments of the former owner - something my real estate agents had insisted on. A plumber and a new disposal only ran me $35. I blessed their intuition many times that year. If you buy a house with older appliances - ANY older appliances - insist that the seller pays for the home shield policy for at least one year. It will save you heartache.

So the lifespan of this new garbage disposal was approximately 8 years. I no longer carry a home shield warranty on the condo, but I DID marry a guy who knows his way around a toolbox. So I left for Knitch sunday afternoon while Kev sat cross legged with a flashlight in front of the sink cabinet. By the time we went to bed that night, I had a newly installed garbage disposal that set us back $90.

However, a month or longer of gradually increased leaking had taken its toll under the sink. And as I hadn’t cleaned out that cabinet in…oh…let me think…EVER, there was quite a mess down there. Old cleaning products, loose ziplock bags, and a horrible black goo that coated the bottom of the cabinet. And here is where I became grateful for something ELSE that had been insisted on when I moved in - my mom used shelf liner in every cabinet. 95% of the goo was confined to the liner, which today I peeled up and THREW AWAY! THANK YOU MOTHER! I WILL NEVER DOUBT YOUR WISDOM EVER AGAIN!!!!

Buy shelf liner. LOVE YOUR SHELF LINER!!!

Some mystery black goo did get on the actual cabinet floor, so today I my job is to clean out the cabinet. As I sit here typing this, I can hear the screams of agony of 8 years worth of goo build up dying in a pool of citrus scented laundry bleach. Fortunately, I have a long handled scrub brush that I normally use to clean the balcony. After the bleach sets, I’ll go over it with murphy’s soap, let everything dry, and then…and this is critical…PUT DOWN MORE SHELF LINER!

Mom didn’t raise no fool.

die, black goo, die!

In happier news, before we knew we’d be spending $90 on a new garbage disposal, Kev and I ordered…a GEORGE FORMAN OUTDOOR GRILL!

Because we can’t use a regular grill on our balcony (fire codes) and grilling inside using my grill pan on the stove tends to fill the whole condo up with smoke - our puny oven hood can only do so much. Stay tuned for EXCITING REVIEWS about our new grilling toy!