GLUB!

It was about 6:00pm ... just back from twelve glorious days in Maui when every toilet in the house made the aforementioned sound at the same time. A coordinated welcome home maybe, but I didn't think so as my husband went to get the handy dandy plunger. When I heard, "We've got a problem," I could smell it right away, and it wasn't sweet. So, off to the phone with the plumber's number in hand. Since it was after hours (time and 1/2 - ka-ching!), they needed to call me back.

Flash backward a little over twelve hours, and we were getting off the red eye from Maui. As our bags approached on the carousel, my husband calmly told me that our luggage was old and it was time to buy a new set (ka-ching!) One suitcase was totally missing it's handle and the other looked like it had bust a gut. The seam was undone. Oh well, Maui was great!

Time to call the parking lot shuttle for pick up. We found that pay phones still exist believe it or not. (My husband's cell really enjoyed its splash into the warm waters of Maui - ka-ching!) After explaining that we couldn't call from the red curb, the driver said five minutes. Well .... I guess he meant five minutes island time because we had to call again (a second pay phone) after 1/2 hour and were told ten minutes. At this point, we realized that the nice older ladies, father traveling with his daughter, and two entire families with too many children to count were all waiting for the same small van (did I say small?) So ... with the van finally in sight, we grabbed our broken down luggage and made a dash for the door as soon as it opened. (Not normal for our family, but I'm writing it off to red eye induced hysteria).

OK ... flash forward back to waiting for the call from the plumber who calls and asks if we have some kind of clean out drain. By then I, of course, need to use the restroom so I'm off to our nearest local (and clean) restroom at the public library while my husband valiantly tries to find the drain in question. (Being me, I did take a couple of minutes to peruse the recent acquisitions shelf but more on that later). I got back to the news that we didn't seem to have the needed drain which meant two guys (ka-ching! ka-ching!) going on the roof.

Well ... they couldn't get there until 9:00pm which seemed a bit late (and dark) to climb the roof so, without a bathroom option, I did what I do best and googled local hotels (ka -ching!). I know it's August and vacation time but I guess smokers don't rent hotel rooms because that was all I could find until the last one. I couldn't book direct because the internet rate was better so back on I went. OK .. all's well and off we go to the hotel which has become a grand adventure for "Spots" aka SurferGirl. As we drove, SurferGirl asked about dinner, which never happened and became fruit from the hotel lobby.

Well .... we get to the lobby and have to swipe our credit card again, and it's denied! Ok, luckily, I had my working cell and called the company to be sent to the fraud department. It seems that they considered charges in Maui and a mainland hotel within 20 hours of each other a bit suspicious. As I answered the security questions, the red eye hysteria set back in, and I lost it. I don't normally cry in public but those last four numbers of the social security number do it to me every time. Finally settled and in the room.

Flash forward to this morning, 8:30am, my husband meets the plumbers to find that the drain is located in, of all places, our master bedroom. Well, they decided to use the roof access and save our rugs. But, we will need to add a new drain in the future (ka-ching! ka-ching!) to avoid the tree roots that caused the whole problem.

That's what I get for starting the laundry .... Maui is looking better and better! Now that this is off my chest, I'll get some pictures up soon.