It's Five O'clock Somewhere

 The day I've waited for...Savusavu - with ample resources in case I make a mistake...unclogging the head.

Yes, dear reader, I'm still in 'bucket and chuck it' mode w/r to the disposal of bodily wastes.  Actually, I'm kinda getting used to it.  But I digress.

After working up the courage to start disassembling the plumbing under the head sink I finally forced myself to squeeze into a fetal position on the floor and pick up the screwdriver.  Of course the hose clamps had rusted to the point where unscrewing them was not an option.  Out with the Dremel!  Carefully so as not to damage the hose itself, I cut away the hose clamps.  Now to get the hoses off the fittings.  That took some time and damaged one hose end.  Eventually got the y-valve off and was able to see into the vertical discharge hose running to the seacock.  Plugged tight with calcium carbonate, aka coral.  

Now the conventional wisdom is to use muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to dissolve these deposits.  So I prepared a solution (Do what yer oughter - pout acid into water) wearing my safety glasses and start pouring it down the discharge hose.  Then sit and wait until the frothing stops.  Repeat ad nauseam.  Eventually the chemist in me remembers how much acid it takes to dissolve a solid of anything, and I don't have enough.  Time for Plan B.

Plan B involves removal of the hose from the seacock.  It took a pipe wrench to get it loose.  The hose got a bit abraded in the process, but I got it off the nipple.  Took the hose out to the cockpit with a hammer and hammered it sideways while over the bucket.  Chunks of solid dropped out.  Yay!  Hose clear.  Check time - one hour to happy hour on Jeff's boat.  Gotta hurry.

Back into fetal position in the head.  Get the hose on the fittings.  Reach for new hose clamps.  All the wrong size.  Oh well, that's why I waited for Savusavu.  Try out the head.  It flushes!  Yay!  Look to bottom of discharge hose to see leak in hose.  FFS.   Decide nothing more will be attempted this day w/r to plumbing.  However, a clean-up is mandated.  So I put on rubber gloves and start swabbing.  Then out comes the Fabuloso, which is a popular cleaning agent here in Fiji.  When done, your area smells like freshly cleaned service station toilet.  

I'm hot, I'm sweaty,  I'm out of sorts.  But Happy Hour calls.  I hop in the dinghy and run over to Nick's boat.  Somehow he missed the convo re HH today.  He grabs a few beers and we run over to Jeff's boat.

If you've stuck with this so far, let me assure you it gets weirder.

Ten people on the deck of Jeff's trimaran.  Eventually I start chatting with Mary Ann, half of a couple new to me.  She mentions that although they were Aussies, they lived in the States for a while.  My follow up was natural - where?  Fargo.

Wait!  Fargo?  As in woodchoppers?  As in Mexican Village?  As in Chub's Pub?  As in where I spent ten years of my life?  Seriously?

Then the follow up question:  What did you do there?  Her husband taught at the university.  What?  The university where I got my Ph.D?  What did he teach?  He was in crop science.  Now I'm blown away and I think it showed.   Vicki worked for the Agronomy department while I was getting my degree.  I knew Crop Science and Agronomy would be located near each other.

Did you know Eileen B?  Yes

Did you know Elias?  Yes

Did you know Al Schneider?  Yes.  Jack Carter?  Yes

Holy crap, her husband was in the same building where Vicki worked for four years.  Granted, they started in 2000 and we left in 1986, but all of a sudden it's old home week.   Streets, shopping centers, places to eat, all offered up as conversational material.  They hadn't heard about the Fargo blizzard of 1984 (?) where people were killed inside the city limit on 19th avenue.  I told them it was on YouTube.  

Talk about a small world.  Met them yesterday at Copra Shed and they were still laughing about the coincidence.  Nice couple.

And this is why we have Happy Hours.