Day Three Good Deed and some Cookies

Remember yesterday-how I told you about the kitchen sink?  Well, the plumbers did come today-and I offered that glass of water (Good Deed!)...but not to the first round of plumbers that showed up.  Curious?  Ok, here's how it went...

A couple of nights ago, we ran the disposal, which worked just fine until we shut it off.  At that point, it regurgitated everything back up the drain in both sinks, pretty gross.  So, my husband did his best to figure it out but eventually had to admit defeat and call our property managers.  When they finally called us back this morning, it was after 11:00 am and I had a box of irreplaceable things packed in case our house burned down.  See, when I walked in the door after dropping Hubby off at work, all I could smell was hot, melted plastic coming from the kitchen.  I was a little freaked out.  I discovered that the source of the smell was coming from the cupboard under the sink, so I immediately unplugged the garbage disposal and made a call to my husband who called the property managers yet again.  Our response (the 11am one) came two hours later with the promise of someone coming to our rescue on Monday-IN THREE DAYS.  That would be three days without using our sink or dishwasher with the smell of melted plastic hovering about the sink.  I was slightly panicking, which is why I packed the box.  Anyway, the manager called me directly and I was able to explain the situation.  She responded with " Well, I'll see if I can call someone to come help, but I don't think it'll happen until late this afternoon." Great.  How comforting.  My house is melting around me and you don't care.  Fine, I can handle this.  When the plumbers called me, they also told me that they could come out on Monday.  Did no one understand?  What was going on here?  Where was the communication?  Once again I had to explain the potential melting pipe situation and finally...FINALLY someone understood!  Forty-five minutes later, there were two plumbers standing on my doorstep.  Two butt-crack angels of hope with the capability to save my home from certain doom.  I was so relieved.

Once again, I explained the goings-on and then went back to the business of my Scrappy Trip Along quilt.  Five minutes later, Butt Crack 1 and Butt Crack 2 informed me that my disposal was fine, the melting smell was being caused by a continuously running disposal motor (keep in mind that this thing was unplugged and that it had been turned off already for at least 36 hours.) and that the problem is that the pipe outside was clogged.  Oh, and they couldn't smell anything...probably because I had just baked cookies and that was the prominent smell in the house.

I thanked the Butt Crack Twins and sent a text to my husband with this puzzling development in the Sink Saga.  We weren't very pleased at all.  

Twenty-five minutes later there was another knock on the door.  It seemed the Butt Crack Duo had an additional member to their party.  He was late to the party and, surprisingly, without information from either the plumbing company or the property management.  I found myself yet again explaining the situation.  I expected him to say "Oh, ok, one of our guys was already here and they couldn't fix it?  I guess that's it then, see you!"  But instead, he asked if he could come in and take a look at it.  Ten minutes later, the sink was fixed.  FIXED.  I was so grateful that I skipped right past that offer of a glass of water and gave him a bagful of cookies.  He tried to refuse but I gleefully insisted and I think he was secretly happy to take them.  (I imagine that he scarfed them down before he even got out of my driveway.)

I have since ran the dishwasher and noticed that the melty smell is completely gone.  I am so thankful that there was a miscommunication going on.  I wouldn't have a working disposal and peace of mind otherwise.  I loved that I had something to show my gratitude to the guy who came in despite the fact that his co-workers couldn't fix it.  I loved even more that he took the cookies, he had a big smile on his face and that small gesture of thanks opened him up to a small conversation about our weekend plans: he has to work, I'm going to sew.  Those cookies bridged the gap of being a customer and serviceman to two real humans.  I wasn't just a clogged sink and he wasn't just a butt crack in my cupboard.  Isn't it funny how something so very simple can bring us back to humanity?  I think all the world's problems could potentially be solved with cookies.  The banana is wrong, cookies are the world's most perfect food.

So, how about a recipe?  My friend Tammy passed this one on to me a few Christmases ago.  It's pretty easy and is pretty unbelievably delicious.  I'd be willing to bet that you have all the ingredients on hand already.

Tammy's Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

preheat oven to 350*

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix peanut butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and baking soda until creamy and well-blended; stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls on a cooking spray coated baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes; allow to cool on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.

Happy Baking!

-Kristi-

PS Tomorrow's good deed will be: Tuck Your Sweetheart In.  Get ready!

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