Mental Meanderings

Random Topic: The Plumber In Us All!

Today, I am a plumber! Or rather for a few hours yesterday and even less then that today I was a plumber. It's an exhilarating feeling being a woman in today’s world. There are things we are still expected to let men do for us. Culture and years of oppression have taught us that we are weak and incapable and need a man by our side to survive.

I used to be a firm believer of that lie. I was raised by a woman who while being very strong was never without a man by her side. He was the big, strong, capable sort that built houses, cut meat, fixed leaking taps, replaced broken windows, fixed cars, etc. All those handy man jobs around the house were his domain and she firmly left him to it.

Then of course I married my ex-husband who was pretty darn useless in that sense and I began to learn that I was a capable woman who could (and had to) do things for herself. Thankfully my stepfather's capable influence and being included in helping him as I grew up left me in good stead to be able to handle minor things on my own. No longer was changing a door handle, painting a room, hanging a picture or changing a tire something that daunted me.

I've learnt that women are strong and more than capable of doing whatever needs to be done. Sure, we'll use a man to do it if he's handy, but the best of us can get it done without one. *grins* That's right boys, we women like to let you feel useful because getting our hands cut apart and giving our muscles a workout isn't our idea of fun but the truth is, the only thing we ever really need you for is sperm and companionship. But hey, can't complain about that since pretty much all women are very eager for both at some stage.

Anyway, um... off track. Today I was a plumber! I'd walked around to my mothers on Monday morning to work out as we've been doing regularly for weeks now and as I was going around to the front from the back entrance I noticed water, lots of water where water shouldn't be. Of course, she's got a leak in one of her mains pipes.

I managed to convince her we could at least LOOK at the leak without a mans help so we set to shifting a few slabs and digging a little hole in the dirt. It was grubby and awkwardly placed since the pipe ran down under a thicker down pipe and then disappeared under the cement paving of her back porch. But we dug under the concrete until the water started gushing.

She'd by then taken a break but I kept on digging out the dirt and running my fingers down the pipe to find the leak. Mud everywhere and sand in places sand doesn't belong and my laying prone on the concrete so I can reach far enough to get a finger on the leak. But I found it and it was making a real mess. It needed a serious patch.

So, we turned the mains water off (no longer needed it to find the leaky spot) and set off for the hardware since having dug out the hole and examined the problem I'd managed to convince mother we could do it on our own. Of course I also told her to just call a plumber. lol But she didn't like the idea of paying for that. Technically we SHOULD have called a plumber. But being capable women and having a financially stubborn mother I guess we were willing to sacrifice some skin in favor of not waiting or paying for a man to do it for us.

We went in knowing what we wanted and the wonderful men at the small, got every bit and bob you could ever imagine, hardware store hooked us up perfectly. A sledge hammer and joiner later we snuck in a quick take away lunch before heading back to her house and setting too.

My mother is surprisingly capable with a sledge hammer. It made me wonder who she was imagining that concrete was. She was explaining the best way to use a sledge hammer to me since I'd never had cause to use one before and by the time she'd given me about four or five examples of the proper motion there was a beautifully big chuck of rock moved out of our way and the faulty pipe revealed. Or at least the big drain pipe that went directly over the leak was revealed; we still had to work around that part.

So we cut out the section of pipe that was leaking and set about putting the joiner on. Now ladies, this isn't an easy thing to do. It requires muscle power and dedication. Especially when you're trying to do it, while laying down head first into a hole the size of a 18 month old and covered in sand. The sand was grazing our hands and the sharp edges of the concrete scraping and cutting our arms and sand was getting into all my uncovered grooves (cleavage and arm pits).

By noon it still wasn't joined completely and we're in the full sun of an Australian end of summer/early autumn. So we packed it in for the day and headed elsewhere for showers (couldn't shower there after all, no water, duh!)

Today however I headed there straight from dropping my daughter off to school and we set to it. Of course, in the process of fitting the new join we discovered that another hand’s-breadth up the pipe is a join that had been put in earlier. This made us a little concerned about the general integrity of the whole pipe since a couple of months ago Mum had to have a section a few meters further up patched as well. We've decided if another leak springs the whole pipe will have to be replaced which is definitely a plumber job that involves digging up the whole driveway and patio.

Anyway, we managed to get the joiner in place, leak is sealed and water to the house fully restored. HEROS!!! Or rather Heroines. Two women, working together, and feeling incredible for being able to do something that in years gone by most people would consider 'mans work'. The truth is, today genders really are becoming equal. Women are learning to stand on their own feet without a man by their side.

Men are optional and no longer required. Still, it doesn't stop us giving our heart to a special someone. And perhaps he should feel even more special that a fantastic, confident, capable woman wants to let him into her life when she doesn't need to. Of course, that won't get you out of dealing with spiders or fixing the car when problems arise. Just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we won't delegate to the nearest man when possible. Women are far better at management then manual labor. *grins*