And then I proved it

I wrote yesterday's post during spring break and later that night received a text from my friend Robin who was staying at The Condo. She wanted to know if I needed some more plumbing problems (that one is coming next) and then proceeded to tell me that the shower knob in the master bathroom had fallen off and broke into two pieces when it hit the floor. She had managed to get the shower off and had even gone to the hardware store for a replacement.

Robin: "But I don't know if I should attempt to put the new one because although the man at Lowe's searched and searched for a knob that he thought looked like the old one I don't know if it will go on. The old knob looked like it had been super glued once before and the screw that is still in the shower wall looks like it too was glued. Plus the instructions say to turn off the water at the main source, and I don't even know where that is."
Me: "No. Just leave it. I'll replace it when I come up there."

I relayed the information to my husband who has become The Condo fix-it man. He made a face about shutting off the water, muttered about how easy that repair job would be, and said for sure she could do it. I couldn't remember what the shower handle even looked like, but Robin texted me a photo of it. The photo and hubby's remarks left me sure I could handle the repair job.

The last night the women were at The Condo I went back with them after dinner to take a look at the shower. Sure enough the handle was like the one in my shower. I went to the closet, got out the tool kit, and deftly removed the screw while Robin, in the background, wondered if I would be able to do just that since it looked like it had been super glued. She was impressed when I held up the removed screw.

Robin: "Oh. Well, that was easy."

With her friend Karen's assistance, I opened the new knob and took out the accompanying screw. The knob was actually for a sink faucet and the instructions, the ones telling Robin to turn off the water, were for that job. With Robin reminding me that I should turn off the water at the main source, I put on the shower knob. I tested the shower and got a tad wet when doing so.

Robin: "What is on your shirt?"
Me: "Water. I tested the new knob and forgot I was standing in the shower."
Robin: "What? You fixed it without shutting off the water?

The shower head was dripping and Karen remarked that most likely that was due from the water still in the hose. I removed the head and shook it out and hung it back up. The drip was still there so I removed the knob again and messed around with screwing it in and out. We decided removing the washer was the answer. It worked. There was one drip, but Karen and I decided it was due to water left over from my various tests. I cleaned up my mess, shut the tool box, and came out to where Robin was sitting in the living room.

Me: "See! We didn't need no stink'in man!"

The next day my husband insisted on driving up to The Condo to check my repair job since I mentioned the drip. I went along to prove my competence for the ride. He gave me props as the shower was drip free and dry as a bone. Then, because I kept shouting my new slogan, he wandered around The Condo until he found something he felt needed his attention. He felt the kitchen sink faucet was too wobbly, and he ignored my tale about how it had been looked at and dealt with by two different plumbers in the past. He worked some time on it, crawling under the sink and then announced it was a "stupidly made faucet and too high for the sink" and gave up. I told him I would replace the entire faucet at a later date.

My father would be so proud of me.