‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that as an adult, one day you WILL be ripped off by a plumber!’ That day has come to me! It may have been a long time coming, but it has come! How did this happen in a land where I had come to trust the regular workmen on my black phone?! Well, case of seeping water in the bathroom....for about a week, there was this mysterious water seeping along the back of the bathroom wall, near the vicinity of the toilet. As this odd seeping stigmata seemed to dry up at certain points, I was advised by dear husband not to worry so long as the toilet still worked! I agreed...until the next day when the problem seemed to reoccur. After over a week of this, I decided to call erstwhile trusty Mahmoud who came to fix a broken pipe at Eid. As anticipated, he came the following day and at the allotted time! He seemed to take great pride in the fact that he was on time! So did we! He had a look at the seeping issue which was now the case in both the bathrooms (well, the other half bathroom!) He looked at it, said ‘no problem ‘ with a smile and got some tools out of his carrier bag! I’d noticed the last time he carried all tricks of the trade in a small elegant paper boutique bag! The problem he decided once he had taken the toilet apart was the tubing at the back of the toilet. He also took the cistern section apart. Both to me looked like recycled plastic taken from local strewn litter! He indicated the tubing taking the waste away was damaged and needed to be replaced. I was not going to argue. He was prepared to go and get the parts, come back and finish the job. He even said, he would bring back the receipt! What honesty! So, we handed over the money for him to go and get the parts and left him to it. He spent an hour or so fixing, twiddling and re-twiddling. He resealed the toilet edging and cleaned the bathroom floor. We were asked not to use the toilet over night so as to let the seal dry. Fair enough. He decided the seeping, however, was coming from the outside. There had to be some leakage from the apartment upstairs which was soaking the concrete on the outside bathroom wall! He got me looking at the central shaft from a lobby window with a torch. It was a revelation. The towers of dust covered ole pipes looked like they were all crumbling! It was hard to tell if any of them could cope with the daily activities of the tenants! I got him speaking to our caretaker about it and the right noises seemed to have been made to let ‘lady upstairs’ know about the problem. We paid him for his troubles and told him we would inform our esteemed landlord. He had our landlord’s number and offered to call him then and there! A chat ensued for about the next ten mins. He seemed to be explaining to our Captain the breakdown of the receipt and telling him about the seeping water in the bathrooms. The Captain then asked to speak to me and I confirmed all the problems. Then in mid conversation whilst we were arranging for him to come over to collect his rent, he apologised for having to go. He had just landed from Tokyo!!! I could not believe my ears! Was he flying the plane asking the plumber to justify the expenses whilst attempting to fly and land after a potentially ten hour flight?! I could picture him being most unhappy that his panicky tenant would not live with a bit of seeping water until he could come over again! I was determined to ask!
The following morning, I went into the bathroom all ready to use the newly fixed toilet...yes, there was a problem! The seeping issue was exactly the same AND the water rose to the near surface as I flushed AND not all the waste got flushed away!!! There had been no problems with the toilet functioning before..There was now!!! Foaming at the mouth and not courtesy of toothpaste, I was determined to sort it with Mahmoud! I called him to come around again the very same night. There were at least five calls throughout the day to fix a time. In the end, he came earlier than anticipated whilst I was not home. Husband saw him and apparently, the water rising was not a big problem as it did drain away!!! I was not convinced. That same evening, dear Captain arrived too. He asked to see the windows and agreed a good job had been done. He asked to inspect the bathroom and began to question anything had to be done to the toilet. He, however refunded us for all our costs and asked us to follow up anything else with the lady upstairs. As a matter of curiosity, I had to ask if he was flying as he spoke to me the day before. He smiled and said, ‘No no. I was already in the airport’. I shall of course have to believe him. Before he left, he asked when we were flying out for our Christmas trip Far East. We shared the date. Again, with his charming smile he responded, ‘I might be flying you’..Well, at least he’ll not be dealing with his tenants’ plumbing issues. What of the dodgy toilet? Well, cannot use it now as it barely flushes. I have now decided never to call Mahmoud again and am on the next round of trying to get it fixed!!! Dear Readers, wish me the best of luck. For it now only with the help of divine intervention that it may ever get fixed! Inshallah..Inshallah...
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