it's all in knowing how

Yesterday morning Fernando and Elias wrestled with plumbing problems ~ the shower wouldn't drain. Is it the fault of the shower? the toilet? The basin is not involved. Elias to the rescue! He is a man who operates on a complete adrenalin overload. He doesn't walk anywhere; he trots. He speaks so fast I can barely understand him. He has piercing black eyes, wiry black hair cut about 3" long that stands out around his head like a fright wig, he looks 18 but is probably 40, has no sense of humor that I can detect, and knows his plumbing like no one else in town. Elias is the guy you want to show up and fix it.

First he decided to haul the garden hose up into the bathroom to try to force water through the pipes to clean out whatever must be the obstruction.


Nothing happened except that the drain filled with water and bubbled up into the shower. They are yelling back and forth to each other as they try to force water down the drain. This resulted in the plumbing in the half-bath adjacent to overflow. Water all over the place.

Next, perhaps it is the toilet. Let's force water into the toilet and see what happens.

That didn't seem to make any difference. So he took the toilet off the floor, and peered down the drain to see if that needed to be cleaned out.


He decided it wasn't any of those causing the problem. It was the registro, the holding tank on the street that receives all of the waste water from the house. The registro is connected to the city sewer lines that carry the sewage away to some gigantic holding tank and treatment center on the outskirts of town. So Fernando dug up the opening to the tank out in front of the house.

No, no problem there. No obstructions, no rocks, cement, tree roots, dead animals, etc. Next idea was that there was an obstruction at one of the elbow joints that carry waste from the house through the various pipes. But the question was, where are they? Mr. C found the plumbing plan for the house and discovered that there are four junctions; two in the front outside the wall and two in the back under the concrete apron, not under the tiles where Fernando was sure they were. If not, we're going to have to tear up the floor downstairs where the upstairs bathroom sewer line meets the other house sewer lines and it all connects to the city line.

So first they dug up a part of the grass, thinking that perhaps the pipes has been run out under the apron for ease of access. Note the roots; more on this later.

That didn't pan out. Next they pounded a hole in the concrete on the corner nearest the terrazzo.


That wasn't what they were looking for so they opened a hole on the opposite corner and Bingo! There were all the various pipes to the north wing of the house; our bathroom (shower, toilet, basin), the downstairs guest room facilities, and the two half baths. Then it became clear what the problem was. When the house converted from a septic system to the city sewer, whoever did the plumbing connected everything except the two showers and the upstairs half bath toilet. Everything else was working fine. The pipes carrying shower water to the septic were completely blocked by roots (see above) from the grass and other garden plants. The solution was to lay new pipes. Which he did, with help from Fernando and a mozo. When it was all over we had a completely new drainage system for one side of the house. Nice new PVC pipes all glued and fitted together.


Elias was rightly proud of his accomplishment. He took me through the house, turning on faucets, then we stepped out into the street to watch the water pour into the registro just as it should. Then they covered everything up with sand and topped it with a cement cap.

At least now we'll know where the pipes are if we ever have to do this again, God forbid!

These guys were here from 9:30 AM until 6:30 PM, with an hour for comida. The bill was $1,840.00 pesos, less than $150 US, parts and labor included. He's a good man to know!

Meanwhile, on a more prosaic note, friend Marni, who lives down in the colonia, sent this recording she made of Skates leaping in the surf outside her house. A beautiful site. Makes me happy to be here every time I look at it.

This is the year we are paying close attention to the condition of the garden. It is always a huge chore to whip it into shape when we get here as it's had 7 months of almost total neglect. But we have hired a gardening service and are making a bit of headway. Here's a new addition to the pot garden. It's a Corona de Christo, very beautiful but very dangerous.


It's a type of cactus and, as such is armed with really nasty thorns.




We've also planted a new bougainvillea, two hibiscus, transplanted another bougainvillea from the front into the back, bought two blue plumbago, enriched the soil, fertilized . . what more can we do? The rest is up to M. Nature.

Tonight a little birthday party for one of the motley crew. Cooking by a local couple; "real" Mexican food. Report and photos later.

Opera on Saturday: La Traviata. Another sighing, crying, dying heroine. Don't miss it.