Going down the drain

I must take after my maternal grandmother. I'm famous (well, almost) for turning on taps and then going off to do something else and returning hours later to find a flood. She seemed to favour stoves and irons - more of a pyromaniac than an aquamaniac. Many years ago, I left the bath running and went outside to do some gardening. I only realised that the taps were still on when HWCFA shouted from the garage that the ceiling was caving in and there was a flood!

This is the busy time of year for my freelance proofreading and today has been quite a marathon, but without the benefit of the exercise. I've been glued to the computer since 6.30 this morning, with a short break for cappuccino at Espresso up the road, and the odd trip to the washing line with laundry. When I peeled the vegetables for supper, I threw a selection in the juicer and made green juice and ginger. The bits of the juicer need to be washed straight away, otherwise parsley remnants tend to stick tenaciously, so I turned on the hot water tap. Because it runs very slowly - probably got a very clogged pipe after 32 years - and runs outside the house from the hot water cylinder to the kitchen, it takes a long time to warm up and never actually gets very hot, so I didn't put the plug in, thinking I would come back in a few minutes to do that.

About 45 minutes later, I was sitting in front of a document on law for financial planners, enjoying some Collective Soul and Florence and the Machine to relieve my spirits, and interspersed with the music was a continuous unidentifiable noise, like - running water in a metal sink!  Aaarrgghh!

I don't know how much hot water ran down the drain, but if I had had the plug in I'm sure I would have been able to make an assessment by the size of the puddle which would have formed in the garage below! Thank goodness for small mercies!

I did eventually get the washing up done and returned to my post at the computer, but now it's 7pm and I think I've earned some time off. It's comedy night on DSTv, the only night I watch, so I can be sure of a good laugh, although not an early night!