SageGrouse
Elite Member
OK I don't wnat to go through this morning ever again. 
As any of you know... I'ze po'. I get Social security Disability and try to earn a little money to keep afloat. Well, recently a tooth broke and I *had* to go to the dentist to get it repaired. He put a crown on it *$1500.00. OUCH!* but also, I sprang for the $450.00 to get what is known as an "NTI". An NTI is a small plastic device that prevents one from grinding their teeth at night. I had one before and it *prevented* me from breaking teeth! It had gooten old and finally unwearable, so I needed a new one.
The NTI is perhaps the size of a nickel. It fits onto the middle teeth, upper or lower, and prevents the jaw from entirely closing. And it *works*!! But basically, if it is lab-made, it's around $1,000.00. If it's office-made it's around $500.00. I have NO idea why, but it is. AND it saves thousands in dental work.
It's just the RIGHT size to skitter easily down a sink drain! And that is what it did this morning. I had taken it out of my mouth and placed it in its box and was running water to fill the box and it skipped over the edge and PLOP! *GONE!*
AAAAIIIIEEEEEEEE!
Fortunately, my dear old Daddy taught me a few things about plumbing! One of which was how to remove, clean and replace a U-bend! I'm the Girl With The Tool Box! Soooo, I got down on hands and knees, took a look, got my tools and removed the sink trap. Has anyone ever mentioned how BAD sink traps stink? Euuucccchhh! And of course where there is stench... there are DOGS!! Lillie is bounding around "can I have it? can I have it? Can I have it?" and Gryphon is all "WOW! That smells like $#%! THANKS, MOM!!"
So there I was, on my knees in my bathrobe, fending off two dogs and holding a pipe full of blecch, and praying that the tiny $450 piece of plastic was still there.
Sure enough.... the NTI was NOT there! PANIC!! Wait!..... was it higher in the pipe? I KNOW I had shut the water of the very Ohnosecond the device had left the box's edge. so it could NOT have been washed farther down... then it must be higher up! Still to be sure, I took the trap and very carefully inverted it into a sieve. Out rolled a quarter, a dime and a nickel! Wow. I'm 40 cents richer... and still no little plastic bit!
Now what? I tookd a sounding rod and carefully examined the upper portion. Sure enough, as I searched, there was a tiny little ledge and the NTI had been caught on that! It fell into the pan below the pipe with a >plink!< that sounded like all the harps in Heaven! "Ohhhh BOY!!" I could hear Lillie thinking as she dove for the tiny 'edible' bit... "OH NO YOU DON'T!" I roared in a voice that would have frightened Godzilla and dove for the plastic!
Gryphon chose this very moment to do a bit of inspection himself. Did I mention that I was wearing a bathrobe? Forgot to mention it was rather short and I was in a cramped position. It rode up a bit. Did I mention that the pipes are very firmly installed. And at head height to a kneeling woman? The combination of the need to prevent one dog from *eating* my $450 bit of plastic... and the OTHER dog's cold nose in my "business" produced a forward lurch which brought my skull into direct contact with a steel pipe.
What PRETTY little twinkly stars!!
Fortunately I got the NTI in hand, prevented Lillie from consuming it, got Gryphon's nasal appurtenance out of my sitting-down appurtenance and got the pipe back together. The NTI is now sitting soaking in every antiseptic I can think of that's not poisonous... the dogs are happily out for a walk with my Beloved... and the pipe is now clear, clean and re-installed....
My question is...
Should I count the forty cents as a "find" even though I didn't use my metal detector?
SageGrouse
As any of you know... I'ze po'. I get Social security Disability and try to earn a little money to keep afloat. Well, recently a tooth broke and I *had* to go to the dentist to get it repaired. He put a crown on it *$1500.00. OUCH!* but also, I sprang for the $450.00 to get what is known as an "NTI". An NTI is a small plastic device that prevents one from grinding their teeth at night. I had one before and it *prevented* me from breaking teeth! It had gooten old and finally unwearable, so I needed a new one.
The NTI is perhaps the size of a nickel. It fits onto the middle teeth, upper or lower, and prevents the jaw from entirely closing. And it *works*!! But basically, if it is lab-made, it's around $1,000.00. If it's office-made it's around $500.00. I have NO idea why, but it is. AND it saves thousands in dental work.
It's just the RIGHT size to skitter easily down a sink drain! And that is what it did this morning. I had taken it out of my mouth and placed it in its box and was running water to fill the box and it skipped over the edge and PLOP! *GONE!*
AAAAIIIIEEEEEEEE!
Fortunately, my dear old Daddy taught me a few things about plumbing! One of which was how to remove, clean and replace a U-bend! I'm the Girl With The Tool Box! Soooo, I got down on hands and knees, took a look, got my tools and removed the sink trap. Has anyone ever mentioned how BAD sink traps stink? Euuucccchhh! And of course where there is stench... there are DOGS!! Lillie is bounding around "can I have it? can I have it? Can I have it?" and Gryphon is all "WOW! That smells like $#%! THANKS, MOM!!"
So there I was, on my knees in my bathrobe, fending off two dogs and holding a pipe full of blecch, and praying that the tiny $450 piece of plastic was still there.
Sure enough.... the NTI was NOT there! PANIC!! Wait!..... was it higher in the pipe? I KNOW I had shut the water of the very Ohnosecond the device had left the box's edge. so it could NOT have been washed farther down... then it must be higher up! Still to be sure, I took the trap and very carefully inverted it into a sieve. Out rolled a quarter, a dime and a nickel! Wow. I'm 40 cents richer... and still no little plastic bit!
Now what? I tookd a sounding rod and carefully examined the upper portion. Sure enough, as I searched, there was a tiny little ledge and the NTI had been caught on that! It fell into the pan below the pipe with a >plink!< that sounded like all the harps in Heaven! "Ohhhh BOY!!" I could hear Lillie thinking as she dove for the tiny 'edible' bit... "OH NO YOU DON'T!" I roared in a voice that would have frightened Godzilla and dove for the plastic!
Gryphon chose this very moment to do a bit of inspection himself. Did I mention that I was wearing a bathrobe? Forgot to mention it was rather short and I was in a cramped position. It rode up a bit. Did I mention that the pipes are very firmly installed. And at head height to a kneeling woman? The combination of the need to prevent one dog from *eating* my $450 bit of plastic... and the OTHER dog's cold nose in my "business" produced a forward lurch which brought my skull into direct contact with a steel pipe.
What PRETTY little twinkly stars!!
Fortunately I got the NTI in hand, prevented Lillie from consuming it, got Gryphon's nasal appurtenance out of my sitting-down appurtenance and got the pipe back together. The NTI is now sitting soaking in every antiseptic I can think of that's not poisonous... the dogs are happily out for a walk with my Beloved... and the pipe is now clear, clean and re-installed....
My question is...
Should I count the forty cents as a "find" even though I didn't use my metal detector?
SageGrouse
Glad you got it back though.
Wife's grandpa lost his dentures down the toilet. I'm a Plumber. He tells me several days later. Long story short, I pull the toilet and get the chompers out. Got toilet paper hanging off them
