Plumbing with Jetlag

Got home from the PDC last night after a 20 hour journey from the states. As I had the ten minute shower I'd promised myself for the previous 10 hours I noticed that the shower unit would not turn off properly. It seems that the tap has worn out. This afternoon we went off for a drive and discovered that the local DIY store was having a 10% sale. Buoyed by my success repairing a drawer in the kitchen I decided to buy a replacement unit to fit. The old one was, well, very old, and I figured that a new one I could fit myself might even be cheaper than getting a plumber in to repair the fault.

Now with me jetlag is a bit like alcohol. It removes my inhibitions about doing something, whilst at the same time removing my ability to actually do it. So of course as soon as I got home it was into the bathroom and out with the big spanners. I had figured on a 20 minute job. Remove the old shower and drop in the new one. They were both the same brand and model. What could be simpler? Turns out that almost anything could be simpler. The old one would not come off the pipes. They use a powerful one way fitting which is very determinedly one way. After half an hour of heaving and pulling I had achieved nothing more than a bunch of skimmed knuckles, some outbursts that shocked number one son and a pile of dirt in the bath.

So I went and calmed down for a while, then fetched the hammer.... The new shower is in place now, and the bonus is that it is way better. I now have to get myself into a happy place regarding the possiblity of leaks (none at the moment but I'm a worrier). And now I'm off for a shower.