This Little Piggy

Mrs. Dude is crafty.

The Princess asked if she could play “This Little Piggy” with my toes the other night.  Of course the Dude abides and agreed to the Piggy journey, and the Princess’ version of “This Little Piggy “ is a journey full of random princess activities.

It began with “This little piggy went to bunny’s nail shop, and this little piggy got cupcake’s, and this little piggy ate ice cream.”  Innocent enough.  But, it ended with “This little piggy went to the store to get fans.”

Fans?!  What little piggy goes from bunny’s nail shop, to the cupcake bakery, to the ice cream parlor, to Home Depot?!

I know who’s behind these mind games.  I’m on to you Mrs. Dude.

I get it, we need a couple new fans for the house.  Did you have to turn the Princess loose on me?

Relentless.

Happy Anniversary. Let’s Go to Home Depot.

Dude and the Mrs. celebrated their anniversary a couple weeks ago.

A great day had by all; a few hugs, a couple high-fives, some thoughtful gifts, a carefully crafted breakfast including flowers from the Dude, and a trip to Home Depot of course…no anniversary would be complete without a giant hardware store.

As the Dude of the house, the responsibility falls on me to repair those things that require repairing.  This includes repairs that are beyond the Dude’s scope of expertise.  Most repairs fall into this “beyond the scope” category, but that never stopped McGyver (or McGrubber), so scope of experience does not preclude almost any repair requirements.  After all, the alternative is to demonstrate a lack of Dudeness…and pay someone else to handle the task at hand, which is never a good option for a self-proclaimed Dude.

So, as the dishes were being rinsed after the anniversary breakfast, Dude recognized a sound under the sink, a sound that sent his Dude instincts aflutter.  The sound of water under the kitchen sink.

Normally, water and the kitchen sink seem to go together pretty well, but this water was not of the friendly variety.  It was of the “I’m going to steal your anniversary because you know nothing about plumbing” variety.

Sweet.  A leak under the kitchen sink.

Awesome.  The Dude has no experience with plumbing…unless, of course, you consider adding Drano to a clogged shower valuable experience, but it was clear Drano wasn’t fixing this (don’t think it didn’t cross my mind).

After a careful inspection, the problem was evident.  The nut (no clue if this is the correct term) connecting the drain to the sink was broken.  And, when I say “the problem was evident,” I really mean the nut was loose, and when I tried to tighten it, I snapped it.  At any rate, the issue was diagnosed, and the plumbing expertise was growing by the second.

Dude Loves Plumbing

Dude Loves Plumbing

Dude Loves Plumbing

Dude Loves Plumbing

After diagnosis, the next step in most of the Dude’s projects is a trip to Home Depot to gather the random parts that will allow a truly McGyvered solution to come to life.  So, with the Mrs. and the Princess in tow, the Dude was off to the Depot.

Luckily, the trip was uneventful, the parts were gathered successfully, and the fix was pretty straight forward.  The Dude strikes again!

However, in true Dude fashion, one repair usually leads to another, and as I was giving Marley a celebratory belly rub in the kitchen, he rolled (more like giant flop) over and snapped the cabinet door in two.  Thankfully super glue is always on hand in copious quantities for Dude projects.

One Job Leads to Another

One Job Leads to Another

Dude's Favorite Tool

Dude's Favorite Tool

Happy anniversary.