Waterworks

Last night, I heard a sudden crash, went to investigate, and found a hose-like stream of water gushing out the bathroom door. Above the basin where the faucets connect to the shower there had been one of those suction contraptions holding a container of shampoo, my razor and so on, and this had lost its suction, fallen from the wall and impacted the faucet. This would not have been a problem if the pipe itself hadn't been paper-thin, but as it is, this plastic contraption broke the pipe right in half, thus releasing a torrent of water. Only way to stop it, of course, was to turn off the water at the main source outside in the driveway. This meant no shower, no dish washing, no clothes washing, no nothing using water.

Luckily, I have a friend here named Samuel. Samuel can fix anything. He reminds me of my brother-in-law from my second marriage. Plumbing, cars, washing machines, electricity--you name it, he could fix it (whereas I am hopelessly stupid and can fix nothing at all, aside from grammar, that is.  It's a pleasure to watch Samuel work. He will take the thing apart, clean it, examine it, purchase the new "thing", place it in the wall, test it, take it off again, clean it, replace it again, ensuring that it is tight and functional and without problem. What would I do without Samuel? In Indonesia there is really no 'guy' to call, no official repairman, no white pages and no yellow pages. You have to know someone or know someone who knows someone.