When we returned from two weeks out of town recently, our toilet whistled like a steamboat every few flushes. Could it be the bidet? (Get a bidet!) Nope. Andy sent a video to Raymond, one of our two go-to plumbers, and he suggested a āsimpleā fix outside of our wheelhouse and to keep giving it some TLC. I know Raymond from Regi, who managed my property when I was a renter. After days of announcing our flushes inelegantly with no evident end in sight, I texted Gary, another plumber who I know through my amazing agent Jaime. I met Jaime through my former coworker Simone. Gary said to call him after the Labor Day holiday to set up a visit. I called early Tuesday, he came Wednesday. After a minor $15 part replacement, 20 minutes and $100 in cash for Gary, voila! Normal toilet.
Homeownership for the plumbing-inept young professional, if youāre tracing the people tree, demands a network of handy, skilled people who I never would have been the primary person hitting up directly in my years of renting. (My old roommate Emily and I still talk about the plumber, Pete in Brooklyn, who would show up routinely at 10pm for jobs and once fixed our cold shower during a party.) I lived in DC for only about five months when I closed on my place, so I also lacked the built-in community or nearby parents many might have after years in a place. But Iām pretty good at connecting others and figuring out an obscure task, so Iām inclined to ask around when problems arise. Youād be delightfully surprised with what you can come up with.Ā
Earlier this summer, my nearly 20-year-old AC, which brings me anxiety with its sheer age, was leaking in our utility closet. I texted Gary, who clarified he only does plumbing (which water from an A/C is not). He led me to Don, who brought a buddy out and fixed the leak plus adjusted the airflow to more evenly distribute between our living room (which was an icebox) and bedroom (which was muggy at night). $300 to Don and friend, thank you. Two summers ago, I found a guy to replace my bathroom faucet by asking the Home Depot salesperson whether he knew anyone. Said faucet guy also hung up a medicine cabinet that later fell off the wall. I left the smashed mirror for six months because I was so discouraged about my first failed project, but thatās another story.Ā $200, but mostly hurt pride.
I wasnāt warned about any of this when I became a homeowner, which is a lot of learn-as-you-go. I also have a home warranty, which helps cover some of my appliances with co-pays for maintenance or repair visits, but led to a fridge saga Iād need a serialized podcast to get into. No matter what state the property is in when you buy it, things simply break. Then you manage it, as you would any other mini-crisis, accruing contacts and knowledge of toilet parts along the way. Someday I may not have to call Gary for a toilet on the fritz. As he reminded me anyway, heās getting old. But had I done it myself, I would have missed his pleasant anecdote about his brief trip to Ocean City, Maryland, via a free week in a condo with a porch and pool offered to him and his wife from another woman he knows in real estate who heās also done work for over the years.Ā Gary is trying to relax.
spotlight
āDorm Room Mamasā has been all over the back-to-school headlines. This stronghold of hundreds of thousands of moms of college students are conspiring to deck out their kidsā rooms āĀ and maybe refuse to, you know, let go. See: 16-page Google doc. On a personal note, I do remember my mom somehow tracking down a Twin XL Bed, Bath & Beyond comforter I loved that was sold out everywhere before my first year at Pitt, and I was excited to have it! Other than some care packages, I kinda figured stuff outā¦
design break
Swann House B&B in Washington, DC
soundtrack
Short nā Sweet is getting me through marathon training. Sabrina has made a damn good home-wrecking song.
stuff iām consuming
š§µ 6 weeks of intro sewing classes with Andy, taught by our lifelong Washingtonian instructor Antoinette Lee. Weāre making tote bags and PJs, and Iām learning not to alarm Antoinette by sewing over pins with the big machine.
Ann Friedmanās excellent breakdown of intentional community-building and maintenance, especially for people who are child-free.
šŖ Molly Fischer profiles Ina Garten in The New Yorker. Come for the throwback East Hampton tidbits; stay for the Martha Stewart drama! Some other recent celeb profiles: Aubrey Plaza (WSJ Mag), Winona Ryder (Harperās Bazaar) and ChloĆ« Sevigny (The Cut). Excited to also get into Bowen Yang.
š I donāt care too much for the NFL, but I am here for the new WAGs. (WSJ)
šŗ āHacksā season 3 on Max ā been here since the beginning, Emmy award letās gooo. Also getting into āBad Sistersā on Apple TV+, which Iāve been describing as Irish āBig Little Liesā meets āMare of Easttown.ā
š§ āWhen Did All the Recipes Get āGarlickyā?" Living for the Melissa Clark quotes. (Eater)
How Haitian immigrants began calling American towns like Springfield, Ohio home. (Roxane Gay for The New Yorker)