Nothing makes me start reminiscing about “the good ol’ days” like tryna find a reliable handyman. Let The Great Plumber Quest commence...
Thank you for reading MuseInks. I'm Ami Hendrickson, writer, ghost, and editor in chief of Soul Sparks Press. Each Thursday, I share thoughts for readers, writers, and other fabulous people.
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In 1876, three of Pinkerton's top agents banded together to persuade him to reconsider hiring female detectives. Pinkerton learned that the request had been made at the urging of his male operatives' jealous wives.
-- Chris Enss, The Pinks
Musings
For many years, whenever we needed something done around the house, we called Dave.
Dave was "our" contractor. He did everything: remodeling, new construction, painting, plumbing, and electrical work. He lived nearby. He understood the specific needs of both old houses and horse habitats. He. Was. Awesome.
He still is. But he's retired now.
Which means that now when something needs hammered, or nailed, or tightened, or plumbed, it either has to endure my amateurish attempts, or I need to find Someone To Do It.
Some years ago, my friend Kelly, talking about the difficulties of finding a capable, reliable handyman said: When I was a kid, I thought being an adult meant saying, "I need this thing done. Here is a pile of money. Please go and do the thing." Now that I'm grown, I realize it's more like: "I need this thing done. Here is a pile of money... Anyone? Anyone...?"
(Kelly swears she does not remember saying this, but it stuck with me. She said it. And it is SO-SO-SO true!)
A few Sundays ago, Rheo was doing the laundry and handwashed something in the sink in the downstairs bathroom / laundry room.
Imagine the surprise when the sink drain stopper suddenly refused to come un-stopped.
We both tried our ineffective best, but to no avail.
Which meant... we needed to find a plumber. Cue the horror music overture.
I've heard horror stories about people who waited weeks for a plumber or electrician to darken their door. I briefly considered simply deeming the sink unusable and turning it into a planter. But then--
I remembered that a friend knew someone who...
Anyway, long story short, I networked my way into getting a plumber's contact information.
The wonderful guy called me back immediately! Then he came out the very next morning. Better yet, he fixed the problem, didn't charge me an arm OR a leg, and did a drain upgrade to the sink.
I mean: it all happened exactly the way a kid thinks adulthood should work!
And it was such an unusual occurrence, one that caused me to (briefly) reconsider my curmudgeonly outlook on the world, that I felt honor-bound to tell you. Because, really, how often does that even happen?
--> When was the last time YOU had a great experience with someone whose expertise you desperately needed. Let me know. These heart cockles won't warm themselves!
MuseNews
G.L.A.M. Update
Your girl is movin' on up!! For the past week, I've been sloooooowwwwly moving my booth from a good location in the second aisle to a great location in the first aisle.
I kinda feel as if I've arrived at the Great Lakes Antique Mall's equivalent of Boardwalk or Park Place. While the location is wonderful, moving... not so wonderful.
Fortunately, I don't have much furniture (too heavy to move by myself, takes up too much real estate...), but my booth has 4 massive bookshelves in it and 3 smaller, less massive shelving. All the shelves are packed with breakables (English china, American restaurantware, dish sets, crystal, and pottery, and funky glassware are my faves).
So to move, everything needed to be taken down, wrapped, packed, and toted to the next aisle. Then the shelves needed to be schlepped to the new booth. And everything needed to find a new home.
Since I am recovering from a killer case of hayfever, this has taken me days -- DAYS, I TELL YOU.
But the grand move is finally finished. I swear: the next move I make will be when I quit the biz for good. I'm here to stay. I hate to tell the others in Aisle One, but: there goes the neighborhood!
Book Report
Regular readers will remember Chuck, who I work the front desk with at the Great Lakes Antique Mall. Chuck of "I helped foil a bank robbery" fame. Well, like many of my friends, Chuck is an avid reader. We share book recommendations all the time.
One of Chuck's recent recs was The Pinks: The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, by Chris Eniss who is, among other things, a licensed PI. Which, I confess, I find rather cool.
I have long been fascinated by the Pinkerton Detective Agency's origin story. Kate Warne, arguably the first professional female P.I. in history, features heavily in the book. The first story in the book is about Warne's involvement in thwarting an assassination attempt on president-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861, shortly after she was hired.
I liked The Pinks, but wanted to like it even more than I did. Though it's ostensibly about "the first women detectives," most of the stories in it are about Warne. Enss has a good eye for detail and she's done her homework, but the book's tone swings between narrative non-fiction and academic white paper.
Still --
It's a fairly quick read. And it's definitely interesting.
In fact... There's one story in it that I had never heard before.
It's also about a bank robbery. One that Chuck was not there to thwart. And a ghost that forced a confession.
I'll tell you allllll about it next week. It's wild.
Till then, may your sinks always drain. And may you readily find the right person for every job!
I love you all!
Ami
