cleanskies - turns out the drain was full of concrete all along

turns out the drain was full of concrete all along

14th May, 2008 at 12:21 PM

A bit of a multimedia experience this morning as I sifted through one-minute films of young people, prepping them for the web, while taking the occasional break to go look at a very different film being shot by another young person -- the extremely gainfully employed Dynorod man. He was filming my drains for me (we'll get a DVD next week!) as part of our ongoing attempt to find out what their problem is. Problem is now identified; at some point in the past, a builder or similar rinsed concrete powder down the drain, where it solidified into a variable-width partial blockage which is as hard as -- well, concrete. Chunks of it have been coming off and washing down the drain to make new, exciting blockages, but lots of it is in firm enough that they'll need to cut it out. Apparently there is kit to do this, but f***ing f***.

In other news, this week's strip, which is really worth not reading. No, really, don't. It's just depressing.

detail - staying alive
misery and rainbows.

Comments

( Feed the birds )

applez wrote:

14th May, 2008 13:41 (UTC)

WTF? What dunderhead thought that was a good way to dispose of concrete?!?

Btw, the Kotama-like birds in the final panel are a nice touch. :-)

Edited at 2008-05-14 13:42 (UTC)

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cleanskies wrote:

14th May, 2008 14:53 (UTC)

I have a short list of suspects, including:

1. Whoever built the extension, a person who clearly favoured a "that'll do!" approach to construction projects.
2. Some mishap involving next door's micro-property contruction, which has a large concrete drive which was being laid while this house was conveniently empty.
3. Something bizarre done by the strange previous tenants during the illegal occupation and barricading phase of their time here.

I also thought long and hard about how I'd disposed of any extra concrete following the last construction project -- but it definitely wasn't me. There's MASSES of it.

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pollitesss wrote:

14th May, 2008 15:42 (UTC)

It's a beautiful strip. It sumes certain things up exactly.

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asajeffrey wrote:

14th May, 2008 19:04 (UTC)

Concrete? Down the drain? Boy, you've had some right cowboys in here.

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zengineer wrote:

15th May, 2008 09:04 (UTC)

Almost everyone who does a bit of concreting washes off their tools afterwards (preferably after wiping them first and throwing away the cloth). The small grains seem to just wash down the drains and don't stick. The problem comes if you try to dispose of lumps but this is only a problem for those people who think about the consequences of their actions. Working with young people I imagine you come across those for whom 'once you can't see anything it isn't a problem' all the time.

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