When they built my house, they installed an "Insta-Hot." It's an environmentally-incorrect clever little appliance set into the sink that delivers almost-boiling water whenever you push the lever. It's great for tea, coffee and really really hot water. They're absurdly expensive, which I didn't realize until I had to replace the first one. I feel a little guilty about the energy use, but it's one of those little luxuries I appreciate each time I use it.
Last night the lever popped off, and being the handy gal I am, I took it apart to fix it. It's a puzzle with a number of tiny screws, rings, gaskets and such, but I've done it before and it's pretty easy. Unless you drop one of the crucial little specialized screws down into the little hole where it lodges just out of reach of tweezers, needle-nose pliers, sewing needles, sticky tape and the poultry skewer, my go-to tool for the trickiest repairs. Fiddling with various screws and nuts, I loosened the wrong one and set off a high-pressure geyser of water that hit the ceiling and sprayed all over the kitchen. We were instantly drenched - thankfully it wasn't the really really hot water. I frantically turned off all the various water handles under the sink (hmm - maybe I should have done that first) and surveyed the disaster scene. I sat in the puddle on the floor and started to laugh, frightening Henry even further.
Everything was soaked. There was an inch of water in all the McCoy vases on the shelves, paint literally peeled off the window sill, all the little pieces of paper held by magnets on the fridge were ruined, my cookbooks got sprayed, you name it. At least the african violets appreciated it.
The geyser did have the desired effect of pushing the little screw out. After everything was dried off, put back and the walls wiped down, I set about fixing the Insta-Hot again. And promptly dropped the screw into the little hole again.
At least I can say my floor is clean now.
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