Ugh. Seriously?

I knew it.

Andrés is leaving for Bogotá for the rest of the week (he is going to meet the famous Stephen Krashen - can you say JEALOUS?), and I had this nagging feeling that something was going to happen while he's gone.

Like I'll need to find some important document only he knows where it is, or I'll run out of money and be strapped for cash, or I'll have some major car problem.

Well, we came in tonight after work thinking it would be a nice, relaxing evening (the kids had finished their homework, we were planning on an early dinner, the kitchen was somewhat clean) when we noticed water all. over. the. floor.

Ugh. Seriously?

There was a leak under the kitchen sink. Water everywhere. Just enough of a film to make it a nuisance but luckily no longterm damage (that we can see). We finally figured out that there is a tiny hole in the cold water hose, like what might happen in a garden hose, and it was slowly but steadily spraying out. All over the entire inside of the cabinet.

Luckily Andrés doesn't leave until tomorrow, so he found the plumber's phone number. Well, the plumber can't make it until Thursday. My mother-in-law has a doctor's appt that morning, and can only help me out for a half hour.

I don't really want to take care of this on my own. These situations are too foreign to me here - the creepy plumber you can't trust, then he sends you out to go buy the materials, you have to supply everything, even the wrench, etc. They come with no tools and make you buy materials you don't need, and then since I can't leave him in the house alone I'll have to take him with me to the hardware store.

Ugh.  Seriously?

We have had nothing but problems with the plumbing in this house. Every single sink in the house has a leak or has had a leak at some point. Two of the toilets leak (one we got fixed a few months ago, after going through three plumbers and finally stumbling on one who could fix it - this is the one we called for Thursday).  One of the sinks is out of service because no one can even figure out what to do with it. Another has a bucket catching a slow drip and you have to remember to change the bucket every six months or so. No one can figure that one out either. The water pressure is so high in the kitchen that when you try to wash dishes you also wash your clothes. Our shower stall doesn't drain right and the drain melted away and broke in two (cheap plastic, apparently. Everything is made out of PLASTIC. I could scream.)

I'm sick of it. SO sick of it, I'm ready to move out!

I know what the problem is: incompetent plumbers mixed with shoddy workmanship mixed with crappy Chinese products that you could buy at a dollar store but which go for a moderate price here. If you wanted to buy something better, we're talking BIG BUCKS! And then, since everything is imported through small companies (you know, when you import you have to make a profit, so the cheapest things are always imported and then the price is jacked up), those companies go out of business after a few years and when you need a replacement they are no longer available.

Ugh. Seriously?

I really, really, REALLY do not need this right now. :(