Blocked (Public Service Announcement Nr. 2)

I gave up the fight this morning, and ordered in a plumber for tomorrow morning. It's been a week, dammit; and the problem is not in the u-bend and therefore probably out of my reach.

And now the Public Service part. There are two kinds of blocked-drain-cleaners, liquid and crystal. According to the plumber, one should never put more than "a few" doses of crystal-form cleaner down the plughole: it doesn't always dissolve completely, and the remaining crystals only add to the problem. He is of the opinion that I have added a thick layer of undissolved Drano crystals to the existing blockage. Well, we live and learn.

In preparation for the plumber, I washed the backlog of dishes, and there too I learned something potentially useful. My usual method of washing dishes (bowl of soapy water, dribbling warm water rinse) consumed about 18 litres of water and who knows how much natural gas. Now, that was pretty extreme because I had accumulated four days' worth of dirties, but on the other hand I haven't been cooking, so I would guess that on average I do that quantity of washing two or three times a week. A typical modern dishwasher would only consume 13 litres of water and probably also less electricity than I used gas, and would probably run the same two or three times a week (I looked up a few manufacturers on Google).

I come to the at-first-glance illogical conclusion that a dishwasher is probably environmentally better than washing by hand. The problem is twofold, I enjoy washing dishes (really! it's a pleasantly calm and meditative moment in the day) and - without meaning to offend any readers - I have always thought of dishwashers as toys for the lazy, rich and effete. Must I now admit myself to their number? Embourgeoisement, here we come.

Listening to the final act of Parzifal again, this really is some of the most beautiful and sublime music ever written; if the last forty seconds don't bring a tear to your eye and a smile to your lips, then your soul needs a lube job. This particular recording is from the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by my old Wagnerian pal Jimmy Levine ("call me Jimmy," he said as I poured the wine) and a cast of Met regulars. James Morris and Ekkehard Wlaschiha both sang in the New York Ring Cycle, Wlaschiha is in my ears inseparable from his role as Alberich; Placido Domingo sings the eponymous holy fool, who was blind but now he sees: "Und ich, ich bin's, der all dies Elend schuf." Highly recommended.