A Shower-Shower A Day...

OK, I don't normally post about work, but I think I can talk about this without giving away any company secrets. Besides, Eugene and I have been teasing our friend Russ on his blog, so I guess I should atone by making a fool of myself online.

Since I work in a lab, we need a constant supply of purified water, so we have a filtration system in the lab. My boss noticed a couple of days ago that it was leaking by one of the filter cartridges. They needed to be replaced anyway, so we ordered a new set, which arrived today. (Actually, one of the filters is the wrong kind, and the customer service rep seemed to think I ordered the wrong kit even though I looked everything up on their website first. She's replacing the cartridge for us anyway; I just hope she sends us the right one.) I had a little trouble finding the manual since it wasn't with the rest of our instruction booklets. So I gamely went ahead, turned off the power, and started trying to yank out one of the cartridges. Sploosh! The water supply was still connected, and water sprayed me and the floor. I mopped it up, found the manual, and figured out where to disconnect the water. Then I went ahead and removed all the old cartridges. Needless to say, this is the point where I realized we have the wrong cartridge. After calling customer service, I reinstalled the old cartridges. The last cartridge (the one that's leaking), didn't go in properly, and in the process of trying to make it fit I got splooshed again by the water still in the system. I cleaned up and got that job finished so I could take care of some other things in the lab. Later on, I checked the system. It was still leaking; in fact, it looked as if the cartridge itself was leaking at the bottom, as if excess pressure was making it come apart. I decided I should go ahead and replace that cartridge immediately, even though I wanted to replace all of them at once. As before, I shut off both the power and the water before trying to remove the cartridge. SPLOOSH! There must have been a pressure buildup, for the water came out even more violently this time. I got sprayed right in the face and had to dry off my hair with paper towels. I did manage to install the new cartridge, and when I left, it seemed to be holding and not leaking. Let's just hope the lab isn't underwater when the boss gets in tomorrow morning, or I can kiss any chance of a raise good-bye. But since this is our one-year proposal anniversary, Eugene made my day better by bringing in strawberry pastries from a bakery I used to go to when I was a child--and he didn't even know about the water filters. Guess that's why I said yes to him, even if I made him wait on his knees first. ;)

Writing's been going slowly the last couple of days, as Eugene and I have had to do some things in the evening. Tomorrow we're supposed to have dinner with a cousin of his from the Philippines. I'm going to bring my laptop in to work so I can go to a bookstore before dinner and try to write there. Wish me luck.