I’ve lived in my home on the lake for over two decades. I busy myself writing, redesigning my flowerbeds, taking care of Ginger, and fixing up my home. For an 82-year-old person, I don’t sit around watching the world go by.

I have an idiosyncrasy about facing a problem in writing or repairing something that needs fixing. I enjoy all sorts of vexing problems. I do the dance, which begins with facing a problem, and I complain to myself why this issue or problem has happened. That part of the dance is short. Then I find myself trying to resolve or fix the problem. This part of the dance is much longer than the first part.

I try the obvious ways to resolve the situations, which often fail. This part is interesting. I don’t get depressed and quit. A feeling of dauntlessness comes over me. Now, the dancing is faster. It is merely a matter of time before all is well. Beyond the joy of success, I truly grasp the two old Latin phrases: modus operandi and carpe diem.

This example happened this week. My toilet in my bathroom wasn’t flushing; sometimes this would happen when I hadn’t used the toilet. More interesting, the adjacent bedroom’s bathroom was adversely affected. Trust me. I tried using a plunger and poured various clog removers into both toilet bowls.

This rattled me. I did my dance, but I got nowhere. I tried different combinations of ideas, such as turning off the water from entering the toilet. Then use the plunger several times, and then turn the water on again as I continued to use the plunger.

As I faced this seemingly impossible task, I could hear the talking heads rattle on and on about Jeffrey Epstein and the conspiracy about the files on the TV in the living room. The talking heads were having the same problem as I was, being unable to resolve the myriad of issues regarding Epstein and the files, just as I was when flushing my toilet.

Finally, I decided to call Chuck, who works for The Plumber in Crown Point, IN. Over the years, Chuck has fixed my kitchen sink, replaced my water heater, and the list goes on. I explained my problem to Chuck, and he attacked my problem. I couldn’t figure out what was causing my problem.

It didn’t take him long to determine my problem. It was a sewer serpent. Chuck was able to lure the sewer serpent to the toilet bowl.

The sewer serpent

It didn’t take Chuck long to face down the sewer serpent before it slithered away. He then removed the old toilet, and it was gone.

This is what my new toilet looks like after Chuck scared the sewer serpent away.

Chuck assured me that I wouldn’t be troubled by the sewer serpent ever again.

Perhaps Chuck could go to Washington, especially to the White House, and get rid of the sewer serpents there. While he was there, he could also drain the swamp.

The swamp