The Family Curse

Most families have family traditions, especially surrounding holiday time.
Same with Mark and me, except it seems that our "tradition" is more of a curse, and a year-round kind of thing.

Remember when my youngest brother got married and I noted that something is usually wrong with my parents' septic system right when Mark and I visit?

Yeah...we almost had a visit to their house  this past week with no incident. Until I noted to my dad that the downstairs bathtub continually dripped water, and the sink faucet was loose.

I'm not familiar with septic systems (or anything involving non-human-anatomy plumbing), so I wasn't aware that if water continually drains in a septic set-up, the septic pump has to run near-continuously, which is bad for the motor, which could lead to it dying, which would mean septic flooding.

So, yeah, problem.

Which is why a call to the plumber was necessary. Making this approximately the 4th-time-running that Mark and my visit to my parents' coordinated with a plumbing issue.

Although actually, my brother Jon had told my dad months ago that the tub leaked--meaning our visit definitely didn't cause the problem--but nothing came of it. Traditions are more meaningful in the proper context, so perhaps my dad didn't realize the implications of the leak until Mark and I showed up.

You're welcome, Dad.

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