The other day

Two days ago, I called for a plumber to come take a look at a pipe, sewage pipe the one that is at the ceiling in the apartment bathroom. The reason is due to some leakage from a cap on the piping and that leaking fluid coming down...stinks like dried pee that has been left for weeks! Damn the stench. So this plumber came over at about 6pm that day.

He spoke very politely to me but he spoke in mandarin so a few stuff I have to guess. haha. Anyway, he got to work by looking at the cap then proceed to taping and changing it. Before that, he saw another leakage from the tank for the toilet bowl into the toilet bowl. Then he asked me how much our water bill was and said that the fault lies in this leak into the toilet bowl. So after replacing the cap he proceed to look at the tank of the toilet bowl. When he looked at the stuff he wasnt sure how to remove the pump. After analyzing, he asked his Indon worker to get him his tool, a plier of some kind. When his worker returned, he returned with a handful of tools. The plumber cursed and scolded him asking what was the extra stuff for. Then the plumber asked his worker to get him a particular tools he called, "kiap zi". There was like four tools on the floor, so the worker, not knowing what the hell was his boss referring to, tried to guess which tool his boss wanted by holding on to one of them. The boss cursed again and scolded him and proceed to point on the tool he was referring to. After that drama, the plumber managed to remove the pump and then tried to figure out how it works. After removing this and that he got to the washer (seems like almost everything to do with leaking can be solved by changing the washer or applying the white tape on the groove of the threads for fastening eg. the cap just now). He removed the washer and cursed again saying, "kaninna pukimak caucibai, not the correct washer also can simply put in here.........jialat lo, dont have this type of washer". He went into deep thoughts and finally went back down to his vehicle to see if any alternative is available.

Meanwhile, I spoke to his worker and found out that he has been here since 1981 when he was 18 years old. Now of course, he doesnt have a proper working permit. He added that back in those days, if he saw a police officer, the police officer will just ask him to "jalan baik-baik" (walk properly) but now....(he smiled while gesturing his hand like someone asking for money). He said usually they ask for RM500 but after negotiation, probably it can be reduced to RM200-RM100.

Enough with that, the plumber came back with I think the same washer and tried to bend it a bit here and there so that the washer can sort of better block the flow of water. He struggled while trying to put back the pump into one piece. Seems like he hasnt deal with this type of pump before (the pump where you push the button down and it flushes the toilet. Most of the older pumps are the ones where you need to pull or apply torque on the lever). After clumsily attaching it back, he fixed the pump back into the tank. Surprisingly, it managed to stop the leakage and I bet he sighed a big relieve after managing to solve the problem by a fluke. He left soon after.

I went to took a bath after that in that bathroom, and found out that the toilet leaked again after I flushed it. I went WTF and opened the cover of the tank to look at it. After pulling this and that, here and there, I found out the plumber didnt attach the pump back properly. I can pull the whole pump out just like that! haha...nonsense. By looking at how he removed the pump just now, I got an idea on how it was supposed to go and unscrew this and that and managed to put the pump back together, properly this time, and it doesnt leak anymore! haha...wonderful, I thought. I closed the tank back and proceed bathe with a happy smile on my face.

The thing is, the plumber reminds me of my previous boss (placing tiles on floors and walls) I worked with when I was in Form 4. Both cursed almost the same way. Once they curse, it goes on for 3, 4, maybe 5 words not like what I normally use (fuck, damn, shit). Theirs are like macibai puki lanjiao etc etc. Seriously holy shit and I guess its already normal for them cause they do it subconsciously. Whenever shit turns up, they just shoot it out. Another similarity is the politeness they omit when speaking with clients but the harshness when speaking with their own workers. Last time, I only worked for 2 months and 2 weeks and I felt so glad when I finally finished working. It can be very demoralizing when you get scolded everyday like you are a piece of trash. The worker is where the channel their frustrations to, and where do their worker channel their frustrations? In this time, the phrase ignorance is bliss takes place. Of course you dont turn a deaf ear to everything that is said. Ignore the rude words and find the meaning behind why are you getting scolded so that you try not to be scolded again.

Woah, type damn lot of stuff already. Gotta go back to studying for my test tomorrow afternoon. Adios.