Roto-Rooter Lists Weirdest Items Found in Plumbing.....

[Miss Mary]

Ironically we were just talking about Roto-Rooter and how messy that job can be! We had party guests over and I was putting food in our garbage can and not the disposal. I told them how ours backed up once and on a holiday weekend. 48 hours later we put a call into Roto-Rooter, to save on non-holiday rates and after the nasty job was done I mentioned how my husband claims you shouldn't really use your garbage disposal. I asked if this was at all true and the employee sighed and told the truth - it is! He said to dispose of all your garbage in the can, leaving very little residue on dishes. It never gets ground up the consistency so it flushes out to the street. It sits in your pipes and narrows the opening over time. Never peel carrots or potatoes in it, never dump spaghetti (the worst he said) in it either.There went his next customer - us! I've followed this advice ever since. Anyway, thought it was funny that I logged on to our local news source and here's a Roto-Rooter article:


Roto-Rooter Lists Weirdest Items Found In Plumbing

http://www.cincynow.com/news/2005/local/12/28/roto.html

Reported by: AP/PRNewswire
Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller
Photographed by: 9News
First posted: 12/28/2005 10:32:30 AM
Cincinnati-based Roto-Rooter surveyed its field technicians throughout North America to find the strangest items recovered from pipes, toilets and trenches over the past year.

The result was a laundry list of items ranging from live animals to precious valuables. Of those items, five in particular rose to the top of the "unusual list."

1. Explosive Situation
Vicksburg, MS - On April 22, a Roto-Rooter crew excavating a residential sewer main dug up a live Civil War cannon shell. It was believed to be leftover from the 1863 siege of Vicksburg. An Army Ordnance disposal team later removed it.

2. Nine Lives
Greensboro, NC - Bruce Shockley and crew rescued a cat from a storm sewer. "Angel" jumped from her elderly owner's arms into the sewer. She became disoriented and couldn't get out. Angel spent 24-hours underground before the crew excavated through earth and concrete to rescue her.

3. GI Joe Rescue
Bloomington, IL - Roto-Rooter's Michael Woggon was sent to repair a toilet. Apparently a 3-year old at the residence had been training his GI Joes in deep-water rescue techniques. He sent one down the toilet and when it didn't come back he sent a few more in after it. When none of the Joes returned, the boy flushed several Matchbox cars to find them. Needless to say the GI Joes weren't exactly Navy SEAL material. Altogether, fifteen toys were recovered from the drainpipe.

4. Smuggler's Blues
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - Police called Roto-Rooter to recover a large stash of drugs and cash that a suspect flushed down a toilet just as the cops came in the front door. It took Plumber John Dekker only minutes to recover all of the evidence.

5. Tiny Bottles
Sacramento, CA - Roto-Rooter's Brek Ritzema and Scott Chapman were called to a business with a backed-up sewer main. Toilets and sinks were over-flowing so the plumbers went to work on the clog. Finally, their equipment started pulling out myriad of empty miniature liquor bottles - the kind they serve on airlines. An employee was apparently in the habit of drinking on the job and flushing the evidence.

[Skywatch_NC]

I remember when my family used Roto Rooter when we lived in Hamilton, OH
...for some tree roots.

Eric

PS: I love that GI Joes/Matchbox cars one!

[TexasStooge]

I just love #s 3 and 4!

[O Town]

#3 and #5 . #3 sounds like it could happen here, I have seen little hands over the toliet with numberous things, and had to stop them. I am sure a few things have went down, but thankfully safley, no back ups yet.

[Persepone]

A friend of mine was jealous of a baby brother and paid him a quarter to stand in the toilet while she flushed it...

It didn't work... But teasing her was fun....

[breeze]

LOL, Miss Mary, I cringe to think what might be backed up in
this sewer - my brother and SIL raised my neice and nephew
in this house, and, they were SO michevious! I could only
hope for a trunk full of money...

[Miss Mary]

LOL, Miss Mary, I cringe to think what might be backed up in
this sewer - my brother and SIL raised my neice and nephew
in this house, and, they were SO michevious! I could only
hope for a trunk full of money...

Now, wouldn't that be nice - wet, soggy money!!! LOL

It would dry out.....!!! But, I think I'd spend it fast and not put in my wallet! he he

Mary

[breeze]

LOL, exactly - and, then you and I could REALLY sit in
our lawn chairs in some tropical place, sip our margaritas
(brought to us by young waiters, not making them,
ourselves), and enjoy not worrying about anything...right?

[Miss Mary]

Oh that would high-living wouldn't it, now? Let's wish for that......

In my husband's family, their New Year's tradition is before midnight (anytime up until), you put pennies just outside each door leading to your house. Then you bring them in on New Year's Day. You're ~supposed~ to have a prosperous year. Or they bring you good luck or both I think. We usually have a round of phone calls in the family - don't forget to put out your pennies!

So you ~could~ try that Annette!

Mary

[breeze]

I'm going to put those pennies out - let's just hope that I
remember to bring them back in before the neighbor's
kids pick them off!

[Miss Mary]

Well, there's the catch - remembering to bring them in! We have forgotten to a few years and I find them in Spring, when I'm gardening!

Mary