My boy Jazz is coming to visit for the weekend so I’ve been trying to get everything in order, like making sure the drain in the tub is un-clogged. The plumbing at my place is so old that even a pubic hair can cause the pipes to clog so at least twice a year I have to call my landlord and have him send over a plumber with the snake.
Calling Mr. Prinz is always such a process. I have to speak slowly and loudly and repeat myself several times. By the time I hang up he’s already forgotten why I called. Luckily when I called this time the machine picked up and I thought I’d get away with just leaving a message. Unfortunately he picked up half way through.
“Hellllo,” he said. “Is anybody there… How do you turn this damn thing off,” he said in a voice that sounded like he was sitting on a piant shaker. Instead of pushing the power button he pushed the message review button. “Don’t hang up. Wait a minute,” he instructed and then we both sat and listened to all 6 messages. Denise from Inglewood was calling to inquire about the apartment for rent on Pico. Steve from apartment 14 wanted to know when his parking space would be available. Roger the electrician was calling to follow up on a chandelier he recently installed. Debbie, his daughter, was calling to let him know that his grandson’s basketball game had been canceled but they were still getting together for dinner. When it was all said and done I had been on the phone with him for 24 minutes.
Later in the day he called and left a message to confirm that a plumber would be coming by tomorrow to fix the leaking faucet and that I should put a bucket under the water so that it didn’t stain the tub… What leak?
