Well, Mr. Rooter still gets an "A" from me. Or maybe even an "A+," based on how hard they had to work.

They came out at 3 - again, THE TIME THEY SAID THEY WOULD. (this is a big deal to me after dealing with workers who give a vague window and then show up after the end of that window)

First, they went up on the roof (they warned me "this is going to be loud" but it was no worse than the chap down the street from me who has a boom car, when he's driving around with it cranked up to "11."). They snaked out the standpipe from the vent - found no blockage. (Which is not surprising, I suppose, considering that every other plumbed appliance drained normally).

The guys then came in and said they'd have to "try" to snake from the p-trap. (They hadn't wanted to because of the more fragile old pipe). But they tried it. No joy there. They tried to figure out the (apparently rather odd) configuration of how things drain from my house. (I guess the sink is the last on the line, or on its own separate line, or something). They called another guy in, who apparently had more experience with weird old houses, and HE worked for a while.

(All this time, I sat in my living room, trying to read a magazine and secretly despairing of them being able to fix it...and having visions of them having to crawl under the house like that Okie plumber on "Dirty Jobs," and cut out a bunch of pipe and re-weld things, all that mess. And if I have to have people doing Dirty Jobs around me, I want Mike Rowe serenading me [did you know he used to be a minor opera singer? No fake. That makes me love him even more. Yeah, Mike Rowe is kind of one of my tv boyfriends.]).

Then there was a general sound of approval and relaxation, coupled with one of the guys saying, "Put it back together and run water through it."

Then I heard the water run for like five minutes. And no sound of collecting it in a bucket afterwards (which had been the followup of the previous trials). Then, "Go get some of that enzyme cleaner and put it through just for insurance."

So I went to see.

They had pulled out a large snarl of hair - possibly not mine (I do not wash my hair in the sink for the very reason that caused the hair-snarl. I have one of those little plastic dealies that fits over the tub drain to catch the shed long hairs).

The water was draining. It's possible - considering how far in they had to snake - that that plug had been there for a while, allowing some slow drainage (that sink ALWAYS drained slowly), and finally just got shifted or clumped or something so it plugged the whole thing up.

They cleaned up, and I asked if I could buy the enzyme stuff - I figured if I could use it as a preventive-maintenance thing, I might save myself some tsuris in the future. (And I'm all about saving myself the tsuris). It was expensive but it's a huge bottle and you only use it once a month (though I see it can also be used in larger quantities if a drain becomes plugged: good to know).

It was more expensive than originally anticipated (with the snaking and the cost of the bottle of enzyme-stuff) BUT it is fixed.

Or I hope it's fixed. I can't quite let myself believe it's fixed. That's always the case when I get something fixed - for days after my hot water heater was installed, I turned the H tap on very tentatively and steeled myself for the possibility of no hot water. (But they assured me they'd come back out and take care of it if it wasn't fixed right).

So maybe now I can relax. And start washing my face in the "right" place again.

I also called my two favorite places in Longview - Stitches n Stuff and Barrons - just to be sure, you know, that they were still there. (They both are). AND I found a "25% off your entire purchase at Michael's" coupon in the new Better Homes and Gardens (one of the magazines I tried to distract myself with while listening for any sounds of success or giving-up from the plumbers). There's a Michael's in Longview - and I like them FAR better than Hobby Lobby for general craft-stuff - and there are a few general craft-type items I want to obtain, so I think Michael's will be another stop on Thursday.

AND - and this is really the most important thing, more important than drains or shops - the 80-something-year-old mother of a good friend, who feel on Sunday, has been sent back to her assisted living center - no broken bones, no serious injuries.

So I feel like I can breathe a slightly bigger sigh of relief now.