Our water heater went out a few days ago, and since the grad student hourly rate is cheaper than that of a plumber, the choice was obvious: fix it yourself!
Thank goodness for the vast information on the internet. A little reading, and voila - we knew which part needed to be replaced. Got the part, only to find out that the old one was solidly rusted on. We are no chemists, but surely the chemists have figured this one out? Luckily for us, the answer is yes, and a few hours later the right chemical was layered onto the rust, and a day later the rusty part came off. Replace the part, find out that there are a few smaller parts to be replaced; fetch those from the store, and replace them as well.
Hot shower, at last!
The perverse incentives of academia
6 years ago
4 comments:
It's amazing how much stuff is on the internets. Also, it seems indicative of grad students that we like to fix things ourselves (no matter how much outside our realm of expertise).
Congrats on getting the hot showers back!
Thanks - and I think you are right: people that end up going to grad school tend to be the ones that like to figure out how things work. What those "things" are seems largely irrelevant sometimes :)
It's so gratifying to figure something like this out for yourself.
Very much so! And the hot shower was heavenly too!
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