Plumbing Work - Round 2...

Those of you guys who regularly read my blog know that I have been having troubles with my plumbing. Although I was on Sunday back to square one there was only so much I could do about it. I was still waiting for the estimate from the plumbing company and on top of that the landlord was on vacation. To makes things even worse this is the peak of tax season and therefore the busiest time at work for me. So I was stuck without a shower. I went back to basics and just washed myself over a pot...and for the most part I was fine with it. Not that this is particularly new to me, since I used to do that when being on a long distance hiking trail. With the cooler weather I was fine with it and that's the reason I didn't jump into action quicker. On Friday I received the estimate and it would be at least 500 bucks and I probably would have to have a fight with the landlord about getting fully reimbursed.
So I went out to a local hardware store and got my self a big, mean Kärcher wet/dry vacuum. I needed a vacuum anyways and with that I was killing 2 flies at once. Got exactly what I was looking for and it was about 90 bucks. I really didn't feel like transporting the thing back to my apartment in the subway and so I called a cab. It's also the first time for me taking a cab in Vienna since moving back from the States over 2 years ago. Got home and started right away. My original plan was to emty out the shower and that way I would be at least able to take a shower before heading into work. Yes I would have to repeat that every time, but that's something I was prepared to do until the landlord is back in town again.
I did make good progress with the shower itself and I got a ton of crap out of the pipes. Worked on and off all afternoon long. With flushing plenty of times I got a nice drain in the kitchen and bathroom sink going. I was pretty happy with that. Then is used the "blow function" of the vacuum and got a ton of crap loosened. With lots of flushing and sucking the crap out of the drains finally the shower started to drain slowly. After that I boiled pot after pot on the stove and poured it down the drains and with lots of flushing I finally got back the drain in the kitchen and bathroom sink as it used to be. Then I continiued the same procedure several times on the shower and I relly got it draining nicely. OK, it's still way slower than it used to be but it list it's draining and not backing up anymore. So all in all I'm very happy with my big mean wet/dry vacuum and with the result I accomplished.