I Do It Myself!

Sometimes you have to do things around here yourself; things like carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, heavy lifting and moving, repairing equipment (such as PCR machines or generators or air conditioning units). In fact, most of the time it is the quickest, easiest way to get things done. There are some things we don’t feel comfortable doing, such as putting a new circuit into the rat’s nest of a circuit box that we have in the building. We can add a new outlet or two to an existing line without too much difficulty, but that central circuit box is something to behold, a Gordian knot of wires of various hues and colors that adhere to no power scheme known to mankind. And, of course, it is much more dangerous than a simple Gordian knot, because a sword through the middle of it would have a swift and shocking result!

This is why, when we recently had to get a dedicated line for a new -70°C freezer it required “professional” help. There are real, military electricians on base, but it is a crap shoot on whether they are going to come in response to a trouble call, or the local Iraqi “professional” is going to come. On this particular day, a team of four Iraqi electricians showed up to put the line in. Actually, it is a bit more complicated—two of them were electricians and evidently two of them were plumbers. It was just that the plumber was the best speaker of English, so he came along (with his partner) to help out… I was gone that day, but when I got in the next day there was some hubbub about the place almost burning down because the way the plug had been rigged up was not quite up to code. A contributing factor may have been the microbiologists attempt to un-screw up the situation. Regardless, when I got back from my trip the nice -70°C freezer was, in fact, not very cold because it was unplugged. The plug was melted and burned as was the receptacle box—when you want biologic samples cold, it is disheartening to see the plug and outlet responsible for the coldness black with soot and misshapen from the heat of the moment…

Another trouble call—emergent!! This time I am around when the 4 local tradesmen come into the building. The English speaker and I are chatting a bit while the others work—this is how I find out that he is really a plumber. Now, you have seen the some of the plumbing work in this building if you have read any of the previous posts. We have a flushing squat toilet, some sinks and two showers, but I would say that the plumbing system in this building is far from being an example of the best work available. In fact, it reminds me of something my younger brother wrote the other week after working for the summer on new construction plumbing: “I now realize that hoses and pipes don’t just randomly come out of a building (or house), there is an actual plan!” If my brother had spent the summer working on plumbing here in Al Asad he might still think that it is a completely random process…

So, chatting up the “plumber”, I am getting ready to ask him some questions about fixing some of the things around this building. Before I can do that, he leans over with a big smile and says with a large amount of pride in his voice, “you know, all the plumbing in this building, I do it myself!!” I just nodded, said “Thanks—it is great!”

But I was thinking, maybe, when it comes to plumbing in Al Asad, I will do it myself…