[GWN7]

I have a 60' tall Elm tree in my front yard. I bought my own sewer cleaning machine because backups always happen on a Sunday night and the day time rate for a service call is $170.00 (nights/weekends extra). I use the machine every October when I change the batteries in my smoke/CO detectors. This will be year 6 without a backup.

Way back when I was married the sewer cleaning guy was coming out once a year. He kept finding the remains of sanitary napkins/inserts ect in the line and I made the mistake of telling the now ex to quit flushing them down the bowl. She informed me quite icily that she was not responsible (made mental note to never bring that up subject up again that night) and how dare I accuse her. I meekly suggested that it may be one of her friends? Her response was "yea my friends drive all the way over here to flush stuff down our toilets" I responded with well it ain't me or our two boys......and yes my couch is very comfortable to sleep on.

Fast forward 1/2 dozen years or so and I'm back sleeping in my bed (only because she has changed addresses) and the sewer guy only visits every 3 yrs or so and he's still pulling out small remains of sanitary supplies. Leftovers? Are they like plastic bags and take a 1000 years to break down? This goes on till the city hires a contractor to redo our street and the contractor installs new street drains before ripping up the street to rebuild it. That night my neibour comes over and asks how my sewer drain is. I go look and my basement is dry. Life goes on for me and the boys. Showers, dishwasher, laundry. The neibour hires sewer cleaner and he runs the cable out 75' and hits mud. Neibour figures contractor broke his sewer line when he was digging and contacts city. City says new rules. Your sewer, your problem (you pay) but you have to hire from our approved list to get it fixed and you have to hire contractor to video tape the sewer line to prove it's actually broken. So neibour hires contractor to suck the sewer clear and video tape the line. For a cost of just under $1000.00. Robot goes out and sewer line goes up from his basement and you can go either left or right at a junction. They send it to the right and robot pops up in my basement. Our sewer lines are connected. They back the robot out and send it left. Robot has a transponder so they can mark the sewer line on the surface. The sewer line comes out of my house and goes into his yard where it T's off and then goes 25' towards the street, then makes a 45 toward my place until it is directly in front of my house where it then goes straight out to the city sewer four feet from where the city hired contractor dug up the street. The contractor broke "my" sewer pipe and every time I or the boys flushed it went right into the neibour's basement due to the blockage (lowest point). This also explains where the sanitary products were coming from. Neibour's wife or daughter were flushing.

I guess I owe the ex an apology........ better not, she might come back.