CH is a fabulous cyclist - there is no doubt about it. He is dedicated and passionate about the sport and to be as dedicated as he is takes a lot of time. Much of CH's time is spent on the bike, talking about the bike, watching bikes, racing, driving to a race or hanging out with other cyclists.
With so much time being dedicated to cycling, CH does tend to lack in other areas. These cracks in his expertise only appear in the midst of a crisis such as the one that follows......
A few weeks ago our kitchen tap began leaking around the base. Pointing this out to CH, I assumed that he would be able to fix it, or at least look into it. A few weeks went by and still there had been no action with the tap, despite multiple reminders. I offered to call the landlord and arrange a plumber. Horrified, CH declined my offer, as he doesn't like his manhood challenged with the suggestion that someone else may have to come in and do a job that he feels he should be able to do. I left it at this, hoping that the suggestion of a plumber might prod him in the direction of fixing the tap............No such luck.
This little leak in the tap all came to a head one Saturday morning while I was filling up the kettle, only to find that the tap wouldn't turn off on it's own. With water gushing everywhere I called CH to the scene. He looked at it, obviously confused about what to do. I would love to know what thoughts ran through his head before he finally blurted out 'I need to go to the toilet'. Obviously needing to buy some time while he thought of a strategy to avoid the disaster which had occurred, he scurried off, down to the bathroom. Whilst he pondered his next move I fashioned a temporary contraption which stopped the tap gushing out water, yet also made the tap unusable.
CH finally showed his face - looked at the tap and said "I have to go - I need to ride to work. Don't touch that tap today okay!" With that great bit of advice he took his beloved bike on a journey far far away form the tap problem that he couldn't solve.
Finding a spare moment amidst my day I dedicated some time to researching how I could fix the tap. Unfortunatly, I didn't find the time to actually fix the tap, but I am armed with knowledge which I passed onto CH later that evening. CH was skeptical about the information I gave him and after scoffing at my findings he challenged a few facts I shared with him. At this point I gave up talking about it and planned to fix the tap myself the following day.
The next day CH had beaten me to it, and I find that he has managed to get our neighbour down to fix the tap. As I listened in on the conversation I found CH rattling off all of the details I had shared with him the day before! Yes, the ones he had scoffed at only hours before. I couldn't believe it! He was obviuosly feeling the need to show that he does have the knowledge, just not the time to fix this small problem of a leaking tap.
Finally, Thanks to our fabulous neighbour, we are back to having a functioning kitchen!
CH has gone back to what he does best - cycling.
And I have learnt the lesson to bypass CH for all future plumbing situations and either do them myself or get a professional in.
