Is that a pipe wrench in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

I have learned things this weekend.
1. Plumbing is good exercise, particularly when done inside a bathtub in yoga positions for extended periods of time lasting beyond five hours, while holding propane torches, or really heavy cast iron wrenches.
2. I CAN solder and not set me, my husband, or our house on fire. My grandfather taught me last year – thanks Pop!
3. Plumbing must be followed by a day of rest, 600mg of motrin every four hours, good coffee, and lunch at Chili’s.
4. Plumbing is not an exact science. Neither is doing work in an ancient house in the great north east.
5. Even if you do everything right, you still may get less that optimal results. Read: leak continues, now from the newly installed fixtures. I believe the o-rings are not functioning. Tim will get new ones, and we’ll re-install. If that works, American Standard’s getting a nastygram from me (we bought the package deal from them). If it doesn’t work, we’re calling a real plumber.
6. If you’re going to tear down part of a wall that you plan to tear down at a later date for future remodel, sometime during the unanticipated early partial tear down, you will decide to get rid of everything. Don’t fight it, just give in to the urge. It will be better for all involved.
7. Leaking pipes are the motivation I needed to avoid stalling on hills.
8. Just because you have valves attached to pipes doesn’t mean they do anything. At least, anything useful.
9. The Main Water Shut Off Valve turns to the Right to close, not to the Left.
10. How ever many towels you have in your house, it is never enough. (Douglas Adams was on to something with taking your towel into space – they’re really very useful items. He was also onto 42 being the answer to the universe. Run a search on the Egyptians and the 42 Assessors of the dead, and you'll get an eye full of cosmic math surrounding life, the universe and everything that adds up to : 42.)