Dear, sweet Ralph
Ralph really was a lovely guy - nutty as a fruitcake, lacking in confidence but he had a big heart.

During a placement year from our respective universities, we had ended up in the labs at ICI Paints (the big ugly building you pass on the train from Slough into Paddington). Ralph was a clumsy guy at the best of times and there was an impending sense of something about to go wrong with him most of the time.

On the day in question, Ralph was staring quizzically at one of the many sinks in the lab. He had removed the plug, but the liquid was still in the sink. Another colleague pointed out that that sink blocked up a lot and Ralph needed to get himself a bucket, go under the sink, undo the U-bend to drain it into the bucket and it would clear. Ralph raced off and returned with the bucket and did as explained. He was very careful - cleared everything out of the cupboard under the sink, put paper around to catch any splashes and gently eased off the U-bend. To his amazement, it had worked a treat. All the gunk came out, the sink drained and he had caught every single last drop in his bucket below.

Ralph was very proud. You could tell from his face that he felt he'd showed the rest of the lab that problems like this didn't faze young Ralph. He then proudly poured all the contents of his bucket down the newly-cleared sink and half-flooded the lab!

Put the U-bend back first Ralph, the U-bend back first.........
(dolbster, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 15:44, 11 replies)

I did the same thing, once.
Luckily, I was at home, so no one saw.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 15:49, closed)

Clicked for personal relevance
I have done this more than once.
(SimianKid internet faffer, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 16:07, closed)

me too
(a girl called harry, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 16:46, closed)

Me too...
... with a sink that had been blocked with sick. Nice!
(flimflam_machine, Wed 9 Mar 2011, 16:51, closed)

me too,
exactly this, with a hangover, trying to clear the night before's sick from the sink when I was a student.

Not my proudest moment.
( sanityclause is waiting until, Thu 10 Mar 2011, 11:27, closed)

and me

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Wed 9 Mar 2011, 17:48, closed)

twice

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Wed 9 Mar 2011, 17:48, closed)

on the same day

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Wed 9 Mar 2011, 17:49, closed)

i don't know a single plumber who hasn't done this at least once.
not one.
me included.
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Wed 9 Mar 2011, 21:51, closed)

i've done this at home multiple times
so has my dad, my mum and my wife

(they are three different people, for the record. Even though I live in Norfolk).
( disasterprone "Pyjamas caused the Holocaust", Thu 10 Mar 2011, 7:25, closed)

I've done this enough times..
... that if I am ever replacing a basin or sink I put the plug in until it's all connected up. And somehow I've still managed to do it.
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Thu 10 Mar 2011, 10:35, closed)