After the snow last night the sky cleared, revealing this rather lovely moon that was rather moon-like in appearance, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Well, in Shower News, I am delighted to tell you that I have cleared the blockage, with the shower-equivilent of an enema, that is, a rather potent Caustic Soda solution. Bloomin powerful stuff. Add a few granuals to a bit of cold water and it heats it up within seconds. God knows what it actually does to the plumbing. Anyway, yes, half a litre of that poured into the sump and left for 20 minutes, followed by 3 litres of boiling water, and hey presto! a drain that runs like there’s no tomorrow.

I did a bit of research on Caustic Soda whilst it was digesting the rather tempting mix of congealed soap and Japanese hair, and discovered a couple of disturbing uses that it is put to on a regular basis:

1) the chemical peeling of fruit (what?!! Chemical peeling??! And there was me thinking that the man from Del Monte had an army of aunties armed with potato peelers in some shed in the Carribean)

2) coating mini-pretzal snacks to make them shiney. That’s the last time I eat them then, having seen what the stuff can do to my piping.

So yes, I must say I am mighty glad to be blockage free once again. I think the Body Shop soap I bought recently is partly to blame actually – it sort of melts when it comes into contact with the tiniest drop of water, and then obviously sits around in the drain. I wonder if The Body Shop has a deal going with Dow Ltd, the world’s largest producer of the Caustic Soda.

Oh crikey! Take a look at their website! Look what those two folks on the front page are clasping in their hands… Are they suicidal??!