Organic Intelligence that outlived Artificial

The water geyser in one of our bathrooms had stopped giving hot water. Calling a plumber for a petty job was an expensive affair, and this had been my belief for several years. Following an argument with Priya about the delay in getting the issue fixed, I decided to solve the matter on my own organic intelligence.

“I will fix this today,” I proclaimed.

I remembered that the geyser connection in this bathroom was different from those of the other bathrooms in the house due to the fact that it had an inlet from the solar panels for the hot water provisioning. The geyser that was installed was a backup measure.

“The switch seems to be broken,” I said after carefully inspecting what was blocking the flow towards the hot water mixer. The next morning, I visited the hardware shop and got a replacement. I carefully interrogated the shopkeeper,ensuring its size and appropriateness. It was not a perfect fit but was able to perform the switching job.

Alas! The hot water flow wasn’t established even after replacing the switch. This was not a failure. You aren’t lost until you accept, I thought. I was in no mood to call the plumber. I had taken up the challenge myself, and Priya was aware of it now. It was a situation to safeguard my dignity and prestige in the eyes of my wife. But I was stuck.

“I do not have the necessary tools to open up the nozzle,” I declared, and used this as an excuse to invite the plumber. Priya looked at me without an expression as she recollected the bad fight we had, arguing over the delay in getting the problem fixed. I booked an appointment with a plumber from Urban Company.

“4:00 PM is the time we will get this fixed,” I informed her. Priya wasn’t really happy with everything I was doing to get it fixed. She had been bathing using cold water for several days now, trying to not use the geysers to save on the electricity bills.

The plumber arrived and inspected the situation. He used his professional tools to open up the angle cock and quickly concluded that it was jammed, which blocked the hot water flow even after the switch was turned on.

“I can get it replaced. Give me 15 minutes and I will get you a replacement,” said the plumber.

“No, it’s okay! I can get it replaced myself. I just wanted your expertise to troubleshoot,” I said. I made the payment to him and he left.

The switch wasn’t the real problem. It was the blocked angle cock. I went back to the hardware shop and got the faulty part replaced. I did it on my own. Did I really? Somewhere within my heart, I felt a vacuum—an emptiness of non-accomplishment. Lost in my own thoughts, I bought a Bosch DIY toolkit to fix the issue next time it would occur—unsure of what challenge may arise in the near future. Now I owned the toolkit but still lacked the experience and skills of the plumber.

“It’s fixed!” I shouted from the bathroom, declaring victory as I tested the functionality and got my hand burned by the hot water. Priya didn’t react. I realized that the time to rejoice over being successful was long passed, after spending days to get the problem fixed.