The plumber just left. For a fee equivalent to an hour with a psychiatrist, he showed me that the stopper I bought from Lowe’s was not the right size or fit for my gurgling toilet. “There are stoppers, and there are stoppers. They are like tires. They may all look the same but not every one does the job.”

Wisdom rarely arrives without a cost, so I don’t regret this.

What I do regret is that, to my surprise, some people are reading what I’ve posted and sending comments to me via e-mail. When I try to reply via e-mail, my stuff always bounces back as undeliverable.

Will someone out in that great, fizzy, infinitely enveloping cyber universe tell me how I can thank people for their remarks via email?

billkentwriter@gmail.com