Last month, I realized why my husband was loath to call the plumber. I thought it was just his way of being the man-of-the-house. He always wanted to do all the repairs, regardless of what was broken. He repaired the washer when it refused to drain out. He replaced a window when our son kicked his football through it. He did all the plumbing, and if he couldn’t do the job, he would call his brother for help. I loved how my husband did everything around, but he was around for this plumbing repair. His job requires him to go away for months at a time, which leaves me to do everything. I can’t do the repairs as well as he can, but I try. When my pipes froze during a hard freeze last month, I needed to call a plumber. His brother was busy with his own pipes, but he asked if I could wait a couple of hours. Instead of taking him away from his own home, I called the local plumbing company. They sent a plumber out to the house. Two hours later, I had water running, and he had placed insulation over my pipes. It wasn’t until I saw the bill that I realized the reason for my husband not wanting to call repair men. Plumbing repairs can be quite expensive, and this was one of the more expensive bills I had to pay. When my brother-in-law called me back, I told him I called the plumber. He was curious about what it cost me for the thawing of the pipes and the new insulation. When I gave him the cost, all he could do was whistle.