Two weeks ago, Maria and I hired and excavation crew to come in and inspect our exterior sewer line. We had been told by our plumbers that our sewer line had three distinct breaks in the pipe and we would have to have it replaced. The excavators told us that for a nominal fee they could bring in a camera and send it down our pipes to find the specific areas of damage. How could we say no to a more thorough assessment?

After the excavation crew cleared a small blockage of tree roots, we discovered that our entire sewer line was brand-spankin’ new. Not a crack, not a root, not a single problem. We just saved ourselves thousands of dollars and a lot of hassle.

Last Thursday I was putting the finishing touches on some exhibitions in our new museum before the big dedication. As I retired for the evening the stomach cramps that has plagued me all day suddenly worsened. Maria entered panic mode after finding me in the fetal position on the futon under a blanket, and she demanded that I go to the emergency room. A visit to the emergency room goes against all the cheap instincts I have. I would rather gnaw my own leg off and drag myself to my primary care physician at opening the next morning rather than incur the cost of an ambulance and the emergency room. After constant prodding and elevating pain levels I acquiesced.

The initial x-rays and CT scans revealed nothing out of the ordinary (but the crazy attendant who careened my bed around the hospital like a NASCAR junkie did get me to puke a couple of times). So after 20 hours in the hospital the doctors had no good idea what the problem was. Their best assessment was that I had some extreme gas. Finally a surgeon with a little sense noticed that the initial CT scan only covered the upper part of my abdomen and not the lower section that houses the appendix. So after a second scan and a swift diagnosis, I was spirited away to surgery.

Three small incisions and some deft laparoscopic camera work removed my enflamed appendix and alleviated the chronic cramping. I’m now on the road to recovery. And the money we saved from our first incident with a camera inspecting our plumbing will pay for the second instance of a camera inspecting my plumbing.