Notice the little Neoprene ring just to the right of the faucet base

You know those weird little coincidence stories that prove Angels exist or whatever? "And that little boy's name was Albert Schweitzer, and he grew up to..." Well I had a story like that this morning, but of course it had to do with something a lot less world-shaking.

Years ago, I replaced the headlamp bulb on our Mitsubishi hatchback. The bulb inserted into the reflector with a little silicone O-ring seal. The new bulb had a new seal. I took the seal off the old bulb and slipped it onto my pocket flashlight because I do stuff like that. We don't even have that car anymore, but I still have the flashlight.

Fast-forward to the year 2021: a madman was elected president, our country teetered on the brink for years, and we're gonna be dealing with it for a long time. While all this was happening, the O-ring seal on our kitchen sink spout was slowly wearing out. Recently it began to leak, then leak more, every time you use the sink. This being Normal, IL, the water is pretty hard, and mineral deposits began to build up on the surface of the faucet.

This morning begins a long weekend, so I took the spout apart. Yep, the Neoprene ring was worn, causing the leak. I went to measure it so I could go to the lumberyard and buy one the same size.

But then I wondered... what if?

Took out my pocket flashlight, and sure enough the O-ring on it was the same size. I put the silicone headlamp seal ring on the faucet spout and put the whole thing back together.

O-rings come in a lot of sizes. This is tangible proof that... stuff sometimes happens.