Potato Peels and Pipes

This morning I was peeling potatoes over the sink not really thinking of any one thing in particular. Just wanting to get the veggies and meat in the crock pot and get started on folding the laundry since it was highly unlikely that it would fold it self. (Not to say that I haven't tried that approach in the past.) Anyways, I digress. Back to the potatoes, rather the potato skins that I was unceremoniously flinging into the disposal to be pulverized. Once I finished this menial task I ran the water (on cold, never hot when running the disposal because, well, not sure why. I've just been warned from my husband and my father. I think in has something to do with cooling the disposal motor or something.) Shoot, there I go again on a tangent. Where was I? Oh yes, potatoes. I ran the cold water into the sink and flipped the disposal switch. Everything seemed to be going just fine. That is, until I noticed that my socks were suddenly sopping wet. In a panic I threw open the cabinet doors and a small tsunami of minced potato peels and dirty water spread over the kitchen floor. I peered underneath the sink not expecting to see a pipe hanging unattached to anything, spewing water out at me but that is exactly what I was presented with. (Yes, in my panic I forgot to turn off the faucet. Idiot.) I jumped up, careful not to slip on the mess and shut off the faucet. That should take care of it right? Nope. Genius that I am didn't think about where my running dishwasher drained it's soapy contents to. Yes, that is correct. Just as I kneeled back down to make a second attempt to examine the pipes, a blast of water came soaring out barely missing my face. Okay, once again jumping up - not as carefully this time but dammit my kitchen was flooding- I opened the dishwasher door a crack and the flow of water thankfully ceased. Yay! Now for the repair. This was really very simple. Just a matter of replacing a poly seal and tightening the pipes. Voilà! Fixed in under 15 minutes. Apparently, according to my dad, you need to check them every so often to make sure they aren't coming loose. What? Tightening the pipes? Who knew that you had to tighten those things periodically? Had I known that I could have avoided this whole fiasco in the first place.