Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Cover Me! I'm Going In!

There are two toilets in my home. Alas, neither of them is working perfectly.

Thought 1) Perhaps a husband does have a use.

Thought 2) Nah...toilets don't break often enough.

Thought 3) I can't do this. My home-fixing skills extend to changing lightbulbs, IF I can find the ladder, a light bulb, and the time. Otherwise, I wait until hanging out in the dark gets ridiculous.

Thought 4) Oh for heaven's sake. I can learn this. (Because no folly was ever preceded by those words!)

So far, I've done what I would do -asked people, downloaded information, and bought a book. St. Paul, the maintenance director at work, knows my skills. I described the problem of toilet #1 and asked if I could fix it. He paused. He grimaced a little. He said that this isn't the easiest fix to start with, but that if I put his number into my phone's directory, he would authorize it. Trixie, the hardware goddess, was more empowering. She just handed me the parts I need, said "don't forget to turn off the water and stay calm," and sent me on my way.

Did you know that there's a "fix my toilet" blog? I certainly didn't. It hasn't been updated in a while, but it's a ...ummmm..... font of information. (sorry) Fix My Toilet.

Here's the thing. I don't particularly crave knowing how to fix my toilet. There are people who need to earn a living who are willing to do these gross things. I could call one of them -and I have one on speed-dial, just in case. But I DO crave not being craven, if you will. I want to conquer one more thing that I would casually have handed off to someone else, in my old life.

I'll keep you posted! I'm going in.



I think this is where I need to be working:











Oh my LORD.... there are no WORDS on these directions. Just pictures. And TELL me that thing is not called a ball cock. Really. Little wonder I can't do this!!!


Much later... I DID IT. You'll just have to picture me having a celebratory glass of...something... in the bathroom ;)

4 comments:

jill said...

attagirl!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I recently found out this little known fix for a sluggish toilet drain, put some warm water with detergent down the drain. This actually works.

Anonymous said...

Great job. No ball cock will ever get the best of you!

Andrea Rusin said...

Snort!