Most of Sunday Spent on Toilet

Yes, the headline is misleading.  At first glance you might think that I ate something that didn't agree with me or perhaps I caught the flu.  It's not like that. It turned out to be worse.

Toilets and I don't agree with each other.  In fact if it comes to something that needs fixing around the house I might just as well call someone and pay them to come fix it.  That's usually what I do, but today for some reason, with the help of Youtube I thought I might have a shot at fixing it.

The other day I noticed that I had a slight leak on our upstairs toilet.  Just a little sound.  That lead got progressively worse over the next few days until I knew I was going to have an astronomical water bill if I didn't face the bitter reality and check under the lid. So I did.  I lifted the lid and thought to myself:

There it is.  The dreaded underside of a toilet tank.  I've lost hours heck days on this place before, but today I decided that I'd give it a shot.  Looks like all it needs is a new flapper.  Trip #1 to Ace on Sycamore Avenue. All the way I'm thinking of how they are the helpful place and how they are going to save me time.

So I get back home. And then it happened.  When I was putting on the new flapper I broke the tube thingy that holds the flapper.  Which was when I discovered 'that' was where the actual link was coming from.

So it was off to Ace for trip #2 where I promptly bought the part I didn't need.  I bought the fill valve for the left side.  I needed the other part.  The other part where I new I was going to have to take the tank off to fix the problem. UUUGGGHHHH!

Oh, this is all after I had the water supply taken off things all tore up in the bathroom.  It was Sunday and I had gone too far to turn back.

Ok, if we don't shift to Readers Digest mode I'll never get done with this.  I start the project then decided I should use a new set of seals and rubber washer thingys to keep it from leaking next week.   Back to Ace!

I get back, put in all the screws, ok actually they are bolts and I'm starting to feel like I'm kind of smart cause I kind of think I know what I'm doing.  My friend if you ever start thinking like that, just call the plumber.  My man Jim and All in One in Sioux Falls is usually the guy I call. He comes.  I pay him and it works for a long time.  That's usually what I do.  But today was different.  I was going to do this come hell or running over toilets. (What did you think I was going to write, high water?)

Back to Ace.  That thingy that runs from the wall to the toilet tank that I was going to replace because Bob Vilia or whatever his name is says you should replace it, you know the one that's made of braded steal or something.  Didn't freakin'  fit.  I'd bought the wrong one.  Yep.  Back to Ace.

By now I'm on first name basis with some of the people that work there.  Now don't get me wrong, if your struggling the one thing you don't want to hear is 'have a nice day' on the way out the door.  They said it again, for the 4th? time.  And I was in my car again headed home.

All this is of course happening during the crappiest weather of the year.  I get home and things are looking good when I am finishing things up.  You know making that final adjustment when I break the handle that hooks to the chain.

Duct tape isn't going to fix it.  I can't bear the thought of making another trip, but I head out the door and say nothing when my wife asks for the 4th time now. "where are you going".

I get to Ace for the 16th time now.  I get my part and I come home.  I make the final fix.  I started my project at 10: 22 a.m. and got done a little bit before two.  The toilet works.  For now.  I'm sure that something will go wrong with it and flood the place while we're gone some day.  Actually it's working pretty good for right now.

Here's where I went wrong on Sunday.  All those trips to Ace, and I could have made it all better, by stopping into HyVee Wine and Spirits and buying a bottle of 'therapy'.  And calling Jim the plumber and leaving a message to come fix it on Monday.

So, you see I did spend most of Sunday 'On the Toilet.'  Sort of.

So by the time you factor in 4-5 hours of struggle.  The many trips to the store, you can bet that next time I'll just call Jim at all in one.  I'll sound real desperate and say, can you come out sometime Monday.