... that's how we fix a toilet valve in the merry old land of Oz.
Sorry.
Doing just about anything for the first time can be a daunting experience. Going to your first day of kindergarten... riding a bike... asking someone out on a date... going away to college... sex (unless you're Casanova, I somehow doubt your confidence was at its peak your first time out). You catch my drift.
Today, with Katie at work for her second straight day this weekend (she usually only works weekdays and has the weekends off with me), I not only caught up on another movie (White Noise) and caught one on cable (Gremlins 2: The New Batch), but I also did some work around the house. I repainted some spots on the ceiling in our master bathroom, finished caulking around the shower, and installed a towel bar.
But the big deal for me today involves the toilet in our second bathroom. It's been bugging us for some time now. It gurgles. Yes, literally gurgles. All day and all of the night (with apologies to Ray Davies).
In order to resolve our "situation," we bought a replacement fill valve and flapper combo about a month or so ago. But I just never got around to actually doing it. Dunno if it was laziness or fear of the unknown. Probably some combination thereof.
Today, though, I broke open the kit and went to town. And, let me tell you, it's not as tough as you may think. I had a couple minor stumbling blocks, but I worked around them. And, now, we have a toilet that no longer gurgles.
I'm so proud of myself.
No gurgling means one less sound to wake us up in the middle of the night. And, God knows, that stupid little bubbling sound would do just that.
I can sleep through the train in our backyard, but for some God-forsaken reason, toilet bubbling wakes me up. Go fig, eh?
I now feel properly set to tackle a variety of other plumbing chores. If I can do this, I'm sure a faucet won't be that difficult. And I think we may now be needing one since I broke the sink stopper in the very same bathroom. Hey! Cut me some slack. I can't get everything perfect. I was trying to clean the drain and Drain-O wasn't doing the trick. So I removed the stopper and it broke in the process. Well, Katie mentioned last night that she wanted a new faucet. What better time than the present, eh?
All I need now are some ass-crack-baring pants, and I'm set.
