Uncomfortable

The TurboFlush broke last night. Caleb flushed the toilet and, for the first time ever, it overflowed. In Caleb's defense, it wasn't his fault. When Jeff took the lid off, he found that a part at the top of the tank was broken. This was my first glimpse of what the inside of our Old Faithful looks like, and it doesn't look like the inside of any toilet I've seen before. Rather than the tank being filled with water, there is another tank inside the outer one. This inner tank is oblong, black, and supposedly made of china. Really! On this black tank, something that looks like a gasket at the top of the tank has broken. Whether or not this will be an easy or inexpensive fix remains to be seen. Jeff plans to stop at Home Depot on the way home from the basketball tournament today to see if they have the necessary replacement parts and/or any advice for him.

In the meantime, life is... uncomfortable. Jeff announced last night that he would be driving over to the YMCA to take care of any "big jobs." (Who used that euphemism in our childhood? For some reason I'm thinking it was Marcia Carlson...) I've made a mental note to not plan any fiber-rich meals for the next few days. Old Faithful's being out of commission has really made me realize how much we've taken for granted with that toilet. It will flush ANYTHING. In fact, the website has a couple videos that demonstrate how these toilets will flush paper and even ANSI test balls. Although we haven't tried that, we know that it was able to handle 'Nika's underpants without even a complaining belch (ask The Old Man or The Other, Younger, Half about the circumstances regarding that incident). I've never tried flushing even paper towels, but it would probably take on the task effortlessly.

Personally, I think that until Old Faithful is repaired, I will make daily visits to Barnes and Noble. Nothing like a bookstore to get things moving in the right direction on your own schedule. The library would probably be sufficient, too.