Miss Fix It

I was VERY proud of myself this morning. For some time, the toilet in my apartment has been acting up. The handle frequently gets caught, and the water will continue running until I jiggle it. Then the handle got a crack in it (too much use? haha), but it continued to work, so I didn't worry about it. Finally, this morning, I went to flush, and the handle turned a full 90 degrees, and the toilet did NOT flush. I knew for sure it was broken.

Now, having had to deal with the jiggling for a while, I already knew what the inside of my toilet tank looked like (if you haven't looked in there, I suggest you do, just so you know the mechanics of how indoor plumbing works). So when I took the lid off the tank, I knew exactly what had happened. The handle is usually connected to an arm that produces the flushing motion, and these two parts were no longer connected. And it wasn't like I could put them back together: the plastic was in shards (i.e. not a clean break). I discovered this at 6:30 this morning, and knew that this problem had to be fixed immediately. Now, normally for this sort of problem, I would contact the closest man I know and have him come over. However, my father lives 1.5 hours away, my neighbor had already helped me for over an hour the night before setting up my new TV, and I have no boyfriend whatsoever to mention. Plus, my landlord wouldn't be able to come over until after work, and I was NOT going to leave my business sitting in the toilet all day. It was time to take matters into my own hands.

I looked up online what time my closest hardware store opened, and lo and behold, the store opened at 7:30. Perfect! So I had breakfast, got dressed, and drove over. The staff was very helpful, and gave me the parts I needed. I quickly drove home, and using the beginner IKEA toolkit my uncle bought me as a housewarming gift when I first moved in, I got to work. I easily removed all the old parts, and surprisingly had the toilet working like new in less than 10 minutes. I was amazed! I, a total princess, fixed a toilet, and in a matter of minutes!

Recap:
1. Get to know your toilet. You use it multiple times a day, so you might as well learn the ins-and-outs of all the wonderful things it does for you. Okay, the one thing it does for you, but that one thing is very important and makes our lives oh so much more pleasant.
2. Learn to fix stuff! Of course, I'm not swearing off having a man help you out every once in a while. I will continue to ask pretty much any man in my closest vicinity to carry a large box for me, and Ryan Speers will always be my computer guru. But if you just need to use any simple tools (screwdrivers, hammers, wrenches), or the whole concept of your project is "Righty tighty, Lefty loosey," I bet you yourself can get the job done. If my pretty little hands (long, painted nails and all) can reach into a toilet tank, yours can, too.