I just replaced the ballcock in my toilet. It's a simple thing. Shut off the water. Drain the tank. Disconnect the water line. Remove the old part. Prepare the new part - Switch out the float (new part didn't come with that), adjust the height, connect the tubing. Pop into tank and reconnect everything! Ta Da!
It didn't go that smoothly for me. My toilet is tucked in a little space that is extremely awkward to work in. So I'm squirming around trying to see. My glasses keep sliding around as I move my head to SEEING anything was a challenge. I finally found my sweet spot with my head cuddled up against the bowl and my legs wrapped around it (sort of). Then I began to undo the locknut. Or I thought I was undoing it. I would undo it then I'd tighten it then I'd undo it and then I'd tighten it again and finally I got the new one to look at pretty much every time I had to adjust the robogrip. FINALLY got the damned thing off. My back was complaining pretty loudly by this point!
Then I put everything back in and it came time to use plumber's tape to connect the water line. Holy fuck is that shit annoying!!! It wants to fold up into a string, it won't stick to anything and comes undone faster than you can wrap it and then, you drop the holder and have to start over. I exercised my swearing skills a bit!
But in the end I got the job done! Everything is back together and there are no leaks (yet). It is QUIET!! It has been running endlessly for a while now so to have a silent toilet is thrilling! It's the little things in life that make me smile :)
As soon as I finished Bruiser announced that he had to go out immediately. I'm grateful he was patient and let me get the toilet fixed first! So I let him out and went back to put everything away. Went to check on him and he was happily surveying his domain from the sidewalk so I let him be a few minutes longer (it's a cold night out). Finally heard him barking so went to let him in and he started what has become his normal re-entry routine...
First of all he gets stressed and starts crying.
Next he is SURE he must be tangled around the tree and heads for it to walk around it. This tends to tangle him more often than untangle him.
At that point I start reeling him in. I have the leash hooked up by the top of the stairs to I can pull him in. This is necessary unless I want to run down and grab him and carry him in every time I let him out.
So I got him around the tree and aimed at the house. Then he starts stressing about the stairs. He always makes it up the stairs (he's an old dog fyi) but in the last year or so he worries a lot. I have to give him a tug and then he decides to go for it. He makes it! Whew! I suppose one of these days he won't but it hasn't happened yet.
Life with a deaf, smelly, geriatric dog is interesting! I do love the little furball tho :)
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
No more excuses!
I'm finally there! Thru the gauntlet of the holidays and there are no more excuses to put off doing some weight loss!!
I stepped on the scale today and it was painful to see what I've done to myself. Not unexpected but painful. I've crossed a boundary I'd vowed never to cross again and it was depressing. I need to fight those feelings of depression tho because I tend to want to medicate bad feelings with food. Not going to be doing that for months to come if I can avoid it! I still need to keep myself positive!
Part of that is to imagine where I want to get to and how good it'll feel to get there. I'm not happy with my appearance or how I feel lately. It will feel good to change! I need to keep that in my mind when the cravings come later, and they will come. They always do! I've been successful before so I know I can do it again. It takes commitment. And constantly reaffirming that commitment. That's where I tend to fall down. I'm hoping this journal will help with that.
This morning was a bit of a struggle. Everyone has gone back to work! Traffic levels sucked! I had my moment of panic this AM when the traffic backed up way earlier in the commute than usual and I was watching the folks behind me flying up and clenching my teeth, bracing for impact thinking "don't hit me, don't hit me, don't hit me". They didn't. Holiday traffic was sooooo nice! All those people taking time off work, all those offices and schools closed! Now it's back to normal. Shit.
Even Bruiser was on a delayed schedule today. I had to wake him up and get him moving so he'd eat and go potty before I left! That's a little bit of vengeance for me since he feels compelled to bark at me and wake me up early on my days off.
My daughter was texting me this AM about how sick she was. She has my sympathy but at the same time, she HAS to work or she gets no money so sick or not she has a judgement call to make. Can she afford to miss that work? I hope she gets a job that has benefits some day. I feel so bad for folks who don't have benefits. It sucks balls to not be able to stay home when you're sick! I stayed home a day last time I was sick but still had to go to work as soon as I was able because sick or not, work needed to get done! All of us do it. Even tho I have benefits I've used them up before and had to take the financial hit because of a sick day so I guess benefits aren't always a safeguard.
My tummy is growling. Hungry is good! This is my mantra today!!
I stepped on the scale today and it was painful to see what I've done to myself. Not unexpected but painful. I've crossed a boundary I'd vowed never to cross again and it was depressing. I need to fight those feelings of depression tho because I tend to want to medicate bad feelings with food. Not going to be doing that for months to come if I can avoid it! I still need to keep myself positive!
Part of that is to imagine where I want to get to and how good it'll feel to get there. I'm not happy with my appearance or how I feel lately. It will feel good to change! I need to keep that in my mind when the cravings come later, and they will come. They always do! I've been successful before so I know I can do it again. It takes commitment. And constantly reaffirming that commitment. That's where I tend to fall down. I'm hoping this journal will help with that.
This morning was a bit of a struggle. Everyone has gone back to work! Traffic levels sucked! I had my moment of panic this AM when the traffic backed up way earlier in the commute than usual and I was watching the folks behind me flying up and clenching my teeth, bracing for impact thinking "don't hit me, don't hit me, don't hit me". They didn't. Holiday traffic was sooooo nice! All those people taking time off work, all those offices and schools closed! Now it's back to normal. Shit.
Even Bruiser was on a delayed schedule today. I had to wake him up and get him moving so he'd eat and go potty before I left! That's a little bit of vengeance for me since he feels compelled to bark at me and wake me up early on my days off.
My daughter was texting me this AM about how sick she was. She has my sympathy but at the same time, she HAS to work or she gets no money so sick or not she has a judgement call to make. Can she afford to miss that work? I hope she gets a job that has benefits some day. I feel so bad for folks who don't have benefits. It sucks balls to not be able to stay home when you're sick! I stayed home a day last time I was sick but still had to go to work as soon as I was able because sick or not, work needed to get done! All of us do it. Even tho I have benefits I've used them up before and had to take the financial hit because of a sick day so I guess benefits aren't always a safeguard.
My tummy is growling. Hungry is good! This is my mantra today!!
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