New Year's Eve

I'm playing with the computer and drinking a plastic glass of mead. I think it will be better when it ages more, but it is what is available now. We don't have any Coke, so Jack and Coke is out of the question tonight.

I dressed the girls in the matching outfits that they got for Christmas. I tried to get a picture, but none came out all that well. I thought they looked cute, but I wouldn't do it every day.

We made it to the gym today, and got doughnuts afterwards. I only got a coffee with cream and sugar. I hadn't planned to go to the gym tomorrow, but I hear they'll give us free t-shirts if we show up. I don't have to stay and work out.

The kids go back to school on Wednesday. I think we're all ready. K and I can get back to our regular routines.

Hopefully no one will get me up in the night. Hopefully I'll get to sleep in tomorrow morning.

I got an e-mail from my friend in Nebraska. She's went shopping this afternoon for a new outfit to wear tonight. She's going out with her roommate for dinner, drinks, and after hours dancing. (I think the after hours dancing means after the hours they can serve alcohol.) Years ago I realized I hate that kind of thing, so it's just as well I have the kids and won't be going anywhere. She has no kids and does many things that would even enter my mind to do, even if I didn't have kids.

Mr. K, N, and J are watching Shrek 2 on TV. K is in bed. I'm hoping to play some games at the CafeCrowd yet this evening. What a night.

Got my toilet seats!

I got my two plastic, antimicrobial toilet seats for Christmas. I just went to install the one in my bathroom, and I couldn't get the plastic nut on the corroded metal bolt on the old one to break loose. Mr. K tried. He couldn't. He tried cutting the bolt with a cordless reciprocating saw he has, but he couldn't fit it into the tight space that houses the toilet. He tried a hand-held mini hack saw, but concluded that since he could only move it about an inch each way, he'd be there forever. To get the nuts and bolts off, we'd probably have to take the toilet out. I'm not that interested in replacing the seat.

All our fruitless work crushed and deformed the plastic nut. I suggested melting it, but Mr. K thought that was a bad idea.

I went to the toilet in our main bathroom, and was able to get that seat off since it had been in place for less time. I installed the new toilet seat, and I'll see if I can keep a plastic seat looking cleaner. Meanwhile, I guess I'll put my new seat in the attic. Perhaps one day I'll find enough ambition to try again to remove the plastic nuts. I suggested trying to cut them away with a utility knife, but Mr. K thought that wouldn't work either. I'm still thinking about trying.

None

It's a cold and rainy day after Christmas. I dragged the kids to the gym this morning. It is hard enough to find the ambition to haul myself there regularly, but to get N and J into the car takes so much more effort because they don't like to go. They go back to school on January 2, so I won't have to motivate (threaten) all of us to go for much longer.

J got a Disney princess camping set for Christmas. It has a tent, sleeping bag, water bottle, compass, and one more thing I forget. She begged to sleep with N in it last night. I agreed finally, but told them they had to do it in the livingroom an not the bedroom with K. Around 11 p.m., J was up and took herself to bed, telling me she couldn't fall asleep in the tent. N got up to pee in the night, and took himself back to his bed instead of the tent. They are playing in it right now while K naps.

I'm pretty tired, and have been for a couple days. Yesterday I spent most of the day cooking. I think I'm going to rest instead of writing.

Christmas Eve

I finally got the kids in bed, but no one is asleep. I just made some cream puffs, stuffed them with vanilla ice cream, and froze them. I'll thaw them tomorrow for dessert. One wouldn't fit in my Rubbermade container, so I ate it (great excuse). I'll be making a chocolate sauce and a raspberry sauce (probably) to go with them tomorrow. I may skip the raspberry sauce because I think I'll be the only one willing to eat it.

Mr. K has poured me a glass of our mead. It isn't as good as my brother-in-law made it a couple years ago. I think it still needs to age more.

We aren't sure what to do about Santa since we are afraid the kids are going to be up in bed very late.

We're having a roast beef dinner tomorrow. No one is coming over. It will just be us. We don't go to church on Christmas because the crowds bother me too much. We used to attend Christmas and Easter, but the services are so packed that I am miserable. We try to attend church the rest of the year, so I prefer to let people who only come on Christmas and Easter contend with the shortage of parking and seats at the church, and not compete for the parking and seats.

Our neighbor is running out of beer, cigarettes, and money. He's been selling anything he can (my husband bought a rifle from him), and giving away some of his stuff because I guess he realizes he may become a street person in no time. Today Mr. K took him to the pawn shop to sell his class ring and an old sword. I think it will keep him in beer and cigarettes for a few days.

Mr. K brought up in the car yesterday that he is wrestling with what his Christian duty is to help losers. I've been wondering the same thing. Our neighbor is what appears to be a hopeless alcoholic. He never plans to work again. Unless someone in his family takes him in and gives him a room, beer, and cigarettes, I guess he'll go live on the street and beg soon. He refuses to work, and even if he wanted to, I don't know of any place who would hire a smelly, nearly toothless alcoholic who looks like a street person. Just the liability of having someone drunk while working is going to put off any employer.

We thought he'd be on the street nearly a year ago, but his friend bought his house from him before it went into foreclosure, and he's been living on its equity. He's spent it all, and said it had been three or four months since he paid his friend any rent. I think his friend my be having cash flow problems, so I don't know how long he can afford a non-paying tenant. The place is so trashed, though, it would take a lot of work and money to make it fit for a "real" tenant.

The kids sort of know what is going on and that our neighbor has no money. We can't really tell them he'll be okay when we really don't know if he will. Anyway, we'll take the kids over tomorrow to visit with him for a little while.

A Huge First!

K peed in the potty chair! None of my kids ever did that. N used to try to beat the tar out of the potty chair. J simply refused to have anything to do with it. N was just under 3 1/2 when he was trained directly on the toilet. J was over 3 1/2 when she was trained on the toilet. I am so excited! I've felt like such a failure at potty training when my kids were still in diapers or pull ups past age 3. K is only 20 months old.

I got the potty chair out about six months ago but didn't have high hopes for it. At least K wasn't violent towards it. She's sat on it a little, sometimes without a diaper, but nothing has ever come out while she was sitting on it.

After she peed, I think N, J, and were yelling with joy so much I think we scared her. We calmed down enough that I took the pee-catching pitcher to the toilet with her and let her help me empty it into the toilet. Then I let her help me flush. This is how potty training should be!

I hope she'll do it again and again, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high since I've had no luck in the past with potty training (but I've never had a kid willing to sit on the potty before, either).

I bought K some diapers last night. Perhaps I should have looked for pull-ups. Next time I'll think about pull ups if she repeats her peeing in the potty act.



I

First day of winter

It's the first day of winter, and I harvested three beets and a pak choi (miniature bok choi) this morning from the tiny winter garden I planted in August. My pak choi is very overgrown. No one likes it anyway. I might try steaming some for lunch, but I'll be the only one eating it.

I steamed the beet greens, and I'm roasting the tiny beets in the oven. I'll put them in a salad when they are tender. I'm the only one in the house who eats beats or pak choi.

My garlic and onions are beginning to sprout a little. My winter honeysuckle is getting some buds. It should bloom in a few weeks. The smell is wonderful, but the flowers don't look very impressive.

Mr. K brought in two eggs last night (brown) so we know that two of our buff orpingtons are laying again. When I was out in the yard today, I peeked in the nest box and saw a buff orpington in there.

Mr. K is spending the day at the rental house from which we had the successful eviction two Thursdays ago. He's waiting for the Department of Public Utilities to come and turn on the gas and water. While he's there, he'll be working on getting the place ready to rent. He thinks it will take him a few months.

Part of my Christmas present...

is happening right now! Mr. K has taken the kids, all the kids, out to get me a Christmas present. For the first time in longer than I can remember (maybe since before we had K) I have the entire house to myself and just myself. They'll be back soon, though. I doubt it will take them more than 30 minutes to shop at Target and come home.

First I cleaned the kitchen up from dinner with no one (means K) underfoot. It went so much quicker. Now I'm using the computer. Last year Mr. K didn't take K because she was too young to drag shopping. This year she seemed quite excited to go. J's excited to. N said he didn't want to go, and I groaned in front of Mr. K. He told N he had to go. I guess N is developing the male anti-shopping gene. Anyway, it's really nice to have my home to myself for just a little bit.

Kids out for Christmas

I'll have N and J home with me every day until January 2. We were supposed to go to a friend's house on Friday, but she called today and said they're pretty sick--fevers particularly a problem. We certainly don't want that.

I was going to make Christmas cookies tonight to decorate tomorrow, but I've run out of time and energy for that. I need to be getting to bed very soon.

One of our chickens started laying again about 1 1/2 weeks ago. We hadn't seen eggs from our chickens since late October until that. As far as I can tell, only one hen is laying right now. They either need longer days or a light to get them laying again. Saturday is the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year, so I'm hoping they'll get down to business and start laying as soon as the daylight hours expand. I have purchases two cartons of eggs from the store this year. It's the first time in several years I've needed to buy any.

More presents arrived by UPS today from one of N and J's aunt and uncles. We've got a lot of presents under our tree now. Another of Mr. K's sisters called us today and said she shipped a package that should arrive Friday. We get so many presents because Mr. K has three sisters and six brothers.

Still getting ready for J's birthay

The cupcakes (made from a mix) are cooling. I need to frost them yet tonight and put them in something that can be transported to school. Tomorrow morning I need to drive them to school before lunch time so they can be distributed to J's class at lunch.

After I go to the school, I need to go to the supermarket and pick up the bakery cake I ordered for J's birthday. We'll be going out to dinner tomorrow night, and coming home for the cake. I'm guessing J will insist upon presents before we go to dinner.

K unwrapped one of N's Christmas presents today while I was browning the ground beef for the lasagna. She brought me the unwrapped present while I was in the kitchen. I hid it in my hamper, and I need to get it re-wrapped before it gets covered in dirty clothing.

K got Mr. K up once in the night and me up another time last night. We are quite tired today. I think her cold is bothering her. We gave her some Benadryl before we put her to bed. Hopefully it will help keep the dripping under control for her.

N finished Harry Potter #7 last night, and now he doesn't know what to do with himself. I think he's found a Hardy Boys book to read tonight.

Survived the Birthday Party

It kept me up a while in the night, though. I only had one game (the bingo game) to play if the weather was bad and the kids had to stay inside for two hours. I was worried the rain wouldn't stop, and I'd be trying to entertain a group of little kids with a deck of cards. I wondered if their moms would care if Mr. K taught them to play craps (I also have dice). I wondered if they were old enough to play Yahtzee.

After church we started setting up for J's party. I had purchased lots of party stuff at the dollar store (surprisingly cups, napkins, and plates were made in the U.S.A.) , so all Mr. K had to do was run out to buy a bag of ice and a bag of Doritos (which I had forgotten to get at the store last night).

We taped a pink plastic tablecloth to the table, and it was so long on one end, I cut it. We used the cut piece to cover the rolling kitchen island upon which we put the punch bowl and the vegetables. One of these days, I should learn better than to put out a vegetable tray for kids. They never eat any.

We all stuck butterfly stickers on the pink table cloth to decorate it. When the first guest arrived, I made the punch. I mixed a quart of raspberry sherbet with a 2-liter of Sprite. It was interesting but good. We used the bottom part of a thermos as an ice bucket.

I ordered pizza, and I had them cut it what they called "Chicago style." I told them I wanted appetizer squares small enough for kindergarteners. The kids liked the pizza.

Here is what I discovered about the food:
a) Only I and my friend Lori ate any vegetables--don't bother next time
b) Everyone ate pizza
c) Everyone at least tried the punch; most liked it--it was pink and pretty
d) Very few Doritos were eaten--I was surprised, and I think I'd skip chips next time.

We never did play Bingo, which was fine with me. It was a last resort thing if we ran out of stuff to do. We did play the game in the yard where the kids find the pennies after I scatter them around. Mostly the kids just played together in the yard.

I'm wondering if something like cheese straws might be something to try when N talks me into having a party for his birthday in the spring. I'll probably forget about it or come up with a reason it won't work.

One of the kids who came got J what I thought was a stuffed elephant for a present. Then he said it was a Webkinz. Hearing that was painful. I'm sure she will like it, though. I helped her set up an account at the Webkinz site, and N helped her play some games there. He's grounded from the computer until tomorrow, but I was glad to let him help her because I found the whole thing so painful.

Anyway, the party is over, and it went quite well. I am so relieved.

Birthday stuff

I took N and J to my friend Lori's today. Their twin girls had a party for their seventh birthday. They'll be over here tomorrow for J's sixth birthday party. They had a balloon/magician guy for entertainment. We have nothing of the sort. I bought a little kids' bingo game. If the weather clears up, I'll hide pennies in the gravel area near our driveway just inside our fence in the back yard. It worked as entertainment at N's party.

I finished making J's cake this evening. It was from a cake mix, but the frosting is homemade. I used the last mix my mom brought me last time she visited. It's a cherry chip Betty Crocker cake mix. They are not available here. I had it for almost every birthday growing up.

I ordered a bakery cake for J's birthday while I was at the supermarket tonight. We'll have that with just our family on her actual birthday (Tuesday). We'll also go out to dinner for her birthday.

I saw my friend Lori last Sunday in the church parking lot. Her belly looked fat, and she is a skinny woman. I didn't dare ask if she was pregnant because it would be so embarrassing if it were just fat. Today, I just had to ask because her belly was so big. Fortunately, she's pregnant. She had a couple miscarriages a couple years ago after announcing pregnancies, and I guess she just decided not to say anything this time, but she's due in May. The baby was not a surprise (I was rude enough to ask--at least one of her miscarriages had been a surprise). She's a year or so older than I am, which would put her 39. She had gone back-and-forth about wanting a baby after she had her miscarriages. I had thought from talking to her this summer that she was done with having babies, but she said her baby has just turned four, and it just seemed like she should have another baby. I'm so glad it's working out for her. It's supposed to get harder to get pregnant at will as one ages.

I haven't been the least bit sorry I can't have kids any more, but then my baby hasn't turned four. I am still so relieved not to be suffering the misery of pregnancy or the first three months of no sleep.

A couple Saturdays ago, during a bad cold, I was having my bath and doing everything I couldn't had I been pregnant. I almost posted about it, entitling it "Thank Goodness I'm Not Pregnant," but I didn't want Mama P to feel bad since she was pregnant. Now she's not pregnant. Anyway, I took my cold medicine guilt-free, and right during my long, super hot bath with lots of water (I had to keep them very short and shallow or had cooler bathwater when I was pregnant. Generally I kept them hot, shallow, and quick.) , to top off the experience, I enjoyed decaffeinated coffee with Bailey's Irish Cream in it.

Well, it's my bath night again tonight (I shave my legs in the tub on Saturday usually), but I don't think it's a good night for Bailey's. In fact, I need to mop the kitchen and bathrooms before I get a bath so the house is half-way clean for tomorrow.

This and that

A package arrived at our door this afternoon. It was from Amazon, and had four books in it for our kids from Amazon.com. One of their uncle and aunts sent them as a Christmas present. I wrapped them up and got them under our tree. Yesterday a package with a present for me arrived and I put it under the tree. Each day when N and J get home from school, they look under the tree to see if more packages have arrived.

I'm cleaning the mildew off the bathtub tiles. It is nasty. It's taken me three rounds of Tilex (a dilute bleach product) to make it pretty much go away. I don't know why I wait this long. Perhaps it's because of the raging headache I get from the bleach fumes. I'm a bit embarrassed by how much mildew the plumber saw the other day, and I think I'll need to have him come back because the dripping hasn't stopped. I wanted to get the tub a little cleaner.

Also, J is having a birthday party on Sunday. The kids and I are all going to one on Saturday. It won't leave me much time to clean before J's party.

Mr. K had his eviction this morning. The tenants had already moved out so there was nothing for the sheriff to do. He said the place stunk, but it might have been from the dead mice he found stuck to a glue board. He put them outside. He said the place is full of mouse droppings. He's begun baiting them. He'll be spending as much time as he can trying to get the place ready to rent again. He thinks it will take him until spring to make it ready to rent.

The trouble with N

Yesterday after school, N's art teacher called me about the incident his teacher told me about last week because N keeps proclaiming his innocence.

Last week N assured me his art teacher never personally heard him singing a song with the f-word in it because he didn't do it. He was just thinking the song but never sang it. Three students who don't like him lied and told the teacher he and another boy were singing songs with the f-word in them. (The other boy already confessed.)

Well, his art teacher told me she came over to where N was because another student did tell her about it, and she personally heard N singing this song. The thing is, N never actually used the f-word. He just spelled it in his song.

N is still denying everything, but we don't believe him. We can't think of any reason his teacher would lie. N says it is because she overheard him saying he doesn't like art class because of her.

N is off the computer for a week now (not that he could use it anyway because his bedroom is still a mess). If he makes any reference to the f-word or any other vulgarity, he automatically gets 10 minutes in his bedroom. If he argues, it's 20. When he got home from school today, I had washed his cup he had left water in. He got very angry and started screaming, "I feel like saying the F-word!" I sent him to his room for 10 minutes. I didn't make it 20, though, when he started to argue. I will next time, though.

If I get another call from N's teacher about any more vulgar incidents, N will get four hours in his room on a weekend.

N was singing a made-up song this morning about cocaine and I heard talk about it a couple times. He's developing a fascination with drugs since he isn't allowed to use or refer to vulgarities. Mr. K and I are upset with that, too, and have made it clear to him we don't sing about drugs.

I hope this rotten behavior is just a passing phase. My mom can't stand N, and with reason. He begs to get on the phone with her when I am talking to her, and then he yells into the phone for her to get off the phone. I imagine N will come out fine when he grows up, but I'm afraid it's going to be a long, unpleasant road to get him there.

As a side note, J seldom eats dinner because she doesn't like what I fix, and when I moved her bed aside one day to look for a missing shoe, along with tons of dirty tissues, dust bunnies, and other junk, I found a huge collection of fruit snack wrappers and a couple granola bar wrappers. It appears J has been raiding Mr. K's cooler in the evenings (the man lives on fruit snacks and granola bars during the day), and has stolen some of his food.

I needed a real plumber today

It's a good thing I got my bathroom tidied up for toilet show and tell, since I had a plumber in there this evening to work on my shower faucet.

Because there is no access to the plumbing from behind my tub (it's and air duct for my heating/cooling system), I had to get a certain kind of faucet installed when the old one with two handles started leaking too much. It had to be installed entirely from the front, and must be repaired from the front. It has one handle that you turn and cold water comes on. Keep turning it and it gets warmer until it is running entirely hot water.

It has been leaking for a long time, and my success at the rental this weekend inspired me to try to fix it or hire a plumber. I tried to take it apart, but I couldn't get a screw off without stripping its head, so I called a retired plumber we used once before to install our new dishwasher. I thought it would be a simple job. It took a lot longer than we had anticipated. There was a lot of caulk gluing the plate piece to the tile. Normally that piece wouldn't have needed removing, but my faucet is in slightly crooked so it had to come of first. When it was "done" we turned it on, and instead of starting with the cold water and continuing to turn until it reached all hot water, it started with the hot water (burn danger). He had to take it apart and screw around with different pieces. Once it would come on cold, but the cold wouldn't shut off so the water wouldn't get very hot. Finally, he got it so it worked right.

Then we noticed it was still dripping :(. The plumber said it might stop as the washer gets seated, but that if it doesn't stop dripping within a couple days, call him and he'll come out at no charge and see about changing the springs in the washers (both the springs and washers were new today).

I also got a new shower curtain. N has been pulling on the old one as he screws around in the tub and has ripped it off its rings. I've repaired it several times with some adhesive-backed plastic circles, but he's ripped those off, too. This curtain is heavy duty and has metal gromets to put into the rings. It cost $10, so I told N if he rips it, he can give me $10. That in itself may keep the shower curtain safe.

More on toilets

I wish my toilet were as clean as Brilly's. If you look carefully at the bowl picture, you can see discoloration on the seat (and a nick in it on the left side). That's why I want for Christmas two new plastic toilet seats made with antimicrobial properties that will resist stains. I had to take the side shot twice because the first time it showed a lot more pee and a hair. I got out a Scotchbrite pad and tried getting all the nastiness off, but I failed. I'm not going back and trying again. You can see it, but at least you can't smell it over the Internet ;).

I'm not sure about Australian toilets pushing and American toilets sucking waste away, but I'm going to discuss how I think American toilets work.

When the tank (cistern) dumps its load of water into the bowl, the water level rises to a height high enough for its pressure to overcome the bend I show in the first picture. Once it does that, nearly all the water in the toilet flows over then bend and down the drain from siphoning action. This is like putting a bucket of water on the counter and filling a tube with water and then carefully placing one end in the bucket on the counter and allowing the other end to remain lower than the counter. No pump is necessary, and the water will flow from the higher bucket all over your floor (better use another bucket to catch it). If you pull the upper end out of the water in the bucket on the counter, air gets in and the siphon breaks. Putting it back in the bucket under the water level won't make the water flow again; you need to refill the tube to start the flow up again.

Anyway, water is coming in from the tank this entire time, but not fast enough to keep the siphon from breaking when the bulk of the water gets over the bend. At that point, the water from the tank refills the bowl, and that water a) keeps stuff from sticking to the bowl, and b) keeps sewer odors from the drain from coming out of the waste hole in the toilet bowl. Once the tank refills, you are ready for the next flush.

I am embarrassed by the dirty side of my toilet. I have fewer guys in the house than Brilly. I will say that a casual user of my toilet ought not be shoving his face where you can see the ickiness. I used the camera in the mode where you can view the picture on the back of it instead of trying to fit my face down there to use the viewfinder. I admit I need to work on my cleaning technique.

Another comment was what Mama P said about not being able to get her lid back on if she took it off. That stumped me until I saw the dunny toilet lid. The lid to the tank of my toilet just rests on the tank. It is only there to make the toilet look better and to keep things from falling into the tank. It has nothing to do with the operation of the toilet.

Anatomy of an American Toilet

I doubt anyone but me cares, but I was so intrigued with Brilly's comment about her toilet having two buttons (how do the button's work--is the toilet electric?), I felt inspired to photograph my toilet and discuss the parts, even though I don't know for sure what they are called, but I sort of know what they do.

I did mark letters and little red arrows on the pictures, so to see them, you'll probably need to click on the image to make it larger.

A is my flush handle on my toilet. It is purely a mechanical lever. When you push it down, inside, a metal "beam" goes up. The inner "beam" I'll call a lever is item C on the first toilet tank gut picture and is I on the second picture. I took shots of both my toilets because I was stunned to find my new toilet (the one shown in the original picture) has the float ball mechanism (B). I thought those only came in old toilets. I had to go shoot other toilet to show the fluid master valve assembly (J).

Item D is a post that has a flapper connected at the bottom. I couldn't get that in the shot. Item G is the flapper in the second toilet. H tries to show the chain that connects the lever to the flapper, but the angle is poor. The flapper is what lets the water out of the tank (because the lever lifts it) and into the bowl when one flushes and then goes back into place to seal the tank off from the bowl so it can be refilled. Items F and E are the water lines (refill tube) that bring in the fresh water after you flush. They are ultimately connected to the fill line to the toilet at the bottom of the tank.

In the first toilet, the float ball rides on top of the water as the tank refills. It's arm is connected to a shut off mechanism. When the ball rides high enough on the water, the water supply cuts off. In the second picture, there is a floating piece that rides up a post and shuts the water off when it floats high enough.


1. You push the lever on the outside of the toilet.

2. It acts as a lever that mechanically lifts the flapper valve and lets water drain from the tank into the toilet. That surge of water makes the material in the toilet bowl go away (down the drain) and then refills the bowl with some water. As the tank empties (water level drops), the floating mechanism drops, opening the valve that allows the water to fill the tank.

3. When the tank empties, the flapper valve falls back into place, sealing the tank from the bowl.

4. The water continues to fill the tank until the float mechanisms are high enough to shut the valve that fills the tank with fresh water.

I'm guessing Brilly's toilet is very similar except somehow she has a different kind of mechanism to raise the flapper valve since hers has a button. Why two buttons? Maybe one is for little business and the other is for big business (one dumps half the tank into the bowl and the other drops the entire tank into the bowl).

Probably more important than any of this is why on Earth am I so interested in the mechanics of a toilet? All I can say is it might be that same lump of curiosity that drove me into engineering in college, or perhaps it is merely the desire not to have to pay a plumber any more than is necessary, especially considering I am now responsible for the functioning of two toilets at my house, and a total of eight more in our rentals.

Pretending to be a plumber

Friday I missed the gym because one of our tenants (in our original duplex who pays her rent on time) called and said the flush handle had fallen off her toilet. I had hoped to reach Mr. K, but he had a guy off work so her was extra busy. I called the lady (tenant) back and asked what she thought of toddlers. She said they were fine. I took K to Lowes (hardware chain store) and got a replacement flusher.

We went there. K cried at first, but the lady held her and she stopped. I got the flusher installed, but didn't have any chain, and was unable to re-used the wire the old flusher lever had been rigged with to connect to the flapper piece. I rigged it with a paperclip. While I was there, I noticed her bathroom sink was running a steady, thin stream of hot water. She's paying for the wasted heat, and I'm paying for the wasted water (it explains my high-and-increasing water will for the duplex). I told her it was unacceptable to have it running like that, and that either I or Mr. K would be by tomorrow (Saturday) to fix it and if we couldn't, I'd have the plumber call her on Monday. I told her I thought it would be me because I've fixed our bathroom faucet from a similar leak years ago, and I didn't think Mr. K has ever fixed a leaky bathroom faucet.

Mr. K would have just called the plumber. He doesn't do leaks. Instead, I went to Lowes and got the right piece and had them describe for me what I needed to do. It was pretty straight forward. I loaded up a tote back with every tool I thought I'd need, including tweezers since I recall using them when I did my own repair years ago. I even tossed in a can of WD-40.

I went there to do the repair after leaving Mr. K with the kids. The first thing I discovered was that the toilet was running. I looked inside and saw almost no water in the tank because my rigged paperclip had inhibited the flapper ball from making a seal to keep the water in the tank. It was just running down the drain as it came in, running down the drain with my money. I shut off the toilet and told the tenant I'd run to the hardware store and pick up a chain or a new flapper ball with a chain.

At the sink, first I cracked the cap a little, prying it off the handle. Then I found my screwdriver was too small to fit in the Philips screw that held the handle on. The tenant found one I could use while I was out at my car, digging out my Gerber multitool. Then I tried to get the nut-looking piece off. It wouldn't turn in either direction with my adjustable wrench. I thought maybe I just pull up on the stem first. I masking taped over my vice grips and tried getting it out. No luck. I brought two plumbing books and a home repair book with me and read them while the tenant looked on--probably a bit concerned when I bring books to read while I do repairs. I got the idea to spray the nut area with WD-40 (good thing I brought it). I told her if that didn't work, there was no way I could complete the repair, and that I'd have to have the plumber come.

Lucky me--it worked quickly, and the nut piece came right off. I pulled out the stem, tried to dry out the valve seat area, pried out the old valve seat/spring, put the new one in with the tweezers, put the stem back, put the nut on, put the handle on, and turned the water back on. Before something had been wrong with the hot water such that you turned it a long time in the reverse direction one normally would to get it on and off. At this point, it would go off, but you could keep turing it. It turned endlessly in either direction with the water going on and off as one spun the handle. To my credit, it no longer leaked when it was off, but I told her it was still unacceptable, and that I probably damaged the stem while trying to remove it. Since I was going to the hardware store anyway for the toilet, I would get a new stem.

I went to a Lowes sort of near the duples. The lady there told me I would need to bring in the stem itself for her to match it up with the correct one. I got a new flapper ball and chain since I didn't see any chain alone. My tenant had also mentioned she wished she had a nice wood-colored toilet seat like the one in the other unit, and that her seat was cracked, so I picked up a new toilet seat for her that was stained and sealed wood instead of the white enameled wood that she had.

Back at the duplex, I quickly installed the new flapper ball in the toilet, and we could turn the toilet back on. I should have cut some of the chain off, but I didn't bring any wire cutters, and I'm not strong enough to cut the wire with needle-nosed pliers. I just let it hang doubled over, and I'm hoping it won't be a problem. If it is, Mr. K can run by and trim it.

I got the stem out of the faucet, and took it back to Lowes, where a salesman found me a stem that would work. I also got new faucet handles because I had chipped the lid of the one I removed, and the screw had been rather corroded when I removed it, and I didn't want it rotting in place. I returned to the duplex, put it in the new stem and the new handle, and turned on the water. It worked! It worked perfectly! The water went on and off in the proper direction (which it hadn't before), and when it was off, there was no drip. I was going to change the handle on the cold water, two, since a) they weren't a perfect match, and b) I was afraid the screw on the other side might corrode in place, too.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the screw out because it was already corroded and the screw head was stripped. I don't know how to get it out. I told her I hoped the cold water didn't leak, because if it did, I'd have to try to change the entire faucet if I couldn't figure out how to get out the screw, and I have no idea how to remove the screw. I sure hope that doesn't happen because I'm not sure how one hooks up the plunger-piece one uses to plug the sink, and I wouldn't be surprised if the bolts holding the existing faucet will be rusted in place such that I might not be able to free them.

Anyway, I think I spent over three hours on this simple project, but I won't have to have the plumber come on Monday unless something else goes wrong between now and Monday.

Next plumbing task--stopping the leak in my own faucet in my bathtub. It's still a drip, and not what I'd call "running," but it's getting worse so I really should take a stab at it and then call the plumber if I fail, but I might not.

Lyle's Golden Syrup

is wonderful! It might even be better than sweetened condensed milk. It is like thick liquid butterscotch.

I made my Anzac biscuits. Mine were the chewy kind. They are gone now. They were okay, but the dough was even better (no egg). Better than the dough was the Lyle's Golden Syrup. It almost tastes better than chocolate except it's not as satisfying.

Call from my N's teacher

N's teacher called to talk to me about N during her planning period. Apparently on Monday in art class (his teacher's planning period that day so she wasn't there herself), N and a friend were caught by the art teacher making up a song full of the F-word and singing it loudly. I was aware there had been a problem because the other kids mom had been at the school at the time so she already knew, and she mentioned it to Mr. K last night at N's Cub Scout den meeting.

Last night, N was denying that he ever made up a song with the H-word. I believe him. Now I hear the song was full of the F-word. That makes sense; N doesn't usually tell outright lies. He's a lot like Bill Clinton, the truth is very definition dependent. His teacher made him write an apology letter to his art teacher, but N doesn't seem remorseful. We'll be having another discussion tonight.

Also, the teacher mentioned N still has an attitude problem. He writes short boring sentences about how much he hates what they are doing. His simple sentences are more at the first grade level. I told her I'd probably do the same thing myself if I were bored (I think I did do a lot of writing about how much I hated what we were doing.) I don't have a solution to that problem because I'd probably still do the same thing today if I were forced to write. I suggested if it's the level of writing she's concerned with, she should pin him down with tighter parameters such as use of adjectives, dependent clauses, etc.

On the bright side, the teacher told me N has earned a lot of Advanced Reading (AR) points from taking tests about the books he reads. When he gets to 100 (and he might already be there), she'll make a big deal out of it and give him a certificate in front of the class.

Court results

The tenant that came with the house we purchased in mid-October did not show up for court so we got the writ of possession and Mr. K was able to get into the sheriff's schedule for a week from now. Last time we had to wait a lot longer to get on their list.

The other tenant, the one who called this morning really did bring money. The judge had Mr. K accept it and she will be putting the utilities in her name (I got the call from dept. of utilities this morning). The judge also told this lady this is the only time in a one-year period she can pull this. If it happens again, she's out. She still owes us December rent and offered to sign a check over to Mr. K, but he wasn't thinking and refused and said cash it and mail us the rent. I sure hope the money will be in the mail.

Anyway, as soon as we got home, K and I had to do a bank run because the lady paid us with over $1000 in cash. Yikes! Mr. K was waiting on a city street corner (but a couple blocks from the police station) with that much cash until I arrived downtown to pick him up.

If we really get the rent now, and if the tenant begins to follow the lease, I will be much happier. She told Mr. K that our brand new furnace isn't working. I don't know why she didn't say something earlier (except she was afraid we'd do nothing since we got no rent) but I really don't want the pipes freezing. I'll have to send the heating/cooling company there--yet another expense. What stumps us is that she's using gas left and right, as can be seen in the utility bill.

Landlording fun

I just dropped Mr. K off at the city court building. It took me a long time to get home because I accidentally got in the wrong lane to get on the interstate, and had to turn down a side street. At that point, I just went to another cross street (Main St.) that I knew would take me to a street called Belvedere, which would take me across the river on the Robert E. Lee bridge, and from there, I know the back roads well to get home. It was unpleasant driving along Main St. The lanes were so narrow and the buildings were so tall it made the street shaded on a sunny day.

Driving downtown is misery itself. Lanes are narrow. Lanes are blocked by buses and delivery trucks. Construction is everywhere, also blocking lanes. It's hard to change lanes when you suddenly find you lane is blocked. I drive a sedan, so most vehicles on the road block my view of the lane ahead (that's how I got in the wrong lane to get on the Interstate). Sometimes the traffic lights are overhead. Sometimes they are on a post at a corner. It is very easy to run a red light if you aren't looking in the right place. Parking is hard to find, especially if you can't parallel park (like me). A homeless-looking guy ran out in front of my car shortly before I missed my lane to get to the Interstate (probably drugged or mentally ill). People wonder why no one wants to come downtown to shop or eat dinner. Could it be that it is very stressful to get around, and difficult to find parking once you get there? I'd rather park my car in a nice, suburban mall parking lot if I felt like shopping or eating out (actually I usually just run through a drive-thru for food and mail order for shopping or go to Target).

I finally got almost home, and the road that I had used 45 minutes before to get from our house to the Interstate was closed. I took a long detour through the neighborhood with N and J's school in it.

Finally, about 8:20 a.m this morning, our phone rang. (Mr. K's court time is 10 a.m.) It was our tenant at the rental Mr. K fixed up. She called to tell us she had $1500 rent and hoped we wouldn't go to court. I gave the phone to Mr. K. He told her very clearly that we are going to court. If she had been able to talk us in to not showing up, it would take us another month and a half to get this process where it is right now. I don't know if she actually has the money. If she does, she'll never give it to us; she'll use it to give to the next landlord to move in so that she can quit paying rent until she's evicted. She also made no mention of the utilities, which she hasn't put in her name. I just got the bill two days ago, and there will be at least one more bill before we get her out. The amazing thing is that before she neglected to pay rent, I got the utility bill and discovered she hadn't put the utility in her name. I called her that night, but only got her voice mail. I left a message that she needed to put the utilities in her name, and that she owed us $50 for her part of the utilities, and that I'd be sending a letter that included the utility bill. She never called me. We sent her a pay or quit. She never called. We sent her a court summons (and the sheriff delivered her one). She never called. Now, this morning, the day she goes to court, she calls to try to straighten things out. A) too late B) I don't believe she actually plans to become a model tenant; she's just trying to delay us so she can keep the place as long as possible for free.

I guess if the tenants show up for court, Mr. K has to wait ten days for his writ of possession (which he takes to the sheriff and schedules the eviction--several week wait on that). If they don't show, he gets the writ of possession today.

Anyway, I'm understandable grumpy and stressed from driving downtown.

(I drive Mr. K there because he has to be there at a certain time, and there's no guarantee he can find parking once he gets there if he drives himself. He'll call me from a pay phone when he's done and I'll pick him up. He can't bring his cell phone with him into the court building.)

Winter Weather

It snowed most of the morning. It's not cold enough to last, though. It's still on the deck but has mostly melted off the yard. K was not impressed by seeing the snow in the air.

Tomorrow we go to court to evict two of our tenants. I just got the water/gas/trash bill for the one who neglected to put the utilities in her name. This time it was for $207, and she already owes me $50 for part of the first month she was there. As I lie in my bed in the cold each night because I am too cheap to heat the house until I'm comfortable, I imagine she's warm and happy since she's not paying for the gas. I think this feeling is called disgust, anger, and bitterness, and it isn't making me feel very Christmasy.

I got a jar of Lyle's Golden Syrup on clearance for $1.25 today, and one of these days, I'm going to try to make a recipe called "Anzac Biscuits" that I have in a cookbook. I think Mama P mentioned making them. I'm not sure if it is the same thing. These have things like oatmeal, brown sugar, coconut, golden cane syrup, and butter. It sounds good.

My friend whose sister died called me on Monday after she got my card in the mail. I'm so glad she did since I wanted to call her, but I didn't know how soon was too soon. I'm hoping to see her when I get to Michigan next summer.

I spoke with my friend in Nebraska whom I've known since we were about 13. She's finally filed for divorce, and it should be final in February if her husband doesn't try to bicker about it. I had finally quit asking her about it since we both knew she knew what she needed to do. She first learned of her husband's infidelity September of 2003, but she spent a couple years trying to work things out until she found he had another girlfriend. I assume Hallmark makes a card to celebrate divorces, but I'll have to check and see next year. Fortunately my friend and her husband have no children together.