Usually I keep it to about 3 links but I have quite the backlog to share so you get some lagniappe today.

I am being tormented by a demon possessed toilet. Well, maybe not demons but a fill valve that needs to be replaced. A couple weeks ago the toilet started randomly giving off a high-pitched whistle. Think maybe like a tea-kettle at max scream before you remove it from the stove. Flushing would make the sound go away for a while.

Not everyone will be interested in my toilet drama, that's OK, no shade if you aren't. This is what blogs are for though, right? So, if you want to know the rest of the story you can click on the details link below.

The rest of the toilet drama.

Replacing a fill valve is an easy repair that even I could probably handle. However. It turns out the water shut-off valve behind the toilet is frozen. You're supposed to turn those a couple times a year to make sure they don't freeze up but honestly, that's one of those thoughts that waft through my brain amidst all the others and I acknowledge it and quickly forget it. It's been quite a while since hands touched that little valve.

I tried turning it, I had Best Son gave it a try, nothing. I didn't want to force it too much because if the valve breaks then you have water going everywhere and an emergency plumber visit in your very near future. That happened to relatives and they actually sustained some serious water damage to their house.

I searched the web and found that sometimes you could get stuck valves to move by using a hair-dryer to heat it. I have a hair-dryer but it was in the back depths of a bathroom cabinet and you all know I have that wonky hip that makes it hard to bend down. It's very easy for me to let things become my new normal and I had good intentions of either calling the plumber or trying the hair-dryer trick but I was waffling and avoiding what to do. I'd just flush the toilet a couple times a day. No big deal!

Until last night. Between midnight and 3 am that damn fill-valve went off 4 times. I swear, every time I dozed off - WHEEEEEEEEEE. The last time it happened I thought, OK, this is ridiculous, LET'S DO THIS. I had a video saved on YouTube showing how to fix the valve without replacing it. I managed to get the hair-dryer out and tried the hair-dryer trick, which did not work. So, I went outside and shut off the water at the main in front of the house. I followed the instructions on the video, went back out to turn the water back on and...ummm... yeah, made things worse. Now the fill valve is CONSTANTLY screaming *and* the toilet is refilling constantly. And it's 3 am and I am so tired I just want to cry. I turned the main water off again and tried fiddling with it some more but that accomplished nothing.

I decided the best thing to do would be to just shut the main water off again, go to sleep and call the plumber in the morning.

In the morning I called the plumber. After asking if I had another toilet in the house I could use, they said they had no available plumbers that day but they could see me tomorrow morning between 8 and noon. On the one hand, I have now avoided having to pay weekend emergency plumber fees. On the other hand, that means that I have to live with my demon toilet screaming at me until they get here.

It's so loud! I have a small house so I can't really get away from the noise. I have the door closed but I can still hear it. It's like I have bonus tinnitus to go with the tinnitus I already have. So, lesson learned. Don't put off household repairs and do routine house maintenance (like turning valves).

Best Son came over this weekend and introduced me to a new game, Wir Sind Das Volk. Socialism vs capitalism, East Germany vs West Germany. It was a fun game! He's into games that are a little more detailed than what I usually like but I had a fun time with this one. He ended up getting all his Socialists on the board by the end of the last round so he won the game. Definitely would like to play again.

I keep pretty much to myself and, as a result, even though I've lived here for over 20 years, I don't really know my neighbors except for the ones that live to one side of me. My neighbor directly across from me has been living at that place for several years now. She's an older lady who uses a walker and that's all I knew about her. Last week I was bringing out my trash and recycle cans to the curb and saw her trying to maneuver both her trash can and her walker. I offered to haul her can to the curb, she accepted and afterwards we talked. Not such a startling thing considering we're neighbors but I'm the owner of a t-shirt that says "You've read my shirt, that's enough social interaction for one day" so for me to actually talk to a neighbor instead of scuttling inside before they can start a conversation is something. She ended up telling me practically her whole life, which was a little overwhelming, but I now know who my neighbor is and I'm proud of myself for reaching out.

Listening

Some podcasts I listened to this week:

Reading

I finished Washington's Spies and it was excellent! I highly recommend if you're interested in history and or spycraft. I checked my Libby wishlist and was surprised to find that A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher was available so I checked that out. She writes different genres - creepy books, fantasy romance (but with a special twist all her own), retellings of fairy tales. I love them all. This book was as delightful as her others.

I wasn't sure what to go for next as none of the items on my Libby wishlist appealed to me at that moment. So I looked through the actual books that I have and picked up Pangur Bán the White Cat by Fay Sampson. This was a Kickstarter book. This had been printed in the 1980s and a publisher wanted to do a reprint. Apparently I had started reading it at some point because there was a book mark about 1/3 of the way in but nothing looked familiar so I'm starting this over. This is a YA series and it's compared to Chronicles of Narnia. I don't think adults should shun YA books because some of them are really good. I'm quite enjoying the adventures of Pangur Bán!

Watching

I didn't watch Recipes for Love and Murder this week because last week, when I finished watching that week's episode, the next week's appeared even though it wasn't yet Monday where I was, so I watched it and enjoyed it! But had no Tannie Maria adventures this week as a result.

I did watch a cool video on the The Silver Pharoahs. Silver was even more precious than gold in ancient Egypt. In the late 20s to mid 50s several untouched tombs were found and the royal mummies were masked in silver. If you'd rather read about the mummies, here's an article about them.

I came across a video on Montezuma's Well, one of my favorite places in Arizona. This is a natural limestone sinkhole fed by an underground spring. Geologically and ecologically this is a fascinating place. The video discusses it a little bit but you can read more about it here. The Sinagua people built dwellings in the walls of the well and you can view what's left of their homes. There are also some other ruins scattered around the site you can view. Super cool place and if you're ever in Arizona I would say it's well worth a trip.

Whew! I think I'm done with this marathon blog post! See you all next week!