Day 3011

I was pleased to discover a repair manual for my French toilet that I'd never seen before. Unbeknownst to me, the float is adjustable. Rotate the float clockwise in the assembly to lower the water level in the tank. Rotate it counterclockwise to raise the water level. Cool. I followed the instructions and the styrofoam float did rotate exactly as advertised. I couldn't move it very far unfortunately, because it kept getting stuck on the side of the flush valve which had somehow frozen in place at a slight angle. In theory, lowering the float should lower the water level, but I wasn't able to lower it enough to make much of a difference. After monkeying around for an hour, I actually made the situation a little worse. No wonder plumbers don't want to touch this thing.

I couldn't decide on a restaurant this morning, so I just picked up some precooked bacon and eggs at the grocery store breakfast bar. It wasn't very good. I should have just cooked breakfast myself at home. At least I didn't have to make a separate trip to get groceries for the weekend. I think I'm just not willing to admit that I've lost my interest in food. Nothing I eat seems to taste very good anymore. I know I need to eat to stay healthy, but there are times when I wish I could exist without food.

Dash doesn't have this problem. He seems to want to eat all the time now. This is certainly better than not eating, but I wish we could strike a balance. I don't want Dash to get fat because his rear legs are so weak. If I'm not in the kitchen feeding him, Dash wants me napping with him in the bedroom. He gets irritated when I spend a lot of time at the computer and then starts knocking things over in the office. I try to give Dash the benefit of the doubt because he's got so much wrong with him, but I think our boy has become a little spoiled.

The printer ink I ordered arrived today and I've been watching it disappear as I run the cleaning cycle to clear the clogged lines. Epson is really just an ink company. They sell you complex printers at artificially low prices knowing that you'll have to buy their ridiculously expensive ink. Half the ink is wasted running these cleaning cycles. Pigment ink makes beautiful prints, but it clogs very easily. You've got to keep the printer running to keep it clean. Basically, you should never buy one of these large printers unless you plan to print something every day. If I hadn't become a slave to my machines, I would have ditched this cantankerous printer a long time ago. A big ink jet printer isn't nearly as essential as a toilet.

I finally got Dash to take an afternoon walk, but it wasn't easy. He doesn't like to walk down the alley in the afternoon. I practically had to carry him down the alley today, but once we got to the park, he was just fine. I don't understand this behavior at all. Dash probably thinks the same of me and wonders why I waste so much time trying to maintain old things that any sane person would have thrown away by now.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day