Day 3012

I was determined to fix the toilet today. I printed out a parts list and drove to the only plumbing supply store in town that has just about everything. The store was closed. If I was thinking, I should have known the store would be closed. Just about the only people who go to this store are plumbers. Have you ever tried getting a plumber on a Saturday?

When I finished the rest of my Saturday errands, I took the flush valve apart and cleaned everything again. This time I must have done something right. When I reassembled the valve and turned the water back on, the water level in the tank was almost an inch lower and the flush valve leak had been reduced to a slow drip. I probably still need new parts, but at least I accomplished something. I'm convinced that Porcher and Citroën must have had some connection in the part. Both French companies feature very clever engineering and make products that are virtually impossible to fix. I have owned several Citroën automobiles. They are wonderful cars to drive but you never want to break down on a lonely stretch of highway. I reluctantly sold my last Citroën when the only Citroën mechanic in Texas retired.

Dash woke me up last night and went racing for the back door. I thought I got the door opened in time. I watched Dash go out in the yard and poop. What I didn't see until the next morning was that he really didn't make it to the yard after all. It was dark and I didn't notice that he'd pooped right on top of the door threshold. When I closed the door and locked up, I inadvertently squished the poop under the bottom of the door and made a huge mess. It was a very unpleasant job to clean the aluminum threshold and underside of the door. The entire door had become a poop sandwich. I thought I was going to get a break from cleaning up poop after Dot passed away, but Dash is already following in her footsteps.

Dash didn't want to take an afternoon walk today. I sure wish this dog could talk. I don't want to make him walk if he's feeling tired or uncomfortable, but it would be nice to know how he felt about things before I spent a lot of time getting him suited up in his protective gear. If he won't walk, I have to remove all the gear because he can't get up on the bed with his boots and leg brace on. We go through this ritual several times every afternoon and I never know what the outcome is going to be. Sometimes he walks and other times he doesn't.

At least the large printer is working again. I finally managed to get the thing unclogged. The printer is making nice prints, but it looks like I'm already going to have to order some more ink. I ended up using half of the expensive ink I received recently running five cleaning cycles. Why do I still have this printer? Probably for the same reason I still have several Beta-SP tape decks. It's a bitch when you've become obsolete.

The grass is already starting to grow in the front yard again. It's almost time to see whether the lawn mower battery survived the winter. I really don't like mowing the lawn, but it's probably no worse than getting the water off the roof or fixing the toilet.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day