A technicolor loony.

Oh *wow*. This Discworld Cake is just plain amazing. (Via boingboing_net

~~~

This was a *great* weekend. Why? 'Cause I conquered the toilet! No, this has nothing to do with toilet training. *grin*

A number of months ago (that number *may* be twelve, I'm just not sure), Sammy decided to flush the plastic container from one of those cookies & frosting thingies down her toilet. It got stuck in the second curve of the pipe out of the toilet and there it stayed.

Yesterday, Jeff and I finally decided to see if we could fix the damn thing. Part of the delay was procrastination, but part of it was lack of a wire hanger. Could not find one for love nor money. darthgeek found one when he was cleaning out the van so it could be carted off. (Well...rolled off.)

He unbent it and was trying to poke the container on through, but couldn't work it through the curves of the pipe. So, I tried, then we decided to take the toilet apart and see if we could do it from the other end.

Luckily, I'd seen a tv show about taking out an old toilet, and oddly enough, I'd retained a *lot* of it. The fact that it was a barely used toilet and was brand new in mid-2005 definitely helped things. So, armed with our handy-dandy leathermen, we set to work.

It worked out beautifully. Jeff and I are a *fabulous* team when it comes to things like this, 'cause we have perfected "Wait, what about this?"...each person gets to suggest a whole thing, then the other person can give comments. We started that (the no breaking in part, not the sharing of ideas) 'cause sometimes I have a difficult time getting the words/ideas from my brain into the world.

So, finally, we've got the thing apart, with the tank in the bathtub for safekeeping. The toilet is upside down and I'm poking the unbent hanger in, to see if I can force the plastic thingie back into the bowl. No go, but I didn't really expect it to work.

I tried just using my fingers, but my palm wouldn't fit through the hole. We asked Sammy to put her hand in, but she was very creeped out by the whole idea. I showed her that it wasn't connected to anything (one would think the upsidedowness of the thing would be self-explanatory, but, whatever), and I did get grumpy about the whole thing, but she really did hate the idea to the extreme. To her credit, she did eventually put her hand *in* the hole, to see if her hand would fit. But she got really freaked out when she felt something "wet" (it was actually just the glazed bit starting) and we let it go.

Which left us with the toilet still blocked. I sat and thought about it for a while, and decided to form a very small hoook on one end of the hanger. I was hoping to either catch the thing at a perfect angle or poke a hole in it. Oddly, I found that rotating the wire worked better than gently forcing it. I was about to give up hope when I pulled out the foil lid.

And, after much wire poking, and not much hope, it worked! I actually hooked the damn thing and pulled it up. *And* when I went to take it out, I didn't bump it and make it fall back into the hole either. I was astounded. I still kind of am.:)

Then, after a short break and a couple high-fives, we put the toilet back together. That worked out well, too. Especially since the...upside down screws that secure the toilet to the floor were located next to lines on the linoleum. I don't know if it was accident or design, but I salute whomever originally installed the toilet for that.

We do have to reseal it to the floor (Jeff bought the caulk and I'll do it today), and one of the screws in the bowl is leaking ever so slightly. I've got a container under it, and I'll seal it, too. But the wax seal is in beautiful shape and there was absolutely no problem when we did the test flushes.

Samantha has been told that if she flushes anything *else* down that isn't supposed to go, she's gonna hafta whiz in the backyard for a year. I think we got the point across. ;)

~~~

In *very* other news, we watched Good Night & Good Luck on Saturday night. It was breathtakingly good. The writing was so tight you could bounce a quarter off it.

There was one scene where I actually had to pause the action and glory in the dialog. I don't want to take the moment away from anyone, so just keep an eye out in the scene where Robert Downey Jr. is given the envelope, in the Senate, about Murrow. (Mustard, in the conservatory, with the candlestick)

~~~

You may have noticed I don't really write much about politics here. It isn't in deference to anyone. It isn't because I'm not angry. Oh dear ghods, I'm angry. And it certainly isn't because I'm not doing anything about it.

But, beyond being angry, I'm hurt and I'm feeling hopeless. Not utterly hopeless, but the tank is nowhere near full.

And if I write about it too much here, where my defenses are often down, I think I may lose whatever hope I still have. And, as cynical and sarcastic as I am, I need that hope. 'Cause as much as I fucking *hate* the current administration, I fucking *love* this country and what it has always aspired to be.

I've been politically active since I was fourteen. I read about the PMRC in Rolling Stone. They said "Write your representatives and tell them how you feel!" I did more than that. I wrote 'em all. By hand. Because, you know...that's all I had. (Mum, do you remember when I got my typewriter? It was after that, yes?) And I learned some very valuable lessons.

1. Just 'cause they write back doesn't mean they actually read the letter *you* wrote.

and

b. Starting the letter "Dear Mr/Ms {name}, I am a fourteen year old girl who thinks the PMRC is ridiculous!" won't really garner as much support as one may think.

But I did it...and I watched Dee Snyder speak. Dee Snyder! The lead singer of Twisted Sister (one of my favorite bands at the time...not that I hate them now or anything) was talking to Congress! I didn't know that was allowed! My Boompa and I sat there and watched the whole thing. It was great. He loved my enthusiasm.:)

So, please don't take my silence in this journal as anything but protection of my heart. And don't be surprised if I comment about politics in other people's journals. Also, if you have any questions as to where I stand on pretty much anything, you can e-mail me. I'll even answer. :)

~~~

On Friday night, we watched Akeelah & the Bee which was nowhere near as frothy as I expected. It was a *good* movie...well acted and the ending isn't exactly what one expects.

Oh! tom_vroom, the guy who plays Derrick-T is Eddie Steeples who was in the Office Depot commercials. darthgeek spotted him.
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