Home Owner: 1, Home Owner's Throne: 0

Today, I was planning to post about how to find quality races - races that are well organized and fun to compete in.  Instead, I'll be spending my time celebrate one of life's little victories.

I fixed my own toilet.

There's little worse than the feeling you get when you push your toilet lever...and nothing happens.  If you're a plumber, or mechanically inclined, this may not seem like a big deal.  When you've never had to deal with plumbing problems before, it can get downright scary.  I represent the later.

Using my instincts, I removed the top of the tank to take a look at the 'guts'.  Here is what I saw:

The tank is full and ready to go...or so I thought.

Okay.  Fine.  So, lets give it a flush now, shall we?

From what I could tell, when you push the lever, it lifts a chain, which in turn lifts a plunger, allowing the water to drain down into the bowl and wash away all the evil-ness.  But that wasn't happening here.

Notice, that the hinge is now separated from the plunger thingy that holds the water in the tank.

I removed both the hinge and the plunger thingy, reconnected them and clipped them back into place.  After the tank filled again, I gave it another try - same result.  Dang.

The offending equipment.

Okay. So reassembly wasn't going to work.  I took the parts out again and headed down to the hardware store.  But first, I expressed my true feelings to the failed plumbing hardware.

Serves 'em right for making me stick my hands in a toilet tank.

As usual, the local Ace hardware store had what I needed, and I was in-and-out in just a couple of minutes with a shiny new plunger thingy.

Notice that it's ONE piece - no chance for separation.

 The new part clipped easily into place.  The only thing left to do was wait and pray.  After the tank filled again, it was time for the moment of truth.  I pressed down the lever and heard the satisfying gurgle of a functioning throne!

Plunger up + water evacuating = SUCCESS!!

I was so excited with my handy-work that I waited for the tank to fill again just so I could waste water bask in the sweet, sweet glow of victory.

Aaahhh.  To the Victor go the spoils.

Sure.  It's a minor victory, but it's still a victory.  Yay.

That's all for today.  I'll be back soon to talk about what to look for when you're trying to decide which race(s) to do.