I went to the biggish town about 35 miles away with Neighbor L this morning. L is delighted to have her truck back and working right for the first time in quite a while, and the new hasn’t worn off. She mentioned with a laugh that she has taken to goo-boying her truck for up- and down-shifting correctly.
I replied that I was fully on board with the feeling: I still give my bedroom heater a thumbs-up when I hear it ‘foop’ on demand from the thermostat. This time last year it was a hit-or-miss phenomenon that eventually stopped working entirely and it really hurt my heart at the time.
More recently I’ve had a chance to see what I really value about having running water and what’s just sort of a convenience. A working kitchen sink, for example, is a very useful thing to have but I don’t get emotional about it coming back into my life the way I do – even after all these years – with my Real Flush Toilet. Seriously – I can haul water for the sink. But hauling shit is a real blow to your quality of life.
I’m not suggesting that losing basic amenities is ever a good thing to do. But I will observe that having it happen from time to time helps me appreciate them more when I get them working again.
BTDT. In Florida we deal with hurricanes which result in loss of power, which doesn’t just turn off our air conditioning, it shuts down businesses for miles around, down trees that block roads causing random, and prolonged, detours, frantic searches for house repair services, and even – occasionally – the shut down of city or county water systems.
We know it’s temporary, and if you’ve lived here for longer than 90 minutes you almost certainly have workarounds, ranging from whole-house generators and a backup well, to enough portable electrons or coolers and ice to keep food from spoiling and a old camp stove to cook it on.
We persevere, comiserate and help each other, but we’re always supremely glad when things return to What Passes For Normal.
I am currently using a 5 gallon bucket to flush the toilet. House has Rheem G2210 toilets. The “Al Bundy” style that actually flushes. The tank in the master bath cracked. Rheem no longer makes toilets, and all the available new tanks are “Al Gore” style. 5 gallon bucket flushes quite well (using about 2 1/2 gallons) and the small tank will refill the bowl acceptably afterward.
Man I would be fixing my cracked tank pronto.
Dunno about bonding to porcelain, but I see a lot of youtube superglue and baking soda patches working under low pressure applications.
Fiberglass might work, Gorilla tape might work, Aluminum Duct tape might work.
Nothing like a visit to Third World lifestyle to make you appreciate First World.
I think the secret liar needs to have a proper outhouse and I’m surprised it doesn’t.
Oh man I’ve done the outhouse thing. Far as I’m concerned there’s no such thing as a ‘proper’ outhouse.
Nothing like a little power outage to get yer “contingencies” in line.
Knowing you’ll be without water for a while is like knowing you’ll be hung in the morning. My focus was readying the porta-potty and checking water containers. Didn’t need ’em, luckily. I suppose that means Murphy will really be a jerk next time. Sigh.