potty talk

When we moved into this house, the first "issue" we noticed was the ultra slow flushing of the toilets. It would often just barely get the water flushed through. We learned quickly that if anyone had to "do business", it must be flushed before any toilet paper could be added to the pot--and if much was needed, there was a fair amount of flushing in between times. Highly annoying, and the plunger has been used more in the past several months than I have ever dreamed of using one in my lifetime.

Enter my father. He knows a little bit about a lot of things. Sometimes I believe he can answer nearly any question I could have. He's a subcontractor which adds to his knowledge bank about stuff like potties. He checked in the back of the toilets and knew what we did not (we'd looked too, but it meant very little to us). There are large cylinders around the rubber stopper slowing the water flow, essentially a water saver, I think. How it was saving water when we had to flush so many extra times is beyond me!

He cut large notches out of them to give a better water flow and voila! My potty WORKS! It even sounds like a real potty flushing now. I get a tiny thrill every time I hear that distinct sound. It's only been a few days, and I find there is an ingrained dread of "Will I need the plunger for that?" (Let me tell you, going one week without plunging was a treat and meant a well-catered potty!) Now, I push that dread away and think, "Listen. . .it's flushing". Then I smile.