Man-stuff (it’s in me)

Well, the time has come, and “Oh My God,” I did a thing this past weekend. Let me first explain myself. I’m a pretty smart and savvy woman (my opinion only). I draw the line at attempting stuff that I have no interest in, nor do I ever want to do it. I call this “Man Stuff.”

Spending time at my lake has been an inconvenience of sorts these past two years. My toilet does not work properly, and I have needed it more times during the night than I care to admit. The tank continues to fill with water, which comes from a cistern that requires water to be trucked in for filling. The water just keeps spilling over and does not shut off.

I share the cistern with my son, and I need to remember to turn on the switch whenever I need water. BUT more importantly, I need to remember to shut it off!!! I did run the cistern out of water once, and I was really pissed at myself. The thing is, it needs to be fixed, but no one thinks it’s a big deal to just turn it off and on… except me.

Call a plumber is what you are thinking, right? Me too, but men don’t think that way. “Just flip the switch” is the answer every single time I complained or whined about it.  Such a simple thing to do, I know, but not for an old person sorry/notsorry. “Please let me call a plumber.” It was always met with “just flip the switch, Mom,” and I’ll look at it when I can.

So, not wanting to annoy my son by calling a plumber I put up with it and yes, I forgot more times than I care to mention here. Fortunately, remembering to switch it off before it ran dry. I tried to rook in a few guys to have a look but they always just looked and said they would come and check it over when they had more time.

I made a trip to the hardware store in town and explained my dilemma, and the guy sold me a part that he figured was what I needed.  That was two years ago, and the part was still sitting beside my sink when anyone ventured in to have a look-see. (read; I cajoled them into checking it out … please!)

To be honest, this little bug-a-boo was really a BIG bug-a-boo to me, and it soured my time somewhat that I spent there. I may as well mention the shower, it too needed a pair of pliers and hooking up to use it. So I usually showered at my kids’ places when I needed one. A big PIA and ah well, at least I had a place to call my own while at the lake.

Last Sunday morning, I finally had enough when I ventured into the bathroom. I took off the lid of the tank and scrutinized it once more for the hundredth time! I twisted a few things and then spied the part I had bought two years ago. I turned it over to the instructions side, and there was the tiniest print I have ever tried to read!!!

It had little pictures to go along with the instructions. A warning: if you did not turn off the water, it would shoot straight up into the air! Well, it seems I was on a mission, and the harder it was for me to read, the more I needed to read it. I spent a long time on this mission (at least two hours or more, I lost track of time).

At one point, it said to carefully turn the water off or it would spout up.  Well, I hadn’t turned the water off, and it spouted up into the air; that was my turning point. I was on the right track, and this gave me confidence. I had the part upside down at one point, but corrected it when I realized the problem (it also warned not to put it in upside down, lol)

The time came for me to quit (I was done) and turn on the water. OMG this was intense and I held my breath as the water filled the tank and then NIRVANA… the water stopped all by itself before spilling continuously over into the tank.. You will never know how excited and elated this made me. I literally went out to my deck and yelled at the top of my lungs, “I did it! I’m a plumber now!” I could not wipe the smile off my face.

Happiness is a fickle thing. I’m still thrilled at what I accomplished, and nobody can take that away from me. Man-stuff look out, I’m on a roll…

P.S. I hope I didn’t bore the shit outta you with this blog, but… I can’t believe I fixed that damn toilet tank. I have a bidet still in the box waiting to be installed in my bedroom bathroom for over a year now! Guess that’s my next challenge :  )

Copyright July 12th, 2025