Believing it
I think people move a lot in NYC – or in general.
Like, the Firecracker’s moved six times in the last decade.
Me: Wild.
Her: Yup.
My college buddy and I moved into my current apartment waaaay back in 1996, but we ended up buying it in 2004, which is still almost 20 years ago.
Been here ever since.
Anywho, in November of 2004, we gutted one of the bathrooms ourselves and hired a contractor to fix it up, including putting in a new toilet and vanity.
We ended up buying the Kohler Rialto K-3386 for $349, which is roughly $19 a year, amortized across these 18 some years.
Now, the seat on that bad boy cracked so I decided to just swap it out – the first time since it was installed in 2004.
Welp, that started a long journey that ended up with my getting rid of the entire toilet.
See, the reason we got this toilet was because it was the absolute smallest toilet you could buy that was still mass produced.
BUT, because it’s so small, it had a special mechanism to attach the lid to the toilet. I did not realize this until it was too late.
Evidently, I’m not the only one.
I’m living in an interesting period of my life right now in that I’m aware that I won’t be here forever.
After all, Everybody knows they are going to die, but no one really believes it.
Figure that, at some point, this pad will be the boy’s and I wanna limit his frustration.
Was gonna buy the kit to replace the toilet but, having read up horror stories of people doing all that only to crack their decades old toilet, I just decided to toss the whole thing.
Enter my buddy Wally who said he would do it for free.
Him: Just the hands-on experience is enough.
Me: Absolutely not!
I’m frequently surprised how many really lovely people I’ve met in my life, and he’s one of them, for sure.
So, last weekend, he and I discovered just how gross removing a 20 year old toilet could be.
One thing that we did was remove the old wax ring that seals the gap between the flooring and the toilet.
Him: Sorry, I got some on the floor.
Me: Dude, no need to apologize, this stuff is getting everywhere.
What shoulda been like a two-hour project, turned out to be four hours because so much had rusted in place and needed replacing.
And at least three hours trying to clean up the ridonk mess. Ridonk.
Buuuuut, afterward, this is what my bathroom looked like.
It’s a slightly longer toilet – 27.5″ from the wall versus 25.5″ but it’s now dual flush and is probably gonna be good until I’m 70.
Then it’s the kid’s problem, not mine.
Boy: That’s so cool!
Me: Glad you think so, kid.
Him: I’m gonna watch YouTube.
Me: (sighing) Yup.
Location: the kid’s BJJ class, watching him take an elbow to the face (accidentally)
Mood: panicked, not about the elbow
Music: I’ll be back home one day, before long (Spotify)
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6 replies on “My 18 Year-Old Toilet from Hell”
That was so frustrating to watch! Ugh ..never Kohler buying! Toto may be best.
Yes, death is closer at this point. I’m tired. Hope you have another adventurous weekend!
This was a dark comment I missed – I hope you’re ok!
I feel weaker but holding on. My mom’s not well, she took a fall too from Tramadol. Been suffering from dental gum pain issues. Everything looks okay but she’s not okay. Very weak. Acupuncture helps. Hope your mom is doing better.
*I’ve always been dark, sad most of my life. But at this point very weak, people keep dying 🙁
Oh, man. I hope she – and you – are ok.
Getting older definitely has its drawbacks BUT it’s still better than the alternative.
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[…] They were getting pretty worn and rusty so, I decided to paint them with the help of my buddy Wally. […]