Water - Another Battle in My Endless War

Water is not my friend - never has been much of one and continues to be problematic. Although I don't have water coursing down my walls or through my windows (yes, both of those things have happened in my life - NOT fun experiences to write home about), my little problem is growing, as is my level of frustration with it.

Flowing water with ice. I love the subtle
colors in this picture.

A month or so ago the city went house-to-house installing new water meters. Now the city can read the meters remotely and more efficiently. Fortunately it wasn't more money for us, so OK - we got a new water meter installed. A week or so ago we got a letter from the city advising us that we probably had a slow water leak and to check our toilets as the most likely cause. We're all trying to save water here, so I was fine with that and had a fairly good suspicion that it would be the toilet in the guest bathroom.

The textures here as water flows over rocks - so wonderful and silky
over the mottled and immovable stone.

Following instructions, I tested the water flow with food coloring. Yes - as I had suspected, we had a leak. The letter suggested it would more than likely be solved by replacing the flapper valve so thanks to a nice video on You-Tube, I removed the old one (after turning of the water - yes...I'm stupid sometimes, but not this time) and took it to the hardware store where I purchased a replacement. I put the new one in, adjusted the chain properly, turned on the water, and voila! It worked - a charm!

My water problems are pushing me over the edge!

But the floater ball was/is now causing me problems. And last night, while adjusting it, I heard the floater ball actually crack (the toilet was placed in 1960, so it's old - very old). Now I get to unscrew the floater ball and drop by the hardware store again to get a replacement which I will install tomorrow morning. In the meantime I won't have a functional toilet in the guest bathroom. That's OK, I am the only person to use that one unless Sharon is visiting, but it's one more thing to get completed before I leave for Milwaukee. At this rate I can hardly wait for my vacation...