baptism of the Lord and of katie

the catholic church celebrates the baptism of the lord today, thus marking the end of the advent and christmas season. it was fitting, then, that i took down the christmas decorations yesterday. the house is almost empty and a lot less cosy without the tree. :(

it was also fitting to celebrate the feast of the baptism of the Lord today because yesterday i had a sort of "baptism" myself. here's the story:

you may remember that i have been fighting a few battles with the house. after my defeat from the toilet and the washing machine last weekend, i vowed i would be more successful this weekend. i decided i couldn't yet win the washing machine battle, but i could "cut it off at the knees" and temporarily solve the problem. so we severed the outside pipe, thus not really fixing the problem, but at least allowing us to do laundry without getting water all over the floor. the real fix will come when we have the funds to call a professional.

and then there was the toilet. i went to the local hardware store and bought all the inside pieces to replace everything in the innards of the toilet. it took me a while, but after carefully reading the directions, i managed to actually take everything out and put all the new stuff in. the good news was that the toilet was functioning after my repairs and the leaking was less, but i could still see the water line dropping a little bit. so i knew there was still a leak somewhere. i went the hardware store again but had little success there. however, after coming home again i soon realized that there was water leaking on the outside of the basin around the nut where the water line comes in from the wall. so now i was really mad, but still determined to win this one. i called my stepdad and bitched to him for a minute and he gave me the brilliant suggestion of ensuring that i screwed the nut in completely (the directions told me not to screw it in too tight because it could brake the tank).

so, i went back to the toilet. i took the lid off but decided not to turn the water back off because all i was doing was tightening a nut. as i proceeded to turn the nut, i realized i was going in the wrong direction. so, of course, water started running out of the bottom of the tank. i was like, "oh no, wrong way." quickly turn, turn, turn the other direction. and then, splash! a fountain of water was coming up from inside the toilet and shooting all over me and the bathroom.

apparently, i had not really secured the water filter system inside the toilet and the thingy* wasn't really secured to the other thingy*. the water shot up so hard that the first thingy* flew in the air, out of the basin and thus causing said fountain of water. i let out a satisfying girl-like squeal but was able to turn everything off relatively quickly.

in the end, i won out against the toilet. the leak is pretty much all but gone and i'm satisfied enough to say i've the victor. for being my first initiation into plumbing i think it was only appropriate that i got initiated through water.