Best laid plans always go belly up !!

Anything on your mind that isn't about RLS? It's nice to realize that there is life beyond this disease and have an opportunity to get to know our online family in a different context.
Post Reply
Polar Bear
Moderator
Posts: 8797
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Best laid plans always go belly up !!

Post by Polar Bear »

It's hubby's birthday next weekend, so we thought we'd go away for a couple of days, can't next weekend as we have a function, so we booked to go tomorrow Saturday, just until Monday. We will stay about 10 minutes walk from the Giant's Causeway, a fabulous landscape feature, perhaps some of you will have heard of it, on the very north coast of Northern Ireland. We can see Scotland.

This morning we woke up, both with head colds, stuffed up... but what the heck, we will still go, just be kind to ourselves. It is due to rain what so what..... raincoats and scarves, the beaches and the headlands.

Then came the crisis !!!!! while I was at work, the toilet cistern leaked, the seal had gone. Now I reckoned if we could isolate and stop the flow of water to the cistern, then number four son who would be at home could manage somehow, i.e. flush the loo using a plastic bucket filled with water from the bath taps. Yes... I know its a bit basic - but it is a very nice silver coloured plastic bucket.

No such thing as fitting a new seal, these innards all come as a unit including the seal. Weren't we lucky, cos we have a replacement set of innards in the garage. Hubby had at one time fixed a little lever and had bought a new set planning to fit it some time. Now do these new innards fit ??? well, its not quite certain, but we will find out soon.

The difficulty is that the piping is all behind a false wall which has been tiled. Actually, there used to be a wall, in the last half hour the wall/tiles/wooden lathes have been dismantled to get at the piping. Hubby has just walked past with the toilet cistern, out to the garage to try and fit the new innards.

Did anyone (hubby)remove the silver venetian blind, the plants, the toiletries, the bath mats, before starting to drill/saw and pull down a wall ??? that would have been too simple. The bathroom is like a building site. Dust, broken tiles everywhere. Blood on the walls.... trust me it is hubby's and it was accidental. He assures me the cut on his hand looks worse than it is. :roll:

I have packed, he has not, the place is a mess, and I reckon he will keep going to the early hours, who knows how long, to try and at least leave the place without a leak. then we have to clean the place up.

When we get back on Monday evening, we will have granddaughter the next day from 8am until 9pm. She is 11 months and you can't take your eyes off her. So no seeing to the bathroom.

I think we should get rid of this fancy loo, looks fancy, water saving etc. etc. but has been a n u i s a n c e from the day it was fitted.

Hubby has just passed from the garage back to the bathroom...... all is not good......... something is not fitting as it should.

Things are getting fraught :evil:
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

SquirmingSusan
Posts: 3028
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:08 am
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Post by SquirmingSusan »

I'm always saying to my dh, "they can send people to the moon, so why can't they make a toilet that works?" :evil: Plumbing can be such a nightmare. We had a major floor drain backup about a week ago. Had to make an emergency call to the plumber.

I hope you can get away this weekend. Your destination sounds lovely. And I hope your colds go away quick. Take some zinc; works for me just about every time. Just take it with food, or you'll be another kind of sick.

Well, I just had a few minutes. I'm on my way to stay with my mom, until we can get her full-time, live-in care. She's getting very weak. :(
Susan

Polar Bear
Moderator
Posts: 8797
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Post by Polar Bear »

Ye, we are getting away, worked at the loo cistern until 3am, success, and then had to wash everything down. However, the stud wall which is about 5 ft x 3 feet will have to be rebuilt behind the loo, and so at the moment it is position about 6 inches from the wall. Looks a bit odd. But... it.... works..... without a leak.

And so now we are taking our vitimans and shall sniff - sniff - cough- cough our way through our little break.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

ViewsAskew
Moderator
Posts: 16570
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Post by ViewsAskew »

SO sorry I missed this before. Sounds like it's finally under control, but what a nightmare!

I don't know if you have this product there, but we have something called Zicam. It's a homeopathic remedy and it really works for me and DH. Zinc helps, too, as Susan recommended. The Zicam seems to work best for me, though, but I use both just in case. I just got a cold this week and was able to contain it to a very minor nuisance.

I look forward to hearing about the weekend away. Hope you loved it.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Polar Bear
Moderator
Posts: 8797
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Post by Polar Bear »

Yeah, made the most of it as much as our symtoms and resultant energy levels let us. Went to the movies and saw Pride and Glory, and having made sure we had taken our decongestants (especially vicks sinex) so that we could actually breathe, had a nice meal or two.

Got back today to our little building site, and so hubby started the preparation and work starts in full tomorrow.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Ouch ... gremlins in the loo are horrid.

I remember when our 2nd toilet downstairs at my old (marital) house up in Rocky decided it would have a party without telling us ... it was a yukky mess ... particuarly since the water spread across carpet and under bookshelves and cupboards.

And ... it was a Sunday lol. Was so thankful that the plumber and the carpet cleaning guy weren't too put out about makin a bit of money that day.

Betty, i'm glad you still went on your trip. Staying home would've just made you cross with yourself. Headcolds and all, by the sound of it, you still had a good time.

Take care of you ... and DH
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

Wayne
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:50 am
Location: Virginia (USA)

Post by Wayne »

Sorry to hear all the domestic problems happening at once.

I've had my share of do it yourself plumbing aggravation. I finally reached the point of just calling a plumber as my first option. Yes it costs me. I figure that the time it takes me to take it apart, finding and buying correct parts, finding out I didn't get the correct parts, returning to the hardware store again for the actual correct parts and re-assembling everything, then taking it apart again because I forgot this little piece.... and so forth.

So actually, I'm saving money in the form of time and aggravation. The plumber is usually there and gone within two hours.

Neco
Posts: 2297
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:18 am
Location: Somewhere in the midwest
Contact:

Post by Neco »

My bathroom is horrible.. I haven't cleaned it forever (but I clean toilets at work and I wouldn't touch mine even with gloves)..

I had to replace the tank o-ring as some 2000 flushes or whatever product decided to destroy it and it was making the handle stick when you tried to flush, cause the rubber was all soft and, well its a very weird system I won't try to describe..

All I knew was I wanted a plug and chain, like real toilets have. Bought me a nice new handle on a METAL rod, not that plastic crap. Got a nifty quiet tank filling aparatus which allowed me to get rid of the floater too. You apparently set this device on it, at a certain level and it stops the water there.

Works wonders.. My toilet actually flushes like a real toilet not, not this low-flo crap they've been pushing for years.

I'm surprised I even remember everything I did, as I did the whole thing totally stoned out on Oxycodone at the time... Incredible that I can remember everything I do while baked, but I can't remember 2 minutes later whether I really did take a Lactaid with my yogurt/ice cream/ whatever

Betty/WV
Posts: 587
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 11:11 pm
Location: West Virginia, Wild and Wonderful

re: zicam

Post by Betty/WV »

Hi: Just saw on the news that they have pulled Zicam (spelling) off the market, it is causeing people to lose their sense of smell. BETTY/WV
Thanks to rls.org, I have learned so much about my condition. I have received encouragement from my friends here. This is a site I can come to when I am up most of the night, and I vent, and know those who read my messages understand

SquirmingSusan
Posts: 3028
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:08 am
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Post by SquirmingSusan »

Oh bummer on the Zicam being pulled from the market! It does seem to work. Oh well, it seems like taking the zinc pills works pretty well too.

On the toilet front, I recently got a low-flow toilet that works better than any toilet I've ever used. It's an Eljer and it had the highest ratings at Menard's. Just thought you all might want to know. :wink:
Susan

Post Reply