A game of thrones!

Home ownership is NOT for wimps! And when it comes to plumbing, I'm all thumbs, even more so when it comes to the "Royal Throne"!

Some may recall from stories passed that we owned the same domicile for 31 years prior to selling it in June 2020. During that time, this all-thumbs, klutzy, experience-lacking "Bungalo Bob" stumbled through a host of DIY jobs whose culminations didn't match the pre-construction image of my mind. What I ultimately learned is that I missed the proverbial boat when it came to spruce-up skills. The jobs I fumbled my way through were drywalling, laminate flooring, framing+drywalling the basement, shelving, and painting, but things like plumbing or electrical were summarily off limits, partially because mistakes would either be costly or deadly, not necessarily in order of importance.

When we moved to our condo, that added a layer of liability since mistakes would not only affect what we owned, but had the potential to affect others. For smaller jobs, I begged favours from competent friends, the usual payment came in glass and gurgled, but when we realized a professional was paramount, my Scottish roots cringed at paying the anticipated cost. My anxiety was confirmed when we contracted a young lad that was "local" ... he's based in Orr Lake but comes to "The Beach" regularly ... for advice about our aged toilets since they had developed some quirks that had become "a burr under the saddle." He was the former student of my friend John Minty, and his recommendation was to switch both toilets out before major issues developed.

The cost of that first visit could be broken down into dollars per word! HaHaHa!

After our guy left, we dutifully discussed whether his advice was feasible, eventually agreed it should be done, and our decision prompted a quest for thrones from a Big Box store because, as it turns out, plumbers no longer supply the thrones. We chose Home Depot for our quest, surveyed the bewildering arrangement of choices ranging from less than $175 up to over $500, eventually narrowing it down to 2 choices. We had been encouraged to look for an American Standard brand so we settled on one of two that were separated by about $150 in price. Thinking it prudent, we sought some input from a store employee before making the final decision, and we were swayed to consider a Home Depot brand that was of similar price to the lower range of our original two choices. 

We really should have simply listened to our guy.

Lured by the, "This is a better toilet for the same money" sales pitch, we chose the HD brand ... cue the dramatic, foreshadowing music! Since we had zero experience with replacing toilets, I was not put off by the weight of the box, assuming (in error, as it would turn out) they were all that heavy. While transporting them back to the Beach was a chore, getting them up to the condo was a whole different matter. I've heard it said that any job is easier with the right tools, and we DEFINITELY would have appreciated a dolly or some such, but my back held out, the task was accomplished, and the call put out for our plumber's return. Like Murphy's Law, the day that he was able to help, I was scheduled to supply that morning, so things had already started when I arrived home just after lunch, and I immediately felt the pang of sympathy thanks to the audible "Uuuugh's" and "Wheeeew's" emanating from the bathroom. Apparently, the model we bought was the Granpappy most-difficult install of all. 

Oooops, my bad! Nice to know I still got it ... NOT!

In the end, the job was completed, the end product looked awesome, and their function eliminated the annoyances of the old thrones. All that was left was the exchange of Shekels. We thought we got a good deal on the two, paying just shy of $250 each, and hoped that the install costs would come in less than the purchase cost, and I'm pleased (???) to inform that it did ... barely. That is not a complaint about our guy! He had to work awfully darned hard to make these two behemoths fit, and the 3.5 hours it took was a direct correlation to the model we chose, so for just a wee bit shy of $1K you too could enjoy the "GO" on thrones of comparable quality. 

As the saying goes, "All it takes is money!"

How sad is it that I just spent an entire blog post on toilets?