Holy good lord

That cold me knocked me OUT! Admittedly, not as bad as last year's, but still lame.

When I get sick, I get a man cold. Both man-sized and in terms of how I deal with it - as in not well. I am a super sissy when it comes to being sick. I believe I said to someone last Thursday that I would take a head cold for a week over a sore throat for a day. I got both (I'm shaking my fist at you immune system). Kris noticed the apothecary I set up beside the couch, which included such items as: Tylenol DT Cold, Tylenol Extra Strength, Robitussin, Buckley's, Ricola Honey & Lemon lozenges, Cepacol cherry lozenges, and Chloraseptic throat spray (cherry flavour, but really it tastes like band aids and ozonol). Also a box of kleenex, lip balm (until the dog ate it while I was in the shower) and hand lotion. Add to that my crochet supplies (yarn, hooks, books etc) and I had basically everything I needed to survive.

Except a bathroom. Here's why:

The bathroom on the main floor is in the addition. We discovered some weeks ago a slow leak in the basement coming from the direction of this bathroom's pipes. We stopped using it until we could figure out where the leak was coming from, testing by running the sink but not flushing the toilet, then flushing the toilet (just the water) and not running the sink. When we concluded that it was the toilet leaking (disgusting), Kris decided on changing the wax ring as a first attempt at a solution. So, Sunday he went out and got a new wax ring, came home and dismantled the toilet, where we promptly discovered the source of the leak. How can I explain this? Essentially, the drainage pipe is not flush (ha! I didn't even mean to do that) with the hole intended to hold the pipe - about 1-2 cm gap. When the previous owners installed a new toilet, they did not ensure this proper alignment. Thus, when the toilet is flushed some of the contents are in fact going down the outside of the pipe, rather than inside it. Think about THAT. Blegh.

I'd like to note that this is the fourth problem we've found with the DIY geniuses who owned our house previously:

1. Paper towel stuffed up inside the hose of a leaky release valve on the water heater, which came shooting out when the water heater drained onto our floor. Now fixed by a professional.

2. Improperly (as in didn't) stripping the wire for light fixture, causing the plastic to melt and shorting the fixture altogether. Replaced by Kris who is an expert at minor electrical tasks like outlets, switches and light fixtures.

3. Exposed wiring taped together with scotch tape

4. The toilet fiasco. Trying to seal it first - if that fails we'll need a plumber and floor guy and may unexpectedly reno our main floor bathroom.

I can't wait to find out what's waiting for us when we tear up the deck next summer.

Jerks.