Plunger Etiquette

Forewarning: Now would be a good time for you to put down any food you may have in your hand.

I have a confession to make:
Until earlier today, I had never used a plunger.

It's sad, but true. Ok, mostly true. When I was in middle school I remember "helping" my dad unplug the drain in the bathroom a couple times. This mostly consisted of me sort of holding on to the plunger, and him doing all of the work. I also vaguely remember getting diluted toothpaste-water in my hair on several occasions.

I. Was. Not. Amused.

Today, however, my inexperience came back to haunt me. The toilet in my apartment decided not to flush completely, causing me to stand in the bathroom staring at the toilet Scooby-Doo style ("Ruh-roh....") for several minutes.

After the first flush the contents of said toilet literally stayed put, and the bowl was filled nearly to the brim with water. Reflexively I stepped back from the toilet because A. Gross and B. There is no way I'd ever be able to wear those socks again no matter how many times I washed them.

After doing this I realized that I had no plan for an over flowing toilet except screams of "OH SHIT!!!!" that, while strangely appropriate for the situation, would solve absolutely nothing.

The water started draining, and after it had gone down to below normal levels, I flushed again.
Guess what happened! Nothing! Woooooo!

What did happen? FAIL.

Decided to flush one more time, while praying that it wouldn't overflow. (See above for results this time. Heh.)

So. What now? I anxiously glanced at the plunger we keep next to the toilet and decided to wash my hands. Mere proximity to the plunger made me feel dirty. Next, I consulted with my roommate. She advised using the plunger.

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

I thought about asking said roommate exactly how to use plunger, but then decided against it and instead to try and make the impression that, erm, I KNOW SHIT and am not a complete idiot (pun very much intended).

Honestly I think I've already sort of blocked this from my memory, but a few minutes later, after using the plunger, I flushed the toilet again and it did what toilets are frickin supposed to do.

Crisis Averted.

But then I didn't know what to do with the plunger. We keep it sitting in a bag next to the toilet, but I felt weird just setting it back. Should I wash it? Or at least rinse it off? If I do wash/rinse it, should I let it dry before it returns to its place in the bathroom??

These questions led to further holes in my knowledge. How long should we keep the plunger? When we someday replace it, is it recyclable, or do you just throw it away? Is there a plunger relocation program where those less fortunate get our old plungers? Could it actually kill a demonic bunny????

In the end I just rinsed it off.

So you tell me, Internets, was it a damning faux pas, or a completely acceptable practice? Perhaps I'm just an idiot? Would Emily Post approve of my behavior? Aside from writing about poo on the internet?

Apology Time

Apparently I have sort of forgotten about this blog. I really didn't mean to not post anything for 6 weeks, it just happened. Actually it's kind of interesting that during my month long vacation I wrote exactly zero blog entries. One would think I would write many more than usual, with all of the glorious downtime, but sadly, I'm just not that, erm...good? Normal? I don't know.

I'd really like to defend my laziness, but there's really no excuse. It's not like nothing happened over break. Ooh, good topic: Things that happened during my vacation. Here comes a flaaaaaaashbaaaaaaack........


- More hellish traveling experiences. Unfortunately, said catastrophies did not result in a first class seat and subsequent blanket stealing adventure as during the great (near) debacle of Thanksgiving '08. Instead, they resulted in missing luggage for a few days, me officially hating O'Hare forever, and oh yeah, a free round trip ticket anywhere in the continental US. Can I get a Boo-Yah?

- Sledding with Wally. Heck. Yes. (Fyi, that's not me in the picture, as you may guess. But my Wally is the exact same type of whale.)

- The testing of the German-made incense burner mentioned in previous post. Boy was it fun. Boy did my mom hate it. Definitely has my name on it so I get to take it when my parents move. (Or die, I guess. Morbidity, thy name is Klue!)

- Played many hilarious installments of Apples to Apples, Pictionary, and Scategories. For future reference, Tarabull kicks ass at Scategories. Seriously. She will annihilate you. Actually, she and my sister should play each other. Titans, people. Titans.

- Ventured to Tennessee to visit oldest sister and family including my 6 year-old nephew. Hilarity ensued. Silly string was discovered for the first time by said munchkin, and our lives shall never be the same again.
Also: weather down there was surely an abomination of some sort. Jackets and gloves unnecessary in December? Check. Greenness that can only be found on St. Patrick Day cards everywhere? Check. Klue disgusted by these very ideas? Double check.
But more on that trip later.

- Another test while home. One of these. Swedish Angel Chimes. Another treasure dug out of the piles of crap in my parents house. Ours isn't nearly as shiny as the one in the picture, but still it's awesome. The candles when lit propel the fan near the top, which spins the three metal angels around the main structure. Small bells on either side are struck with tiny hanging mallets attached to each angel's stomach. It's ridiculous, but hilarious and oddly soothing. In other words, perfect for Christmas. Heh.


See? Lots happening. Laziness also just happens to be under the category of "Lots" so, my bad. I'll work on that.