The family that plunges together...
The bathroom saga took a few turns this week...and other parts of the house became part of the drama. Not bathroom-related, at least.
So. Tuesday. I did not sleep well after Monday night. Tuesday morning, I had the box of newspapers on the counter. The whole thing is that, in order to have some semblance of order in my under-sink cabinets, the newspapers were going to jut out a bit. But, if she wants the door to close? I can make it close. I spent five minutes prior to taking my shower putting the papers back in there a different way and moving some stuff around under there. Is everything neat and orderly? No. And that pisses me off. But it fits and the door closes.
...And then promptly after I finished my shower, I went to get something out of that cabinet and had a hard time finding it. Sigh. But for now, no other incidents. Mom's tray has not returned to the bathroom. I don't know what she did with it, though I think the box the papers were in has now become a catch-all box of junk in the hallway for her toiletries and such. She has brought some items back into the bathroom, which is fine--and now my dad has even brought in a few things. There's still a bit of counter space for me to use, so that's nice. I'm fully aware the three of us need to coexist in there for a bit. But she needs to accept the bathroom as it was, too.
The "for a bit" part--my father had ordered a new base for the shower. It came in on Tuesday as planned...except he was like, it was so cheap! You would have hated it! So he either didn't buy it or returned it and opted for something else, but it'll be several weeks before that comes in. He really can't do anything else until that base goes in, so the bathroom's in limbo currently.
And then Wednesday comes along and a couple things happened. One was that my toilet clogged. I'd used it, then mom had used it, and it stopped working properly on her and she said she'd plunged it. I could tell--the new plunger was in one of my sinks. (Really, mom? There's a garbage can with the other plunger inside of a plastic bag right there.) When I went to use the toilet a little later, I tried to plunge it first. So, my new plunger, it's super easy to use with the handle...but I don't think it actually works. There didn't appear to be any suction so plunge all you want, it's all in vain. Dad heard me plunging and flushing and came upstairs to check things out, so then he tried plunging and didn't get anywhere, so he pulled out the old plunger (and had trouble with it; see, it's not just me, that plunger sucks to use) and managed to clear the blockage. But, yeah, to go from three toilets to one within a month was not a happy thought. I think mom's toilet works just fine; you just have to go past the construction zone to get to it, since the water closet is on the other side of the shower.
Meanwhile, dad was already up the creek without a paddle. He likes to eat off of paper plates while using a woven wood or bamboo plate holder, rather than, you know, real plates you can wash and use over and over again. I have been on his case about this for years. Seriously. Why are you throwing money away on disposable items? This is so wasteful in so many ways. He'd made potatoes that night that got coated in oil, so his plate was oily, and it dripped through. Or, at least that's the thought; we don't know exactly when it happened. For some reason mom thought to move his placemat and discovered two stains underneath. The placemats are the ones I got them for Christmas, but they're not solid, so oil or something dripped through that, too. Mom was pissed. There's been something on top of the stains for two days now, first plain old baking soda, then some sort of concoction they'd found on the internet. Baking soda, Dawn dish soap, maybe ammonia? I wasn't even aware we owned ammonia, but a really old bottle appeared on the counter. I don't know that it did anything because the stain was still there tonight. Great. Perhaps this will shame my dad into using real plates finally--he may not want to face the wrath of mom again for that reason. (There will be other reasons for it to appear, I'm sure.)
So. Tuesday. I did not sleep well after Monday night. Tuesday morning, I had the box of newspapers on the counter. The whole thing is that, in order to have some semblance of order in my under-sink cabinets, the newspapers were going to jut out a bit. But, if she wants the door to close? I can make it close. I spent five minutes prior to taking my shower putting the papers back in there a different way and moving some stuff around under there. Is everything neat and orderly? No. And that pisses me off. But it fits and the door closes.
...And then promptly after I finished my shower, I went to get something out of that cabinet and had a hard time finding it. Sigh. But for now, no other incidents. Mom's tray has not returned to the bathroom. I don't know what she did with it, though I think the box the papers were in has now become a catch-all box of junk in the hallway for her toiletries and such. She has brought some items back into the bathroom, which is fine--and now my dad has even brought in a few things. There's still a bit of counter space for me to use, so that's nice. I'm fully aware the three of us need to coexist in there for a bit. But she needs to accept the bathroom as it was, too.
The "for a bit" part--my father had ordered a new base for the shower. It came in on Tuesday as planned...except he was like, it was so cheap! You would have hated it! So he either didn't buy it or returned it and opted for something else, but it'll be several weeks before that comes in. He really can't do anything else until that base goes in, so the bathroom's in limbo currently.
And then Wednesday comes along and a couple things happened. One was that my toilet clogged. I'd used it, then mom had used it, and it stopped working properly on her and she said she'd plunged it. I could tell--the new plunger was in one of my sinks. (Really, mom? There's a garbage can with the other plunger inside of a plastic bag right there.) When I went to use the toilet a little later, I tried to plunge it first. So, my new plunger, it's super easy to use with the handle...but I don't think it actually works. There didn't appear to be any suction so plunge all you want, it's all in vain. Dad heard me plunging and flushing and came upstairs to check things out, so then he tried plunging and didn't get anywhere, so he pulled out the old plunger (and had trouble with it; see, it's not just me, that plunger sucks to use) and managed to clear the blockage. But, yeah, to go from three toilets to one within a month was not a happy thought. I think mom's toilet works just fine; you just have to go past the construction zone to get to it, since the water closet is on the other side of the shower.
Meanwhile, dad was already up the creek without a paddle. He likes to eat off of paper plates while using a woven wood or bamboo plate holder, rather than, you know, real plates you can wash and use over and over again. I have been on his case about this for years. Seriously. Why are you throwing money away on disposable items? This is so wasteful in so many ways. He'd made potatoes that night that got coated in oil, so his plate was oily, and it dripped through. Or, at least that's the thought; we don't know exactly when it happened. For some reason mom thought to move his placemat and discovered two stains underneath. The placemats are the ones I got them for Christmas, but they're not solid, so oil or something dripped through that, too. Mom was pissed. There's been something on top of the stains for two days now, first plain old baking soda, then some sort of concoction they'd found on the internet. Baking soda, Dawn dish soap, maybe ammonia? I wasn't even aware we owned ammonia, but a really old bottle appeared on the counter. I don't know that it did anything because the stain was still there tonight. Great. Perhaps this will shame my dad into using real plates finally--he may not want to face the wrath of mom again for that reason. (There will be other reasons for it to appear, I'm sure.)