New and interesting uses for a ShopVac
Earlier in the day, while putting a new roll of toilet paper on the dispenser, my Wife had somehow managed to flush the roller.
How do these things happen? I don't know.
I was getting ready for work when I heard an, 'OH MY GOD!' from the bathroom.
'Whah? What happened!?' I yelled back, thinking something was wrong.
'I DON'T BELIEVE IT!' was all I got back.
Now I was getting concerned. Just as I was getting up to see what was wrong, my wife emerged from the bathroom looking completely flabbergasted.
'Is everything ok??'
'Yesss. You're not going to believe it.'
'WHAT!'
'I flushed the roller for the toilet paper dispenser.'
'You what? How the hell did that happen?'
'Well don't get mad at me, it was not on purpose!'
'Well I know that, but what do you expect me to say?'
I had to leave for work and did not have time to deal with the problem right then. The toilet was still flushing and seemed to be ok, but I thought it was a little strange that the roller would go down that easily. I had a sneaky feeling the roller was just stuck in there and I was going to have to figure out a way to retrieve it, but for now the water was going down so I headed out to my paying job.
When I got home it became obvious that the roller was lodged in the toilet. The problem was, how was I going to get it out in the least disgusting way possible?
I did not have a lot of options.
I tried the plunger, that was not working, a wire, also not working and as a last resort, my hand (yeah, gross) which was, once again, not working.
Now what?
I washed my hands five or six times and got online to see what google could come up with. I typed in 'snake toilet', and google found this site, which contained the brilliant suggestion of using a ShopVac to recover the roller. Apparently, and, incredibly, my Wife is not the first person who managed to somehow accomplish the feat of flushing away the TP roller.
I got my ShopVac out of the basement and drained as much water as I could from the toilet. Then I stuck the nozzle in the hole and let er' rip. Thankfully, (mercifully) the roller was the only thing in there and after a few tries, I was able to get it out.
I never thought I'd be using my ShopVac to fix a toilet. I jokingly let my Wife know that she officially 'owes me one' for that little mishap.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring. I can only imagine...
Ah the power of the internet!
Posted by: B International | Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 02:19 AM