Mr. Plumber

Hey,

So a few years ago I fixed the flapper in my toilet (the bit that clamps down and seals the tank so that water doesn't flow into the bowl). This was a serious leak that improved my water bill immensely when I fixed it.

Over the past year, my water bill has been inching up again. I know I'm probably using more water in general than I have in the past, but it still felt weird that it would be going up so consistently. Today, when I was cleaning the toilet, I realized that there was the hiss of water leaking. It could be that the flapper/seal is still faulty and is leaking, but I suspect that it might be the float because if I put my hand in the tank, that displaced enough water to raise the float a bit and stop the hiss.

It doesn't sound like the float is leaking or has water in it. Perhaps I need a new arm for the float with a better angle in it or something. Any ideas from the internet on how to troubleshoot this (to prove it's the float or the flapper) and what I could do about it (other than install new equipment, I expect to do that, but is there some trick of the trade I should be aware of)?

Thanks
Tom

Failing upwards

Hey,

So in a world with Superman and other incredibly powerful superheroes who do general rescue work along with stopping crime, are people more foolish? If you have a reasonable suspicion that if you get in a jam a magical man will show up to save you, do you take bigger chances hoping for a bigger payoff?

And I figure your general visibility must coincide with your willingness to gamble on a super-rescue. If your dangerous failures make it to the general news, that must mean a greater chance for a hero to hear about it and come to your aid. So maybe you only take big chances if it would make big news on success or failure.

This is what got me thinking about all this:

later
Tom

p.s. Of course, as the clip above shows, there may be enough risks already...