BagOfNothing.com

• I like to think of myself as being handy around the house, but a plumber, I am not. Many of you would have identified the problem immediately, but at least this is a life lesson for me.
  • There’s a rusty spot on the tile beneath the toilet in our half bath. Anytime there’s been a problem with a toilet, I’d replace the flush valve and that would solve my problem. And since the rusty spot was right beneath the flush valve hole, I thought that was all I had to do, thinking some metal component rusted out.
  • I turn the shut-off water value from the wall off and remove the toilet tank hose or valve hose. It’s one of those cheap contractor grade hoses that’s made of brittle metal, like this one.
    
    Well, after installing the new flush valve inside the toilet tank, it turns out the toilet tank hose broke. Time to go to the hardware store and buy a replacement hose, albeit, and more flexible and sturdy one.
  • Since I have to replace the toilet tank hose, I decided to also replace the old shut-off water valve to a more convenient quarter-turn version. I had some trouble replacing it due to the existing compression ring, which I decided to reuse, but I got it done.
  • When I hook it all up and turn the water back on, I notice a drip from the tank. Further inspection shows a very rusty bolt which attaches the bowl to the tank. So all the work I did wasn’t warranted, I just needed to replace the bolts which connects the bowl and the tank. Time to make another run to the hardware store.
  • I replace the rusty bolts that hold the bowl and tank together, turn on the water, and spot a small leak. I ever so gently tighten the bolt, but then the porcelain tank cracks. I wasn’t gentle enough.
  • Research tells me my Crane toilet tank is a 3.5-gallon flush tank. All that is available today are 1.6. So I can’t just by a replacement tank.
  • Time to buy a new toilet, but I can’t decide if I should just hire a plumber (Any of you Ticket listeners have Randy Cody’s number?).  And while buying something as simple as a toilet should be easy, I’m going to over think it and compare all the different versions.
  • I told the family to avoid using the half bath. DaughterGeeding promptly made this sign and hung it on the door.
    
• In other toilet related news, Colin Powel’s son tried to sell his him a used toilet for $1,000.
• Without giving it a whole lot of thought, I’m willing to bet that if Colin Powel entered the presidential race today, he’d beat both Clinton and Trump in the popular vote. But I’m not sure how the Electoral College would turn out.
• I think I blacked out yesterday, and I wonder if it’s because of my new blood pressure medication. Yesterday was the first time I took it and then I worked out about two hours later, a moderate one in which I didn’t really push myself all that much. For my cool down, I stretch, and part of the routine is to hold a kettlebell over my head with both hands and lean back slightly arching my back. I never fell down, but all I know is that I lost my balance and for a few moments I didn’t know where I was or what I was doing. It was like waking up and not knowing where you are or the time or day.
• YouTube – Ellen and First Lady Michelle Obama Go to CVS
• The funniest line I heard on the season finale of ‘Better Late Than Never” when William Shatner decided to step in the ring with George Foreman was, “Punch him in the pacemaker!”
• Ah, South Park….

South Park fixes the National Anthem problem pic.twitter.com/hFP6PF1k3W

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) September 15, 2016

• I’m willing to bet the majority of you access this blog using some sort of RSS feed service like Feedly, so this probably doesn’t apply to you. But I’ve now updated the blog so that the banner header picture to randomly load one of twelve different images, including the old banner.
• Why the update? Well, sometimes you land on a conference call that’s so boring you find yourself doing something mundane, like updating the header of your blog.
• One of the first signs of true friendship (or even love) is comfortable silence, a peace of being around someone without the need of breaking silence to make things comfortable. Sadly couples who have been committed to one another for so long will often overlook that perk and accomplishment.
• I had a minor plumbing issue and my neighbor who plays for our local NFL franchise helped. I’m not making it bigger than what it is, it was only about three minutes of help, and I made it a point not to bring up his profession one time, I just wanted to treat him like a normal neighbor, which he basically is.
• One Louisville Slugger glove – Bazooka bubble gum sticks to its word, awards prize for contest entry submitted 59 years late
• 7- Eleven PSA
  
• GIF – A man with cerebral palsy posing during a body building competition. The younger version of myself would have laughed at this, but no I have much respect for the guy. He’s in better shape than me and has more courage.
• The Texas Tribune – SMU Ties UT, Baylor Passes Texas A&M in 2017 U.S. News College Rankings
  • Rice University, which is ranked 15 nationally, remains the clear No. 1 in Texas. It climbed three spots from 18 last year. SMU and UT-Austin are far behind in a tie for 56. Last year, SMU was 61 and UT-Austin was 52.
  • Another year with Hardin-Simmons left off the list.
• State Fair Treats Restaurant to Open Inside Plano Walmart
• Buzzfeed – 25 Secrets Chick-Fil-A Employees Will Never Tell You
  • I knew at In-N-Out you can ask for “well done” fries if you prefer them crispy, had no idea you could do the same at CFA.
• Fox wants to make a ’70s-era action movie about Stan Lee
• Grace Gummer is a dead ringer for her mother, Meryl Streep, and she keeps popping up in a handful shows I watch like ‘Mr. Robot’, ‘The Newsroom’, and the HBO movie “Confirmation”. Most of the time, she excels, I enjoy her work.
• Andrews, Texas – The Towns That Say “Yes in my Backyard!” to Nuclear Waste⁠⁠⁠
• Esquire – I Spent Six Days Protecting Tupac on His Deathbed – Videographer Gobi M. Rahimi recalls the rapper’s final hours on the 20th anniversary of his murder.
• Ellis County judge got 74% pay raise 
  • At $95,000 a year, Bush says her pay is among the lowest in the county when compared to other leadership positions. So she used a little-known process called a salary grievance committee, which is found in the Texas Local Government Code. he committee is made up of nine randomly-selected Ellis County citizens who served on last year’s grand jury to hear her salary appeal. All nine agreed she deserved a raise of $70,000, even more than Bush had asked for.
• This picture of Trump was on CNN’s homepage. I’m not saying it is, but it has a photoshop element to it, his head seems too large for his body.