Time to break out the Dyson Pet Hair vacuum

I wish my cat would let me do this.

Leo the hairy

Bad hair? moi?

Leo makes a lousy plumber

I had a great time while I was away. I came home to a running toilet and a kitchen sink with only a trickle of water. On the advice of the hardware store guy, I tried whacking the kitchen sink faucet with something to see if there was some sediment blocking it. Whaddaya know? It worked! Sort of. It's clear that I should replace the fixture because the sprayer that has never worked is screwing up the water flow, but I can get water out of it now.

In the spirit of DIY liberation, I also optimistically thought I could swap out the toilet flusher myself. Hey, how hard could it be? I got the kit and the hardware store guy showed me (with a model toilet they have set up in the store) what to do. Looked easy-peasy. But after removing two of the three nuts from the bolts so I can remove the tank (previously emptied, natch) I stumbled on the problem: the last nut is located in such a place that the only way to get access to it is to lie down in the very narrow space between the wall and the toilet bowl, in which case my arm is too long to turn the screw. Or I can kneel over the toilet, lay my head on the toilet seat,and embrace the part underneath the tank, attempting to feel what i"m doing as I work to loosen the nut. But my arms are just a little too short for this to really work. Unfortunately, I'm trying to do this with a pair of pliers, not a socket wrench, so I think I've ended up stripping the threads and the nut just turns but doesn't go anywhere.

I'm flushing with a bucket, and my fuzzy plumber's assistant hasn't been any help at all. I think I need to heed what Susan Miller's Astrologyzone horoscope says to Scorpios for the month:

"With Neptune in opposition to Saturn this month, you'd be wise to protect yourself against water damage as you move forward. Ask an expert to help protect you against all sorts of problems involving water and water damage. Also make sure you have a solid security system in place. There is no guarantee either will give you problems, but I do see these two areas as ones that could use some shoring up. Attend to these two points and you'll rest easy."

Plumbing expert? Moi?