Why is my Google News feed full of stores about how rampant commercialism and inept governments are leading to the impending collapse of Earth's ability to sustain life? Is this inspired by the current moon mission? Earth Day? AI data centers? War in the Middle East? Or just my particular doom scrolling preferences?

I'm a downer. I get it. But how about a nice link to dogs eating ice cream? Or Kpop Demon Hunter memes? Or news about cabinet members being fired for being terrible at their jobs? You know, the sorts of things that give hope that the universe isn't bent towards the worst possible outcomes.

Maybe if I just keep scrolling, I'll get to the good stuff....

Aw, geez. Now it's "I'd like to buy only America a Coke"? Fine, you win, universe.

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What should you give your loved one for Earth Day? How about leftover valentines, 50% off!

I mean, I know I'm old and out of touch, but I cannot imagine what would happen if I had given one of these to a classmate when I was in elementary school.

On the other hand, no would have had any problem if I'd a water gun in my backpack. *shrug*

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The rubber flush valve on the toilet upstairs rotted to the point that it wasn't actually keeping any water in the tank anymore. Naturally, I decided to fix this. That was mistake number one.

Taking the toilet apart revealed that the toilet was older than I am. An executive decision was made to replace the toilet with something more modern and water efficient (Happy Earth Day!). That was mistake number two.

That seemed like a good idea until it turned out that the new toilet's footprint was smaller than that of the old toilet. Rather than being installed underneath the toilet, the linoleum on the floor had been cut to fit around its base. Now several inches of raw wood were visible with the new toilet in place. This required a new floor of peel-and-stick vinyl tiles plus some leveling compound to fill the old hole. That malfunctioning valve flap was becoming an even more expensive fix!

Of course, like any tornado, this project spun off several other whirlwinds of trouble. In the crawlspace where the water shutoff valve was, I accidentally dislodged the stove exhaust pipe and created a leak in the roof. (I didn't discover this until the next spring thunder shower that sent water cascading through the ceiling down onto my electric range.) Taking advantage of the water being off for the toilet, I investigated the dripping bathtub faucets to discover that they, too, needed replacing. And, of course, I still had to caulk and paint the trim that I had to temporarily remove to repair the floor.

Repairs were completed several days ago to the floor, toilet, tub faucet, stove and pipe. Turning the water on revealed a new, slow but persistent leak somewhere around the toilet. So it looks like the toilet will have to come back apart for further repair. Coincidentally, the fire alarm just outside the bathroom just broke. I'm afraid to ask "what next?"

Do things like this happen to other people?

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Today is the 138th birthday of Lenin. In his honor, we should promote everlasting world peace through cooperation and rejection of capitalist desires in favor of reactionary environmentalism. I think we'll call it... Earth Day.

Bah. I left my car running all day in celebration.

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