Saga of the toilet tank lid & if you're lucky movie & tv reviews

[shadowkat]

So, I wandered off to work today, and regaled my co-workers (really just two of them) with the saga of my broken toilet lid. Mel made me feel better, she apparently did the same thing in a rental apartment. And no, you can't fix them and yes, they shatter easily.

Also the frigging things are dangerous.

I looked up replacement toilet tank lids and found out that Amazon does supply replacement lids, as does Lowes and various others. I got excited. Only one problem - finding the correct lid that fits my toilet tank.

Me: See you can get replacement lids!
Super: Just make sure you get the right size.
Me: Looking into that.

Unfortunately it has to be made for the make and model number of your toilet. So I looked up how to find the make and model number. It's underneath the lid, or in the tank at the back wall above the water line - stamped into the tank, or you can find it under the external rim of the bowl.

I tried the lid first - and ended up cutting the outside of my thumb. It's a small cut, but it kept bleeding - requiring a band-aid, which refuses to stay on. Fingers aren't wonderful spots for band aids. Like I said, the lids are frigging dangerous when they break.

Did not find the model number.

So, I checked inside the tank - and it was Gerber USA, 2 (either a 0,6, or 8) 0 and either a 0,6, or 8, and 1. I decided it was 2 6 0 6 1 or 2 8 0 8 1. And with my cell phone took a picture of the underside of the external bowl - and got the number 21-752. Looked both up online, and finally found the second number - but it's no longer really made, and there is nothing matching the tank number. I've decided the toilet probably dates back to the 1980s, which means it is impossible to replace the lid. To get the right size - you require a lid that was made for the specific toilet model.

So I texted the super and asked if they had bigger board. Because I am willing to use a board as a lid or cover, just would prefer to use the boards that I'm currently utilizing for my radiator. Not that it is an issue now - the radiator isn't in use, now, considering its summer.

Super's wife texted back that that's why she was concerned about the size - they knew it was probably too old and getting new parts for old things is close to impossible - they are fixing something else now and ran into the same problem. (It is a pre-war building, built in the 1920s, half the stuff in it probably dates back at least that far.) Also the super is sick, but it's not COVID. (There are other things going around, believe it or not.)


***

Movie Review

Watched all three Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them flicks this weekend. I had to go back and re-watch the first two (which I had no memory of) in order to figure out the last one - Secrets of Dumbledore which is impossible to follow without having seen the previous two movies. (Which I couldn't remember at all. I don't know why this is - but about 90% of the movies I've seen in the 21st Century - I have no memory of, at all. I know I saw them - because I keep stumbling over movie reviews that I wrote about them in my journal - but I don't remember seeing them. It's kind of discombobulating.)

Of the three, I like The Crimes of Grindwald the best - it's the most thrilling, and focuses more on the female characters. But, of the Grindenwald's I prefer the guy who was Hannibal in the Hannibal series, Mads Mikkelsen to Depp. Also prefer Colin Farrel to Depp. (Depp got taken off of the third film, or recast, after he got himself into trouble.)
Actually the Fantastic Beast films - were supposed to be seven films, but
they ran into some issues with the franchise. I was explaining this to a co-worker, who is a fan of the series, today.

JK Rowling, the franchise's creator and author, and also the screenwriter (except for the last film which was co-written by Steven Kloves), as you all probably know by now - got herself into a shit-load of trouble. She couldn't keep her mouth shut on Twitter and felt the need to use the platform to denounce transgender women and men. Worse, she felt the need to put some money behind it - and made it well known that she was supporting TERF causes. TERF is basically radical feminists against transgender. They see transgender folks as a threat to feminism, or something along those lines. I honestly don't understand Rowling's or their argument. Why Rowling's is threatened by transgender women, I've no clue. For the record, Daniel Radcliff didn't get it either - and after making a pro-transgender statement, backed away from Rowlings slowly.

So that was problem number 1. Then Johnny Depp got himself into trouble.

I'm not sure if they'll continue with the franchise or not. Dumbledore did poorly at the box office and the critics did not like it. After seeing it? They have a point. It drags - too much exposition, and I found it hard to follow in places. It meanders a bit, and you have to have seen the prior films to follow it at all. Best parts contained Jude Law - who plays a rather tortured, yet whimsical Dumbledore. I adored Jude Law's Dumbledore.
Also, liked anything with Bunty.

The story focuses a great deal on Dumbledore's past with Grindlewald, and his doomed romance. I kind of wished for a bit more flashback. Kowalski and Queenie are equal parts endearing and annoying, and Leda's brother doesn't appear to know what to do with himself any more than Newt's does. I think the film suffers from having one too many characters.

The previous film had a bit more focus, or so I thought.

***

No time to do television reviews...so movie reviews, will have to suffice.

Comments

[spiffikins]

I love google searching :)

I found that the 21-752 model number, appears to be the *bowl* - and it comes with a variety of tanks -


Does your toilet look like this?

https://www.gerber-us.com/aqua-saver-combo-21-752-bowl-w-28-795-tank-white/products/disc-G0021700
which would be this tank lid - 28-798
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265192035084

or more like this?

https://www.gerber-us.com/maxwell-combo-21-752-bowl-w-28-490-tank-white/products/disc-G0021402
which would be this tank lid
https://gerberparts.com/collections/gerber-28-490-toilet-parts-1-6-gallon-per-flush/products/gerber-genuine-white-tank-lid-28-499
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255046508688

This site has photos of Gerber toilets to try to identify it!

https://www.plumbingsupply.com/gerber.html

[shadowkat]

Thanks, but I already did that last night. The difficulty is I honestly don't know or can't really tell. And the stamp inside the tank doesn't match the numbers. If you get the wrong size lid - it's a problem. Apparently the super has already had this issue.

I may just stick with the boards for now, which weirdly look better than the lid did.

[spiffikins]

I figured you had - but I had fun doing it and once I had done it, I decided to comment with what I found just in case it was helpful :D

At least the boards are lighter and less fragile than the tank lid!

[shadowkat]

Thanks. I get it - I do the same thing, but I can't say I enjoy it. ;-)

Yeah, that's my thoughts on it, the boards don't look that bad (if anything I prefer them to the porcelain lid at the moment), it's just me seeing them anyhow, and they are so much easier to lift and remove. Also stuff doesn't slide off of it as easily. And unless I get a new tank - I need to lift them alot - the thing doesn't always fill the tank completely.

My only quibble - is I want to use at least one of them for the radiator in the winter, so I need to either find another board for the radiator or one for the toilet.

[spiffikins]

At least presumably boards should be easier to source than fragile tank lids!

[shadowkat]

They definitely are. My Super kind of agrees with me - to stick with the boards. Neither of us want to replace that toilet - more trouble than it is worth, and the replacement will most likely be even worse. New toilets are not the best flushers, and tend to be noisy.

Unless they are that weird sci-fi toilet that sci-fi writer John Scalzi bought for a million bucks. John Scalzi's Space Toilet - ah to have a lucrative sci-fi writing career and a wife who has a lucrative career as well doing something or other - so I can afford a Space toilet.

[spiffikins]

ahahahah - I have only heard of such things, and seen discussions that they exist in Japan - especially the self cleaning part - but that is a *fancy* toilet!

[mtbc]

Yes, I've found cellphone cameras very useful for this kind of thing, also for making out tiny faded numbers.

[iddewes]

Emma Watson also definitely spoke up for trans people and I think the ginger chap (I have forgotten his name) did as well.
I wish Rowling would watch Jammidodger’s YouTube videos, as he explains very well why the stuff she said was hurtful and wrong, based on scientific sources, in a kind way. But I don’t suppose she will.

[shadowkat]

I doubt it. I listened to an NPR podcast on Twitter yesterday for about fifteen minutes on the Jan 6 insurrection hearings - and the commentator made an astute statement - which can also be applied here. He said that once someone decides something in their "heart" or becomes "emotionally invested in it" - no amount of arguing will change it. They've become invested and are determined they are right no matter what, and justified.

Rowlings dug into her views deeply. Various folks tried to change her mind, then gave up and distanced themselves from her. WB is currently trying to figure out how to deal with her franchise and how to deal with it. Because a sizable portion of her fandom was LGBTA+.

It's sad. And ironic, considering the themes she pushes in her works - which are the exact opposite of her transphobia. Which is why so many were so shocked by her tweets. I certainly was as was my co-worker when I told him. I honestly think she just doesn't understand trans, and has ingrained prejudices reinforced by those she is closest to.

[iddewes]

Yes, it’s really a shame she’s like that, as you say considering so many fans of her work are LGBTQA+. She even defended Julie Burchill, who is a HORRIBLE person, not just terfy but also racist and homophobic.

[shadowkat]

I don't understand Rowlings behavior at all. Her books are fairly liberal, and her attitude up to that point seemed fairly liberal. Not sure what happened?

People are odd and always more than one thing. (shrugs)

[cactuswatcher]

Sorry about the toilet lid. They *are* very fragile considering they do have to be removed once in a while.

I haven't seen The Secrets of Dumbledore, but I didn't enjoy the first two all that much...

[shadowkat]

Weirdly the wooden planks work better because of that - which explains why I've seen them in other people's houses and places in my lifetime. If you have to fix the tank a lot - it's easier without that porcelain lid. It happened because I was constantly removing the lid.

On Secrets of Dumbledore - if you didn't enjoy the first two films - definitely skip this one. It's the weakest of the three - and drags the most.

[yourlibrarian]

I saw both the first two movies and also remember them poorly, particularly the second one.

[shadowkat]

Good to know I'm not alone on that. Co-worker remembered them better - he also really liked the first one.

I couldn't remember the second one at all. When I re-watched it - I thought, okay, I know I watched this but I have no memory of it or little memory. Neither resonated or lasted in my head after I saw them.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, the first one at least had a clearer plot. I remember liking Eddie Redmayne's character and not much else.