Well, that is crappy...

Nothing to do with the pandemic.

On Monday, mid-flush, the linkage inside our Thetford Aqua Magic II toilet gave up the ghost.  No, there wasn't a gusher of sewage or anything like that... the "flap" that closes off the toilet from the black tank stopped moving.

We checked into trouble-shooting that model toilet, and while I was on the phone (on hold) with Thetford, Joan found the problem, looked an exploded diagram, and determined what it would take (both parts and labor) to fix it.  Thetford never did answer their phone, after 20 minutes on hold.

Next, the search for the parts: we determined it would be more cost effective to replace the whole lower portion of the toilet than to go through the work involved to take it apart and replace things piece-meal.  Joan was concerned that I wouldn't be flexible enough to get on the floor in our small bathroom to separate the top from the bottom and then remove the whole toilet to do the repair.

I called a mobile RV repair guy that was recommended by one of the office staff here.  Our new friend, Doug was working on an RV in Deadwood, had another in Sturgis, and said he would come by our coach to check out the situation.

In the meantime, we went through every crap, shit, and piss joke we knew.  And checking for the replacement part on-line, we came up empty-handed.  When Doug and his son got here, we had model number, part numbers, etc for him.  The good news: he has dealt with this before, and even has parts on hand... for the tall pedestal toilet.  Ours is the short pedestal version.  The bad news: he said that because of the pandemic, getting parts (often made in China) has been a problem.  He said he would check with other suppliers to see if they had the parts in stock and give us a call in the morning.  The hunt for Brown Craptober.

When we didn't hear from him by 10:00, I gave him a call.  He was not able to find the parts at all his normal outlets, but had an e-mail into a supplier on the west coast and hadn't heard from them yet.  He said he would check with them again and call us back, but wasn't hopeful.  We told him that we were able to find an entire toilet on-line, and that would be our next step, if necessary.  He called right back and said, "I am amazed - they have one in stock and they will get it sent out today."

More crappy news: no idea how long it will take to get here, and throw a holiday weekend into the mix.  The less crappy news: we can manually open the flap, so, while not high class, we can still use the toilet.  And that is really good news... because I don't want to be using the shower-house/crappers here.  We prefer to be self-contained.

So, the part will get here when it gets here.

In the meantime, we went on with our day.  It was a cool, blustery, occasionally spitty day (better than shitty).  Joan wanted to get a US flag with a garden mount to put at our site.  I got to have a Hardee's breakfast sandwich... and, the first fountain soda I've had in three months.  Then off to the grocery store... Safeway.  There were "traffic instructions" on the floor to keep traffic flowing one way... apparently, those instructions were invisible to everyone but us.  Until I got to one corner of the store where there was no escape without violating the one-way arrows.

Back to the coach.  I decided to try recording a couple tracks on a song Mark wrote and sent to me.  The motorhome is NOT a studio.  Not even a home studio like I'm used to.  I did bring a dynamic mic and my Spire Studio, and the necessary cords to record vocal and guitar.  Sorta.  Due to circumstances beyond my control (disclaimer), I wasn't able to use the dynamic mic... it works good when recording in less than idea circumstances thanks to the pattern the mic picks up.  That meant I had to use the sensitive condenser mic on the Spire - it picks up a wide pattern.

Joan went to do laundry, giving me the motorhome to record in.  The blustery day (was only up to the mid-60s at 3:00pm) kept people inside, so I didn't have to be concerned about kids, and dogs, and big vehicles going by... until I got the equipment set up.  Then, the sun came out, and so did the kids, dogs, and vehicles.  After about 10 takes, I managed to get a reasonably background-noise-free track.  Instead of recording the acoustic guitar part on that same condenser mic, I plugged my X10 into the Spire.  Between those two, the acoustic track was doable.

Mark had done guitar, bass, drums, piano, and a vocal on the tracks he sent.  There is more to be done on the song, but this is his project: he wrote the music and lyrics.  He had the tracks he sent nicely mixed.  I added my small contribution and sent the tracks back his way.

When Joan got back, I was just finishing the guitar track.  We moved the music out to the patio, where she and Rufus were an appreciative audience.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warmer; less windy.  Yeah, we'll be riding.  :-)