What's the best birthday gift your ever received?
For me it is difficult to name a specific present over the last 65 years, but on this, my 65th birthday, I got an item which ranks high on my wish list and high in enjoyment. I got an indoor flush toilet installed. Whoop-Pee!
As has been chronicled here, I've been living an isolated existence since October, 2020 (13 months and counting) in an old travel trailer on the construction site where my new home is being built. I paid $140 per month for a rental port-a-potty sitting next to my trailer home to be serviced once a week.
The construction of the home had progressed enough by November to have the floors installed. And once the tile on the bathroom floor was down, the next thing in the building sequence was the ability to have an indoor flush toilet installed. Actually, a special request was made, and granted, by the plumber to deliver and hook up a single toilet. The plumber would prefer to not make several trips out to my house for fixture installation, rather, he'd prefer to wait for my floors and my counter tops to be installed first, then return to put in all of my sinks, faucets, toilets, garbage disposal, dish washer and water heater all at the same time.
As a favor, he agreed to make a special trip to put in one single potty in the master bathroom. It was a special birthday for me, I was flush with excitement when the plumber scheduled to show up on Wednesday, the 23rd.
Oh crap! When I returned from lunch on Tuesday the 22nd, I discovered that my port-a-potty had been removed prematurely a day too soon. Greenhaus rental had been notified that they were to pick up their outhouse on Friday, the 25th. Yet, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, they came and took what was their's three days ahead of schedule, leaving me in the lurch - or out in the forest, where I could be said to be left in the larch.
Was I back to au natural, using the woods like the proverbial bears? Yes, I was - but for how long? I hoped against hope that the plumber and his throne of porcelain would arrive soon. But how long must I wait?
Some autumnal mornings here in NW Washington the temperature dipped to 19 degrees (F), making for some frosty sittings.
The plumber did arrive as scheduled - on my 65th birthday.
Turning 65 and raking in all of those senior discounts and ditching Obamacare and using my Medicare eligibility would be an eventful milestone; but all of that paled to the visceral comforts of receiving an indoor flush toilet at age 65.
I treated myself to a lonely teriyaki beef dinner for my 65th birthday, served on a styrofoam takeout container.
My birthday has passed, and so has my birthday dinner. The former passed totally uneventfully, the latter has passed in a most civilized style.
It's my potty and I'll cry if I want to.
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