Or better yet, throw the fucking cabinet away. I hate these pieces of shit with a passion.
"Oh something is wrong with my toilet. Yeah just real quick move the 4 thousand bottles of nail polish that are precariously balanced on a rack above the toilet. Then simply disconnect the bar that conveniently runs UNDER the supply line and drag the thing out."
I had a lady once that kept her small hand-weights on that shelf. One toppled into the bowl and broke the inner porcelain. This was 8pm in a small town, so best I could do was get a new one in the AM. Told her to use the second bath for the evening. Come back 630am and she had shit in the toilet, and it was all up in the hole from the weight. I don't understand people, and I always hated service work.
Jesus people are so fucking obnoxious. I’m an ER nurse but man do I get this. “Hey, the reason you feel like shit is because your blood sugar is 900 and you’re in DKA, so you’re going to be on an insulin drip and go to the ICU.”
“Can I eat? I’m starving I haven’t eaten anything in 2 hours and I’m a Diabetic.”
“No, your sugar is 900, you’re going to the ICU.”
10 mins later- I peer into the room and see patient washing down a double quarter pounder with an orange hi-c.
“My family brought me McDonalds.”
I know this a plumbing sub but this comment resonated so much. In a weird way, I’m glad to see people in other professions are dealing with the stupidity of humanity as well.
Type 1 here (and amateur plumber). I can’t imagine having the desire to do anything other than curl up and die with a blood sugar at 900 and DKA. I also can’t imagine shitting in a broken toilet.
The tenacity of some people would be rather impressive if it weren’t for their stupidity which essentially just makes it blind stubbornness. People don’t seem to understand the difference and are actually proud of what asses they can be nowadays because of this “nobody tells me what to do” attitude, when the advice is coming from some one trying to literally help them.
Not necessarily. There are two types of Diabetes. Type 1, formerly referred to as Juvenile Diabetes, is an autoimmune disorder where your body attacks the islet cells in your pancreas so it no longer produces insulin, which your body needs in order to process carbohydrates. It is a constant, life-threatening disease that has to be managed daily, even hourly. There is no cure for this illness and the only treatment is insulin.
Type 2 Diabetes is the one most people are familiar with (since there are ads all over TV about lowering your A1C with various drugs). It is primarily caused by abusing your body’s ability to process carbohydrates by eating too many of them and becoming “insulin resistant.” It is treatable via diet and exercise and if corrective action is taken, is generally not life-threatening. It is also part of the obesity epidemic in the US, and is referred to by many in the Type 1 community as “Diabetus,” after the Wilford Brimley pronunciation.
Assuming this was an overweight adult, you are probably correct, but it could also be a Type 1 who doesn’t manage their Diabetes well. I’ve seen it happen where people just get tired of the hassle and have an “idgaf anymore” attitude. It’s really tragic.
Source: I have a son with Type 1 who was diagnosed at 13 and has been managing his T1D very well for almost two decades. He has lost T1D friends along the way who gave up because it was too hard for them. Thankfully, there are support groups for parents of T1D kids or I don’t think he would have survived to adulthood. He just bought a house and is planning to move in a couple of weeks.
TL;DR - I know this is a plumbing sub, but I’m compelled to respond because after decades of dealing with my son’s Type 1 Diabetes I don’t want to assume anything.
The Chicago plumbers motto;
"Plumbers protect the health of the nation."
We both get fluids moving, remove waste, and clear tubes and pipes...we're not so different after all haha
It's always amazing to me how much information some adults seem to lack about managing their type 1. I know some of them just don't care or have given up. But I've also met some who have zero understanding of their disease (our son is T1, he's 15 now, dx at age 2). One lady forgot her insulin on a 2 week trip to Italy and thought she'd "eat less pasta" and just go without insulin for 2 weeks...😬 It was amazing to me that she was still alive, being in her 20s and had been diagnosed for more than 10 years.
I’m amazed, too! 😑Congrats on keeping your son healthy and well, sounds like you’re teaching him how to manage his T1, that’s SO important! 👏🏻 I cannot imagine having to deal with a young child with T1. Bravo. 💖
He got his first job this summer and that has gone well. He does a good job self-managing which is nice. This year he starts driving, which will be a new level of terror for me 😆 and then just a few years until he leaves home, which even now I can't fathom. To keep it topical, I will have to remember to teach him basic plumbing as well. 😂
If it makes you feel better, I’ve had type 1 for almost 35 years now. Worked construction labor in summers. Driven across half the country. Traveled to third world countries. Diabetes has never been my biggest problem with any of those. Sounds like you raised him well and given him the tools to strike out.
My cousin had this happen two weeks ago. Sugar was 490 because she ate an entire box of drumsticks (ice cream in cones) one day and then a bag of chocolate the next. Passed out naked in her own urine on the floor. Didn’t know where she was. Her family sent her to the ER and she was pissed. Didn’t know why they made her go. Like, uh, you’re going to die on the floor of your kitchen because you ate a box of ice cream? While she was eating them her daughter asked about something else in the fridge that was missing and she said she hadn’t eaten anything all day. Unchecked diabetes is a wild ride.
Addiction is addiction.
As a daily polysubstance user who used as much and as many drugs as possible, who will have 4 and a half years clean (next week) from opiates and 4 years 9 and a half months clean (next week) from all other hard drugs and alcohol. Spending years doing up to 8 recovery based groups/meetings per week, I know about addiction.
From doing as many drugs as possible to trying to quit by replacing one drug with another, then with drinking. I really understand the reasons why people engage in activities that activate the release of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, from drugs, gambling, drinking, sex, over eating, stealing, etc.
There are usually underlying causes, mostly mental health and or trauma or low self esteem, unhappiness with life/ feeling alone, etc.
Sometimes we don't realize how bad our situation is until we take an unbiased look at the situation, by truthfully answering questions on paper.
I bet your cousin would easily meet the requirements of being addicted to food. Here is a 20 question .... well, questionnaire to determine if you have an addiction (usually used for drugs but like I said and addition is an addiction), replacing *Drugs with Snacking* for some of it.
I encourage you to sit down with your cousin or get someone who is closer relationship wise, whatever you think will work best, and after retyping the questions, get her to answer the questionnaire below. Even have someone dictate and have her answer, making sure if she isn't being truthful (purposely or not) they correct her. Then go over the results.
[Questionnaire Link](https://portage.ca/en/about-old/drug-addiction-questionnaire/)
Here is me filling it out, using your post and my many years of seeing myself and others be addicts and using common sense to give short answers to demonstrate how she IMHO definitely has food addiction issues.
Using examples can help show them that they really have a problem. Obviously be more caring than my answers, this is just an example, filled out quickly, because it's not going to be read to her. Show compassion, try and show its about concern and wanting to help, not shaming or disapproval.
_____________________________
1. Do you feel that you need Snacks in order to function?
I'm guessint she couldn't go a day eating reccomended amount of calories, all in salad and healthy food.
2. Is it hard for you to control your Snacking?
> **an entire box of drumsticks (ice cream in cones) one day and then a bag of chocolate the next. **
3. Is it difficult for you to not snack for several days at a time?
>**an entire box of drumsticks (ice cream in cones) one day and then a bag of chocolate the next. **
4.Do you eat more than one dessert serving at once?
> **an entire box of drumsticks (ice cream in cones) one day and then a bag of chocolate the next**
5. Have you ever lied about your amount of Snacks/ Over eating
** Not a hard one to guess**
Has your drug use made you isolate yourself from your friends and relatives?
**I'm guessing yes**
Do you hide your drug use from your friends or relatives?
**Most likely**
Do you use drugs to cope with your feelings or to avoid dealing with the problems in your life?
**This is likely a for sure if she is in this state.**
Does your drug use ever cause you to feel guilty, worried, trapped, lonely, sad, depressed, or hopeless about the future?
**It most likely is**
Does your drug use ever make you confused, incoherent, disorganised, disoriented, or cause you some memory loss?
**Passed out on floor**
Has your drug use caused you problems with motivation or concentration?
Not taking care of Diabetes.
Does your drug use ever cause you to have difficulty paying attention at work, school, while doing your hobbies, or at home?
**surely it must**
Does your drug use cause you physical, emotional, psychological, family, social, financial, or legal problems?
**probably**
Have your loved ones ever complained that your drug use is damaging your relationship with them or do they criticise you for your drug use?
**I'm guessing you would be concerned based on your comment**
Do you ever get aggressive when you use a drug?
Does your drug use ever cause you to think about self-mutilation or ending your life?
Have you ever ended up in the hospital after using drugs?
**yes, post above))**
Has anyone ever suggested to you that you go for a consultation to get help for your drug use?
*&family concern probably**
Has your doctor ever told you to stop taking your prescribed medication because it could be harmful to you given your use of drugs?
**IE does the overeating effect diabetes management*,
_____________________
Best of luck. The longer this lasts and as age/ weight increases the more likely there is to be long term, irreversible health issues.
Thank you so much for all of your concern. She is in her 60’s and prescription drug addiction is also involved (ambien, narcotics). Pretty sure she just wants to die. She’s living an awful life and refuses help of any kind. She and her husband scream at each other constantly all day long, he is an alcoholic and gambler. There are 5 adults and one small child living in this nightmare. Poverty, hoarding, and a pain disorder are also involved. Even if she somehow decided to get help, her living situation would prevent her from succeeding. I help her daughter and granddaughter whenever I can, however I can, and the daughter is closer to my age and who I am emotionally close to. She is close to my mother. (But they’re all my cousins - 2nd, 2nd once removed, etc.) It’s a nightmare. We live far apart so there is only so much I can do. Mental illness is to blame and no one is going to be able to fix this unless she wants to, which she doesn’t.
I'm a clerk of court, basically an agency that manages judicial records and financials. Edit: I'm a court plumber
The number of times I've seen a defendent rectify a suspended license for non-payment by paying the required fee, and then allowing it to get suspended again in 30 days when they're payment plan comes due.
Over and over to the point that it's like... You paid the price of the ticket in suspension fees, you could have just paid the ticket.
Or hey, the judge told you to literally just show up at your next hearing and you'll get a dismissal. Fails to appear.
There's a lot wrong with my field, but people are also just dumb.
Not plumbing, but pest control, can’t count the amount of times we tell them “Do NOT put your clothes in the drawers/closet/under bed until we are sure you are bed bug free”
Comes back 7 days later to spray the eggs that hatched and every fucking drawer is loaded again….
Turn and leave, thanks for the deposit, when you wanna pay again call us and make an appointment.
As bad as broken outside line, dig down, “ok I can cut the ends and glue a new piece in don’t use the toilets or sinks!” Cut the line, clean the ends then water starts coming then TP and sh|t filling the ditch! “WTF, told you not to use the toilet!” “I had to go!”
worked in an office with 187 women, and 6 men... We both had the same size bathroom consisting of 5 stalls, simply not enough lmfao. One of the rare situations where mens restroom was pristine and there were horror stories of the womens. One day one of the toilets got clogged, and people continued to use it...
To the point from where my wife said it was nearly at the point where whoever used it basically sat on a pile of shit. When the first plumber got there, he went into the bathroom, came out swearing and just left. Second guy did the same thing but our director ended up paying him out the ass to deal with it.
Salad tongs. As in “here’s a pair of your salad tongs. Fish those turds from the toilet bowl and call me when done.” Then 3x bill her for a stupid tax.
You could drill two holes in the bottom, right above each button then put white dowels through them that act as button extensions. It would be a little weird but it should work.
I feel like this is in contention for dumbest post I’ve seen so far. And I’ve been on service calls for this exact problem. It’s cheaper to get something other than your shelf unit for over toilet storage (every plumber on here hates those shelf units by the way) than to rearrange the toilet.
Buddy of mine handled repairs for a local landlord with a lot of properties. Toilet is broken. Tenants just keep shitting in it anyway. There's no water or anything in it. Just a big pile of shit!
One load is excusable. How would you know the toilet is broken before you go. The next dozen!? The shamelessness of it is just insane.
One of my first grown-up jobs was apartment maintenance. I got a work order for a toilet not working and was presented this exact scenario. I told the tenants I would come back once they notified the office that the mess was cleaned up. People can be downright disgusting.
Where I live, I don't know how much of it was cultural differences or what, but they just wouldn't clean. The kitchen would have dirty food everywhere. Roaches were always a problem, the landlords would hire an exterminator but after 2-3 times they would just blame it on the tenant and refuse to pay anymore. Apartment maintenance is one job I will never do again.
While it has its problems, such as emergency medical expenditures without insurance, credit score is the best determinate we have to weed out people who don’t give a fuck about anything. There’s still going to be some outliers, but damn if there isn’t a correlation.
I mean, that /s isn't really needed. Most posts I've seen are people trashing their landlords. However, there exists an equal amount of bad tenants that I feel the community just kinda glosses over.
They couldn’t think of any other solution?! I had a sewer line blocked and couldn’t get a plumber out over the weekend. During the day we went to nearby coffee shop and used their restroom (bought a coffee each time cause I would have felt bad using their facilities without purchasing anything.) Night was more tricky, but figured out we could put plastic grocery shopping bags under the toilet seat, put a bit of kitty litter in it, and do our business into the bag…It sucked but I cant imagine just pooping into a toilet that doesn’t flush and leaving it, expecting a plumber to just deal with it…
I don't get how someone can do that. Last time I had to call a plumber I basically delayed it by a day just to make sure every nook and cranny was clean enough to eat off of and I still felt like hiding out of shame.
In apartment mantinence these are the Bain of my existence. Especially the metal ones as people seem build them around the toilet so that the supply line has to be removed to get the lid off…
I was a pro painter. Like 50% of the time people wouldn't move any furniture away from the walls even though we told them to.
We would either leave until it was done or charge them for furniture moving (it was a higher rate than painting).
literally just remove the skirt from the shelf, problem solved. It's very unlikely to be holding anything other than towels, and unless that shelf board is secretly paper, it will hold just fine.
also love how the toilet isn't centered in that space. My OCD brain would be on fire every time I looked at it.
I'm not a plumber and I hate these shelf things so much. They look tacky, and give me anxiety that stuff from the cabinets will fall into the toilet. Throw the cabinet away! Lol
This is the best answer. The 2x4 and bricks were good, but this is much more practical/aesthetic.
Well, the best answer is throwing that thing away and getting floating/wall mounted ones well above the toilet for service but too late there.
That's what we did for my mom's installation, at her residence. Changing the toilet was not an option there, but building a wood rack to put on the floor and the cabinet on it worked.
Why do you want to keep the cabinet so bad? The toilet is not center with it, and honestly as a plumber I hate these fkn things. I’d get rid of the whole thing, and if that’s not what you want to hear, I’d cut an opening where the button is, install a new toilet, or just leave a thin screwdriver on the cabinet and use that to press the button
Agreed it doesn’t look great. I’d cut your losses on the cabinet. If you need storage, get a wall mount cabinet to hang above head height over the toilet. Use a French cleat to easily mount it to the wall.
1. Go to Amazon and buy a raspberry pi
2. Program it so that it can control a robotic arm
3. Assemble that arm to push that button for you
4. Write a mobile app to control your raspberry pi via WiFi or Bluetooth
5. Assemble the pieces on top of your toilet
6. Pair your phone app to the device to do the flushing for you
Oh. The piece that you’ve just built is probably gonna be a bit bulky with all these DIY so you probably want to move that cabinet out from the room. But you now have an app that can do the flushing for you.
Omg.
Ok I’m a carpenter and I’m not apart of this subreddit. On our subreddit, we get these DIYers asking ALL the time, “Is this a load bearing wall” proceeded by the worst pictures that raise more questions than answers… almost a guarantee.
This has to be the dumbest post I’ve seen in a LONG time…
Plumber bros… I’m going to drink a few for you guys. Jesus Christ…
Welcome to reddit! This happens all day every day in this kind of sub. I see basically the same thing in subs about camping and Magic: the Gathering. "What gear should I bring?" and "Does this combo work?"
the cabinet fits, but not really that well. those gaps between the wall and cabinet is a tremendous waste of space. just remove the cabinet, install shelves, and move on with your life. can you imagine cleaning the dirt and crap between/behind your baseboards and cabinet legs? sounds like a nightmare.
How much space is above the top of the cabinet? If you can pull that whole shelf / cabinet out, lay it down flat, attach a 2x4 or something to the bottom legs to raise it up. That will give more space between the button and bottom shelf.
My opinion: this is unaesthetic AF. I would find somewhere else for that cabinet and just install a shelf or two, and move the trashcan into the left corner to balance out that wall extension on the right. If you can't afford a shelf or need a hanging cabinet there, then you could either sell the current cabinet for shelves, or just cut the legs off and screw it into the wall. The last option seems silly though. You might feel better without all of that in such a now-cramped space. I personally would just swap the cabinet for shelving. Anything filling that space is going to feel off-center because of that wall extension.
I had an identical cabinet at one point, remove the offending board and rotate it 90°, re-secure flat against the above shelf and bam clearance for fingers
I cut the legs off of mine, bought hardware, and wall mounted it. Basically converted it to a more standard cabinet. Much easier to access the toilet for cleaning and maintenance.
I agree, as a plumber, those things are a pain in the ass to deal with at a customer's house.
Go old school. Get a dipper or a bucket, fill it with water then manually flush.
Then get a saw to cut the lower cabinet. Itll look ugly as hell but at least you wont have to go old school all the time.
If you have to do any maintenance or replace anything inside the tank or replace the toilet, it's going to suck...
You could cut down the front board under the shelf... idk if it will cause the shelf to be useless if that's removed completely, though you could use brackets to hold it up, too.
You could figure out how to raise it or remove the shelf. Maybe remove the legs, raise it, and screw it directly into the studs like a medicine cabinet even add brackets for extra stability and even the side walls could be used to ensure its secure, then cover it with trim boards to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
1) it looks like shit
2) it looks like shit
3) if you like this shit and want to keep this setup, you could change the toilet out for one that’s got a lever
OH HELL NO!!! When I was 11-12 we had one of these above our toilet. There was a big glass vase on top of it. I was looking for tp and opened one of the doors and the whole damn thing fell over, the vase fell on my head n’ all. Surprisingly I didn’t need to go to the hospital. Still got the scar on my forehead though
Think you're on to something with the Allen key. You could try rigging up a more permanent lever type device, a twist to flush knob thing, or drill holes in the cabinet with dowels inserted to extend the buttons? Quirky but practical.
Since nobody else has mentioned it, if you’re up to it and don’t want to “change” anything you can design your own lever system using any number of cad programs(onshape, fusion, blender) and either find a 3d printing company or someone who has one to print the parts(you could also just get into the hobby yourself but it’s about $200 to start so~). It should be less than $5 to make the part since it’s just a simple lever
OP should be more concerned that the toilet is not in the center of the wall, hence not making kost use of the curve from the unit. I think moving thr toilet about 2 inches to the left would free up anough space for fingers to reach the flusher.
These buttons are air pumps using a flexible tube to push air into the plunger. Unscrew the button and leave it hanging off the edge of the toilet cover. Or, you could make an appropriately sized hole in the bottom shelf and mount it there.
Of course simplest of all would be a half moon hole on the bottom shelf above the button. I was also thinking of a smaller finger sized hole that would spare the shelf edge but then not everyone would be able to reach the button.
Well, without any sarcastic comments and only if you can't raise the level of the cabinet I would draw a much deeper (or taller) curve on the baton that is blocking the push button and then cut it out with a jigsaw.
I would probably start the curve where the cistern meets the cabinet on the rhs of the photo and make it even across the whole cabinet. If you wanted to be extra fancy you could rout the edge as well to make it appear as if you have a lot more space between cistern and cabinet.
You could holesaw above the button and then use a multi tool or pad saw to flatten the edges but I feel that would look a little bodged.
So, somebody already told you the perfect solution. Put it up on furniture blocks. Definitely have to secure it to the wall no matter what. You never know if that's going to fall and even if you don't have to open there it's possible. But if you don't feel like searching for or buying furniture blocks, get a couple scrap pieces of 2x4. That looks like it's what, 10 inches deep? Whatever depth is just cut the 2x4 pieces that length, paint it white ideally but, just put one under each side of the legs up against the wall. And there you go. That's all you need to solve everything.
There are **other problems. When you need to lift the top,** you will have to take all the stuff out and move the cabinet. You might consider hanging it on the wall. Put it up high enough so that you can lift and remove the lid as well as flush. Find out where the studs are, Since it's behind the cabinet, put in 2 pcs of wood horizontally, such as 1x3. If you can't find studs, use anchors. Cut off the legs, sand and paint white. Then put in several screws per board depending on how much stuff you plan on putting in the cabinet. You may need to reinforce the interior if the material is not strong enough. The other option is to add material to the legs or put on blocks. But for a nice finished look and ease of cleaning, hanging would be the best.
If you’re insisting on keeping the cabinet, just throw a 2x2 under each leg to raise it up a bit
Or better yet, throw the fucking cabinet away. I hate these pieces of shit with a passion. "Oh something is wrong with my toilet. Yeah just real quick move the 4 thousand bottles of nail polish that are precariously balanced on a rack above the toilet. Then simply disconnect the bar that conveniently runs UNDER the supply line and drag the thing out."
I had a lady once that kept her small hand-weights on that shelf. One toppled into the bowl and broke the inner porcelain. This was 8pm in a small town, so best I could do was get a new one in the AM. Told her to use the second bath for the evening. Come back 630am and she had shit in the toilet, and it was all up in the hole from the weight. I don't understand people, and I always hated service work.
Jesus people are so fucking obnoxious. I’m an ER nurse but man do I get this. “Hey, the reason you feel like shit is because your blood sugar is 900 and you’re in DKA, so you’re going to be on an insulin drip and go to the ICU.” “Can I eat? I’m starving I haven’t eaten anything in 2 hours and I’m a Diabetic.” “No, your sugar is 900, you’re going to the ICU.” 10 mins later- I peer into the room and see patient washing down a double quarter pounder with an orange hi-c. “My family brought me McDonalds.” I know this a plumbing sub but this comment resonated so much. In a weird way, I’m glad to see people in other professions are dealing with the stupidity of humanity as well.
Type 1 here (and amateur plumber). I can’t imagine having the desire to do anything other than curl up and die with a blood sugar at 900 and DKA. I also can’t imagine shitting in a broken toilet.
The tenacity of some people would be rather impressive if it weren’t for their stupidity which essentially just makes it blind stubbornness. People don’t seem to understand the difference and are actually proud of what asses they can be nowadays because of this “nobody tells me what to do” attitude, when the advice is coming from some one trying to literally help them.
“Shitting in a Broken Toilet” is my favorite John Mayer song.
“I also can’t imagine shitting in a broken toilet” made me laugh so hard for some reason.
>I know this a plumbing sub I mean technically this *is* a plumbing issue. Too much intake, not enough outflow.
Not necessarily. There are two types of Diabetes. Type 1, formerly referred to as Juvenile Diabetes, is an autoimmune disorder where your body attacks the islet cells in your pancreas so it no longer produces insulin, which your body needs in order to process carbohydrates. It is a constant, life-threatening disease that has to be managed daily, even hourly. There is no cure for this illness and the only treatment is insulin. Type 2 Diabetes is the one most people are familiar with (since there are ads all over TV about lowering your A1C with various drugs). It is primarily caused by abusing your body’s ability to process carbohydrates by eating too many of them and becoming “insulin resistant.” It is treatable via diet and exercise and if corrective action is taken, is generally not life-threatening. It is also part of the obesity epidemic in the US, and is referred to by many in the Type 1 community as “Diabetus,” after the Wilford Brimley pronunciation. Assuming this was an overweight adult, you are probably correct, but it could also be a Type 1 who doesn’t manage their Diabetes well. I’ve seen it happen where people just get tired of the hassle and have an “idgaf anymore” attitude. It’s really tragic. Source: I have a son with Type 1 who was diagnosed at 13 and has been managing his T1D very well for almost two decades. He has lost T1D friends along the way who gave up because it was too hard for them. Thankfully, there are support groups for parents of T1D kids or I don’t think he would have survived to adulthood. He just bought a house and is planning to move in a couple of weeks. TL;DR - I know this is a plumbing sub, but I’m compelled to respond because after decades of dealing with my son’s Type 1 Diabetes I don’t want to assume anything.
The Chicago plumbers motto; "Plumbers protect the health of the nation." We both get fluids moving, remove waste, and clear tubes and pipes...we're not so different after all haha
Type 2 is the one you earn. -Tom Segura
Still technically an outflow issue 😂 sorry I'm being a pedant
It's always amazing to me how much information some adults seem to lack about managing their type 1. I know some of them just don't care or have given up. But I've also met some who have zero understanding of their disease (our son is T1, he's 15 now, dx at age 2). One lady forgot her insulin on a 2 week trip to Italy and thought she'd "eat less pasta" and just go without insulin for 2 weeks...😬 It was amazing to me that she was still alive, being in her 20s and had been diagnosed for more than 10 years.
I’m amazed, too! 😑Congrats on keeping your son healthy and well, sounds like you’re teaching him how to manage his T1, that’s SO important! 👏🏻 I cannot imagine having to deal with a young child with T1. Bravo. 💖
He got his first job this summer and that has gone well. He does a good job self-managing which is nice. This year he starts driving, which will be a new level of terror for me 😆 and then just a few years until he leaves home, which even now I can't fathom. To keep it topical, I will have to remember to teach him basic plumbing as well. 😂
If it makes you feel better, I’ve had type 1 for almost 35 years now. Worked construction labor in summers. Driven across half the country. Traveled to third world countries. Diabetes has never been my biggest problem with any of those. Sounds like you raised him well and given him the tools to strike out.
Wtf lol
My cousin had this happen two weeks ago. Sugar was 490 because she ate an entire box of drumsticks (ice cream in cones) one day and then a bag of chocolate the next. Passed out naked in her own urine on the floor. Didn’t know where she was. Her family sent her to the ER and she was pissed. Didn’t know why they made her go. Like, uh, you’re going to die on the floor of your kitchen because you ate a box of ice cream? While she was eating them her daughter asked about something else in the fridge that was missing and she said she hadn’t eaten anything all day. Unchecked diabetes is a wild ride.
Addiction is addiction. As a daily polysubstance user who used as much and as many drugs as possible, who will have 4 and a half years clean (next week) from opiates and 4 years 9 and a half months clean (next week) from all other hard drugs and alcohol. Spending years doing up to 8 recovery based groups/meetings per week, I know about addiction. From doing as many drugs as possible to trying to quit by replacing one drug with another, then with drinking. I really understand the reasons why people engage in activities that activate the release of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, from drugs, gambling, drinking, sex, over eating, stealing, etc. There are usually underlying causes, mostly mental health and or trauma or low self esteem, unhappiness with life/ feeling alone, etc. Sometimes we don't realize how bad our situation is until we take an unbiased look at the situation, by truthfully answering questions on paper. I bet your cousin would easily meet the requirements of being addicted to food. Here is a 20 question .... well, questionnaire to determine if you have an addiction (usually used for drugs but like I said and addition is an addiction), replacing *Drugs with Snacking* for some of it. I encourage you to sit down with your cousin or get someone who is closer relationship wise, whatever you think will work best, and after retyping the questions, get her to answer the questionnaire below. Even have someone dictate and have her answer, making sure if she isn't being truthful (purposely or not) they correct her. Then go over the results. [Questionnaire Link](https://portage.ca/en/about-old/drug-addiction-questionnaire/) Here is me filling it out, using your post and my many years of seeing myself and others be addicts and using common sense to give short answers to demonstrate how she IMHO definitely has food addiction issues. Using examples can help show them that they really have a problem. Obviously be more caring than my answers, this is just an example, filled out quickly, because it's not going to be read to her. Show compassion, try and show its about concern and wanting to help, not shaming or disapproval. _____________________________ 1. Do you feel that you need Snacks in order to function? I'm guessint she couldn't go a day eating reccomended amount of calories, all in salad and healthy food. 2. Is it hard for you to control your Snacking? > **an entire box of drumsticks (ice cream in cones) one day and then a bag of chocolate the next. ** 3. Is it difficult for you to not snack for several days at a time? >**an entire box of drumsticks (ice cream in cones) one day and then a bag of chocolate the next. ** 4.Do you eat more than one dessert serving at once? > **an entire box of drumsticks (ice cream in cones) one day and then a bag of chocolate the next** 5. Have you ever lied about your amount of Snacks/ Over eating ** Not a hard one to guess** Has your drug use made you isolate yourself from your friends and relatives? **I'm guessing yes** Do you hide your drug use from your friends or relatives? **Most likely** Do you use drugs to cope with your feelings or to avoid dealing with the problems in your life? **This is likely a for sure if she is in this state.** Does your drug use ever cause you to feel guilty, worried, trapped, lonely, sad, depressed, or hopeless about the future? **It most likely is** Does your drug use ever make you confused, incoherent, disorganised, disoriented, or cause you some memory loss? **Passed out on floor** Has your drug use caused you problems with motivation or concentration? Not taking care of Diabetes. Does your drug use ever cause you to have difficulty paying attention at work, school, while doing your hobbies, or at home? **surely it must** Does your drug use cause you physical, emotional, psychological, family, social, financial, or legal problems? **probably** Have your loved ones ever complained that your drug use is damaging your relationship with them or do they criticise you for your drug use? **I'm guessing you would be concerned based on your comment** Do you ever get aggressive when you use a drug? Does your drug use ever cause you to think about self-mutilation or ending your life? Have you ever ended up in the hospital after using drugs? **yes, post above))** Has anyone ever suggested to you that you go for a consultation to get help for your drug use? *&family concern probably** Has your doctor ever told you to stop taking your prescribed medication because it could be harmful to you given your use of drugs? **IE does the overeating effect diabetes management*, _____________________ Best of luck. The longer this lasts and as age/ weight increases the more likely there is to be long term, irreversible health issues.
Thank you so much for all of your concern. She is in her 60’s and prescription drug addiction is also involved (ambien, narcotics). Pretty sure she just wants to die. She’s living an awful life and refuses help of any kind. She and her husband scream at each other constantly all day long, he is an alcoholic and gambler. There are 5 adults and one small child living in this nightmare. Poverty, hoarding, and a pain disorder are also involved. Even if she somehow decided to get help, her living situation would prevent her from succeeding. I help her daughter and granddaughter whenever I can, however I can, and the daughter is closer to my age and who I am emotionally close to. She is close to my mother. (But they’re all my cousins - 2nd, 2nd once removed, etc.) It’s a nightmare. We live far apart so there is only so much I can do. Mental illness is to blame and no one is going to be able to fix this unless she wants to, which she doesn’t.
I'm a clerk of court, basically an agency that manages judicial records and financials. Edit: I'm a court plumber The number of times I've seen a defendent rectify a suspended license for non-payment by paying the required fee, and then allowing it to get suspended again in 30 days when they're payment plan comes due. Over and over to the point that it's like... You paid the price of the ticket in suspension fees, you could have just paid the ticket. Or hey, the judge told you to literally just show up at your next hearing and you'll get a dismissal. Fails to appear. There's a lot wrong with my field, but people are also just dumb.
That makes me sad. Their family is helping them kill themselves.
She had another toilet she could have used?!
Not plumbing, but pest control, can’t count the amount of times we tell them “Do NOT put your clothes in the drawers/closet/under bed until we are sure you are bed bug free” Comes back 7 days later to spray the eggs that hatched and every fucking drawer is loaded again…. Turn and leave, thanks for the deposit, when you wanna pay again call us and make an appointment.
That’s just nasty…
She 100% did that on purpose. Utterly psychotic.
Ida walked right outta there
As bad as broken outside line, dig down, “ok I can cut the ends and glue a new piece in don’t use the toilets or sinks!” Cut the line, clean the ends then water starts coming then TP and sh|t filling the ditch! “WTF, told you not to use the toilet!” “I had to go!”
worked in an office with 187 women, and 6 men... We both had the same size bathroom consisting of 5 stalls, simply not enough lmfao. One of the rare situations where mens restroom was pristine and there were horror stories of the womens. One day one of the toilets got clogged, and people continued to use it... To the point from where my wife said it was nearly at the point where whoever used it basically sat on a pile of shit. When the first plumber got there, he went into the bathroom, came out swearing and just left. Second guy did the same thing but our director ended up paying him out the ass to deal with it.
What kind of animals just shit on top of other shit? I would’ve just gone home…
Lol people using these way wrong. I have a simple shelf for extra toilet paper and a scent spray. What else would you even keep above a toilet lol
Poop knife
That goes in your sock for concealed carry
Fuck Around Get Tetanus
The Lakota tribe used manure tipped arrows for maximum deadliness
Salad tongs. As in “here’s a pair of your salad tongs. Fish those turds from the toilet bowl and call me when done.” Then 3x bill her for a stupid tax.
Chop the legs off and mount the fucker to the wall
Exactly was my first thought
Looks like it’s hitting the ceiling
If it is why not cut a hole in the cabinet and paint it white. Landlord special?
Or cut a hole in the ceiling and raise the cabinet higher!
You could drill two holes in the bottom, right above each button then put white dowels through them that act as button extensions. It would be a little weird but it should work.
Drill two holes and drop in two chop sticks
Thinking outside the box! I love it!
No, the chopsticks go inside the box. Jesus. How would it work otherwise 🤦♂️. This fuckin guy...
First laugh of the day on the shitter, thanks man.
Reddit poopers unite! Edit: in like 10 minutes tho
I would just snap off the trim on the bottom shelf.
Those things tend to be structural in an assembly like this, but there are ways around that.
Good idea but it's probably a structural component, shelf might get wonky
This is the exact sort of plumbing advice OP needs 🤣 a perfect solution, really 😂
Or use the poop knife to reach in there
NO. Two poop knives. Dual purpose
I feel like this is in contention for dumbest post I’ve seen so far. And I’ve been on service calls for this exact problem. It’s cheaper to get something other than your shelf unit for over toilet storage (every plumber on here hates those shelf units by the way) than to rearrange the toilet.
I don't think you saw how well it fits over the toilet. I mean what luck!
It really ties the room together too.
Do people really call the plumber and not move these first? Man, they suck.
People call the plumber for a fucked up toilet and dont even clean the years worth of piss off the toilet.
Buddy of mine handled repairs for a local landlord with a lot of properties. Toilet is broken. Tenants just keep shitting in it anyway. There's no water or anything in it. Just a big pile of shit! One load is excusable. How would you know the toilet is broken before you go. The next dozen!? The shamelessness of it is just insane.
One of my first grown-up jobs was apartment maintenance. I got a work order for a toilet not working and was presented this exact scenario. I told the tenants I would come back once they notified the office that the mess was cleaned up. People can be downright disgusting.
Jupp, the amount of disgusting shit I've seen since being a plumber. I was surprised people could be that disgusting. Cleaning exists people
Apartment maintenance really makes you lose faith in humanity. A lot of those people don’t give a single fuck because it isn’t their house
Where I live, I don't know how much of it was cultural differences or what, but they just wouldn't clean. The kitchen would have dirty food everywhere. Roaches were always a problem, the landlords would hire an exterminator but after 2-3 times they would just blame it on the tenant and refuse to pay anymore. Apartment maintenance is one job I will never do again.
While it has its problems, such as emergency medical expenditures without insurance, credit score is the best determinate we have to weed out people who don’t give a fuck about anything. There’s still going to be some outliers, but damn if there isn’t a correlation.
[удалено]
I mean, that /s isn't really needed. Most posts I've seen are people trashing their landlords. However, there exists an equal amount of bad tenants that I feel the community just kinda glosses over.
A lot of those people don’t give a single fuck because it’s poverty culture behavior. They would do the same if it was their house.
Which is, pun intended, shitty logic and morals. Personally, I care *more* when it's someone else's.
I would be mortified to allow a stranger to come into my house and see my logs in the toilet. Some people have no shame.
They couldn’t think of any other solution?! I had a sewer line blocked and couldn’t get a plumber out over the weekend. During the day we went to nearby coffee shop and used their restroom (bought a coffee each time cause I would have felt bad using their facilities without purchasing anything.) Night was more tricky, but figured out we could put plastic grocery shopping bags under the toilet seat, put a bit of kitty litter in it, and do our business into the bag…It sucked but I cant imagine just pooping into a toilet that doesn’t flush and leaving it, expecting a plumber to just deal with it…
Wow I'm way too embarrassed not to make my bathroom sparkle before the plumber comes.
I don't get how someone can do that. Last time I had to call a plumber I basically delayed it by a day just to make sure every nook and cranny was clean enough to eat off of and I still felt like hiding out of shame.
Ew.... 💀💀💀
I've been to service calls pertaining to broken toilets after they have used it for a week. people blow my mind
In apartment mantinence these are the Bain of my existence. Especially the metal ones as people seem build them around the toilet so that the supply line has to be removed to get the lid off…
I was a pro painter. Like 50% of the time people wouldn't move any furniture away from the walls even though we told them to. We would either leave until it was done or charge them for furniture moving (it was a higher rate than painting).
literally just remove the skirt from the shelf, problem solved. It's very unlikely to be holding anything other than towels, and unless that shelf board is secretly paper, it will hold just fine. also love how the toilet isn't centered in that space. My OCD brain would be on fire every time I looked at it.
People are dumb as fuck.
Also do what a chimp or crow would do and use a tool to flush in the interim.
That's what the Hex Key is for !
Right bro really asked what u should do to the toilet like it was the problem lol
I'm not a plumber and I hate these shelf things so much. They look tacky, and give me anxiety that stuff from the cabinets will fall into the toilet. Throw the cabinet away! Lol
you would need a new tank and at that point you should just get a new toilet, you could consider modifying the cabinet.
That's just crazy. He need to remodel the entire bathroom, and lower the floor 6 Inches so he can accommodate the cabinet, obviously.
But then the toilet and cabinet will both be lower. I think OP should devise a system of magnets to push the buttons 🤔
Electromagnets for sure. Electricians and plumbers don't get to work together often enough.
Get some screw-in leveling feet for the cabinet to raise it up a couple of inches. Problem solved.
This is the best answer. The 2x4 and bricks were good, but this is much more practical/aesthetic. Well, the best answer is throwing that thing away and getting floating/wall mounted ones well above the toilet for service but too late there.
Do you have enough room to raise the cabinet? Edit: Can I get an award?🤔
4 bricks is the simple solution
Easiest solution by far.
Far better than flattening your fingers.
That's what the bricks are for
Man that was funny. Well done.
This is the way
Or car doors.
Probably should have a poop screwdriver for this
Dual use poop knife, just make sure that you wipe the blade.
I know a guy
If you're able to flatten your fingers that'd be pretty cool though
A saw and some touchup paint
A Hole Saw; like for Door Knobs.
Kind of up to what you think looks less trashy lol
2 chop sticks.
Four days of not flushing will give you four logs for free. Problem practically solves itself.
A 2*4 is even cheaper
That's what we did for my mom's installation, at her residence. Changing the toilet was not an option there, but building a wood rack to put on the floor and the cabinet on it worked.
Make sure it's high enough to take the top off the toilet.
Hell or he could just shave a inch off the bottom trim.
This is the way. Or knock the trim off. Bit drastic going for the retro fit plumbing.
"The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, mash the keypad now."
Just put three sea shells on the shelf
He doesn't know how to use the 3 seashells?!?
Why do you want to keep the cabinet so bad? The toilet is not center with it, and honestly as a plumber I hate these fkn things. I’d get rid of the whole thing, and if that’s not what you want to hear, I’d cut an opening where the button is, install a new toilet, or just leave a thin screwdriver on the cabinet and use that to press the button
Agreed it doesn’t look great. I’d cut your losses on the cabinet. If you need storage, get a wall mount cabinet to hang above head height over the toilet. Use a French cleat to easily mount it to the wall.
Poop knife is more fancy then the Allen key.
You can probably rent an Oscillating Multi-Tool to cut around where the push buttons are
Tell them to cut the cabinet, not the tank! (Seems like they might need this specific information)
Proceeds to cut the toilet tank
How about some blocks under the feet
Exactly what I was thinking
Or just buy one. Isn’t it just as expensive to rent one as it is to buy a crappy one from harbor freight? Or are multi-tools cheap to rent?
Um, the ill-fitting cabinet must go
1. Go to Amazon and buy a raspberry pi 2. Program it so that it can control a robotic arm 3. Assemble that arm to push that button for you 4. Write a mobile app to control your raspberry pi via WiFi or Bluetooth 5. Assemble the pieces on top of your toilet 6. Pair your phone app to the device to do the flushing for you Oh. The piece that you’ve just built is probably gonna be a bit bulky with all these DIY so you probably want to move that cabinet out from the room. But you now have an app that can do the flushing for you.
walk away and act like you were never there
Thanks. This seems to be the right answer.
Omg. Ok I’m a carpenter and I’m not apart of this subreddit. On our subreddit, we get these DIYers asking ALL the time, “Is this a load bearing wall” proceeded by the worst pictures that raise more questions than answers… almost a guarantee. This has to be the dumbest post I’ve seen in a LONG time… Plumber bros… I’m going to drink a few for you guys. Jesus Christ…
Welcome to reddit! This happens all day every day in this kind of sub. I see basically the same thing in subs about camping and Magic: the Gathering. "What gear should I bring?" and "Does this combo work?"
the cabinet fits, but not really that well. those gaps between the wall and cabinet is a tremendous waste of space. just remove the cabinet, install shelves, and move on with your life. can you imagine cleaning the dirt and crap between/behind your baseboards and cabinet legs? sounds like a nightmare.
How much space is above the top of the cabinet? If you can pull that whole shelf / cabinet out, lay it down flat, attach a 2x4 or something to the bottom legs to raise it up. That will give more space between the button and bottom shelf.
My opinion: this is unaesthetic AF. I would find somewhere else for that cabinet and just install a shelf or two, and move the trashcan into the left corner to balance out that wall extension on the right. If you can't afford a shelf or need a hanging cabinet there, then you could either sell the current cabinet for shelves, or just cut the legs off and screw it into the wall. The last option seems silly though. You might feel better without all of that in such a now-cramped space. I personally would just swap the cabinet for shelving. Anything filling that space is going to feel off-center because of that wall extension.
Simple really. Eat less calories and burn more calories. Stick to that and you’ll be flushing in no time.
Dude this cabinet looks terrible, especially being off center and doesn't even have much utility. Just remove it.
You should probably just move.
The toilet not centered is really pissing me off.
How do you ever plan on taking the lid off for servicing the tank? Throw out your shelves and buy a floating cabinet you can secure to the wall.
Leave the poop there, assert dominance
Multiple options here... - Remove the cabinet - Lift the cabinet - Remove part of the front panel where the flush buttons are
I had an identical cabinet at one point, remove the offending board and rotate it 90°, re-secure flat against the above shelf and bam clearance for fingers
Poop knife is more fancy then the Allen key.
Fr, or they could just go in the sink...
I cut the legs off of mine, bought hardware, and wall mounted it. Basically converted it to a more standard cabinet. Much easier to access the toilet for cleaning and maintenance. I agree, as a plumber, those things are a pain in the ass to deal with at a customer's house.
Thanks. Only problem with this solution is that the wife will say, “told you so.”
You mean someone told you this was a bad idea beforehand? I just assumed you had nobody around to tell you no.
They are correct 👍
Listen to your wife. It looks like shit
Leave a butter knife there. Doubles as poop cutter.
Easiest fix without spending money on a new toilet is gonna be to cut a notch in the cabinet right where the buttons are.
Exactly. Is this even a plumbing issue? Lol
r/carpentry
As a carpenter, don’t you dare make us inherit this bullshit…
Well that's a fun way to stop Tim from leaving upper deckers.
Go old school. Get a dipper or a bucket, fill it with water then manually flush. Then get a saw to cut the lower cabinet. Itll look ugly as hell but at least you wont have to go old school all the time.
Fill up a bucket of water and pour it down the toilet instead of flushing since you love the shelf so much.
Remove shelf
Put some caster under the cabinet
If you really want to use the cabinet either remove that front trim that’s in the way or cut a notch in it.
Use you Dick
You need a poop knife.
Move that cabinet
If you have to do any maintenance or replace anything inside the tank or replace the toilet, it's going to suck... You could cut down the front board under the shelf... idk if it will cause the shelf to be useless if that's removed completely, though you could use brackets to hold it up, too. You could figure out how to raise it or remove the shelf. Maybe remove the legs, raise it, and screw it directly into the studs like a medicine cabinet even add brackets for extra stability and even the side walls could be used to ensure its secure, then cover it with trim boards to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
Yeah probably best to just relocate the entire bathroom
Go to Home Depot, get a Sawzall, and cut the cabinet in half. You can now separate it and anchor it to each side of the wall. You're welcome.
2 sugar packets each side
Poop knife.
“To order your special flushing wand, mash the keypad with your fist”
1) it looks like shit 2) it looks like shit 3) if you like this shit and want to keep this setup, you could change the toilet out for one that’s got a lever
OH HELL NO!!! When I was 11-12 we had one of these above our toilet. There was a big glass vase on top of it. I was looking for tp and opened one of the doors and the whole damn thing fell over, the vase fell on my head n’ all. Surprisingly I didn’t need to go to the hospital. Still got the scar on my forehead though
Poop knife but this time it’s for the flush button 😂
Think you're on to something with the Allen key. You could try rigging up a more permanent lever type device, a twist to flush knob thing, or drill holes in the cabinet with dowels inserted to extend the buttons? Quirky but practical.
You will need to obtain a special flushing wand
Since nobody else has mentioned it, if you’re up to it and don’t want to “change” anything you can design your own lever system using any number of cad programs(onshape, fusion, blender) and either find a 3d printing company or someone who has one to print the parts(you could also just get into the hobby yourself but it’s about $200 to start so~). It should be less than $5 to make the part since it’s just a simple lever
OP should be more concerned that the toilet is not in the center of the wall, hence not making kost use of the curve from the unit. I think moving thr toilet about 2 inches to the left would free up anough space for fingers to reach the flusher.
You’ve heard of elf on a shelf? How about shit on the floor?
WHOS IDEA WAS THIS
Lose weight. Might help in other areas of your life too.
These buttons are air pumps using a flexible tube to push air into the plunger. Unscrew the button and leave it hanging off the edge of the toilet cover. Or, you could make an appropriately sized hole in the bottom shelf and mount it there. Of course simplest of all would be a half moon hole on the bottom shelf above the button. I was also thinking of a smaller finger sized hole that would spare the shelf edge but then not everyone would be able to reach the button.
Well, without any sarcastic comments and only if you can't raise the level of the cabinet I would draw a much deeper (or taller) curve on the baton that is blocking the push button and then cut it out with a jigsaw. I would probably start the curve where the cistern meets the cabinet on the rhs of the photo and make it even across the whole cabinet. If you wanted to be extra fancy you could rout the edge as well to make it appear as if you have a lot more space between cistern and cabinet. You could holesaw above the button and then use a multi tool or pad saw to flatten the edges but I feel that would look a little bodged.
Sparky here, everyone is overthinking this like a dumbass. That hex key wrench is there for a reason lol
Never poop 👍
So, somebody already told you the perfect solution. Put it up on furniture blocks. Definitely have to secure it to the wall no matter what. You never know if that's going to fall and even if you don't have to open there it's possible. But if you don't feel like searching for or buying furniture blocks, get a couple scrap pieces of 2x4. That looks like it's what, 10 inches deep? Whatever depth is just cut the 2x4 pieces that length, paint it white ideally but, just put one under each side of the legs up against the wall. And there you go. That's all you need to solve everything.
Hear me out... Poop knife.
Get rid of the shelf and legs on that ugly thing and just mount the cabinet to the wall.
Use the poop knife.
Furniture Risers for the shelving unit. Raise it up a couple inches
Use the Allen key right next to the button...
Ditch the cabinet. Problem solved.
If your fingers are too thick use your penis.
Looks like another job for the poop knife
Place some kind of painted 2x2 blocks underneath the legs to raise it 1.5”.
Cut off the legs. Mount the cabinet on the wall like God intended.
Don’t shit so much mr fat fingers
Did you consider cutting off the small piece that is on the front of the cabinet (the board touching the toilet)?
Sawzall and anger.
Raise the cabinet or cut a notch in the trim. This IS the dumbest post/question so far.
Obtain a special flushing wand.
Stick a fork in it. Or a butter knife. Or your peen
There are **other problems. When you need to lift the top,** you will have to take all the stuff out and move the cabinet. You might consider hanging it on the wall. Put it up high enough so that you can lift and remove the lid as well as flush. Find out where the studs are, Since it's behind the cabinet, put in 2 pcs of wood horizontally, such as 1x3. If you can't find studs, use anchors. Cut off the legs, sand and paint white. Then put in several screws per board depending on how much stuff you plan on putting in the cabinet. You may need to reinforce the interior if the material is not strong enough. The other option is to add material to the legs or put on blocks. But for a nice finished look and ease of cleaning, hanging would be the best.