blast! the chain connecting the lever to the ball in the toilet tank has snapped. i look in the toolkit that von assembled, the kit which has not yet failed me, and it fails me. i find nothing with which i can join the broken components and thinks grumpily that a piece of raffia string would do the job, but we didn't buy string. in the end i went into the kitchen and got a piece of twist-tie off the top of a bag of buns i meant to eat tomorrow and tied the ball and chain together. i think it's the bleach i put in the tank because now my hands sting terribly. von instructs me to consider my role in water pollution and surely thinks i deserve it for putting such harmful chemicals in the water, think of the little fishies etc. ying tong iddle i po, she retorts.