Excerpt...
Not long ago, I was forced to do something that many years of schooling failed to prepare me for: I bought a new toilet. Maybe in some places people don't talk about their toilets, but here in the suburbs we talk about everything related to home remodeling, ad nauseam. I haven't renovated a single room yet, but I got so much conversational mileage out of this toilet, I may not need to do the kitchen for another three years.
from
Washington Post Magazine