I know it's early, but I figured I'd leave this one and come back later:

So while cleaning for a birthday party my brother is cleaning the downstairs toilet and notices that the tank fills slowly (needs a new fill valve). He takes off the lid to investigate and there's this dark glittery stuff in the toilet tank.

We're about to eat dinner so I say, lets get the wet vac after dinner and suck it out. He ended up flushing it down the drain instead while we were eating.

After the party, I receive a report that the downstairs toilet won't flush (why does this always happen during birthday parties?). I go to check it out, everything looks fine, just takes forever to fill as normal. Probably someone tried to flush it quickly.

About an hour later I go to flush the upstairs toilet and the thing catastrophically overflows. Not the normal "Uh-oh, it's almost to the top" more like a volcano.

I'm near helpless when it comes to plumbing. What the heck is going on here?

@SteveJackson: how much black glittery stuff? Any chance that something else went down the toilet (kid's toy, diaper...) during the party?

...good morning. what a thing to open up chat to, heh.

@NiallC mornin!

@NiallC Black stuff...less than an inch in a normal sized toilet tank

Kids are a possible culprit - wife reports a 4-5 year old nephew was in the bathroom for a good 10 minutes by himself

Also, on Fri - same day as black stuff, neighbors report that a crew was doing something in the sewer manhole at my neighbors house. Can pressure from the sewer push stuff into the toilet tank? Shouldn't it end up in the bowl?

@SteveJackson my limited experience tell me: bowl first.

I'd think so too. I guess it could have been flushed away without anyone thinking about it.

mmmhmm

Anyway, great weekend other than that :) How was yours?

@SteveJackson pretty good. apparently i started typing tihs and walked away from my computer for lunch. one track mind, i have it

wait...how many tracks is my mind supposed to have?

...hmm. i dunno. that's a question for english maybe. or skeptics?

@BMitch hey there!

@AarthiDevanathan, afternoon!

what's shaking?

was looking at the extension cord safety question, and thought of this...

I think Darwin was taking a nap.

As for what's shaking, nothing, and that's the way I like it. I'm only part way through my closet clean out from the last shaking.

:O OH GOD

HORRIFYING BRB TOO TRAUMATIZED

okay back

jeez that's so stupid

Now there's a skeptics question for you: If evolution and/or a higher deity are true - how do these people survive to procreate?

@SteveJackson sounds like a question for Christianity.SE

@SteveJackson I think people may be procreating before these acts of stupidity. Or maybe procreation is another one of those acts. Yeah, I'm not on the parents SE yet, and will probably burn in some deity's timeout room for that.

I think we all do our share of unbelievably stupid things and survive, but few of mine are worthy of internet-wide OMG LOLs.

heh