A tip: If you notice a little puddle of water near your toilet but you're not sure where it came from and you have to run off to catch a plane, don't just assume it was condensation from the tank or a little leak that only springs when you flush the thing and don't just throw a towel down on the floor to catch any additional condensation that may drip on the floor while you're away on vacation.

What you should do is shut the water supply line off and flush the toilet until the tank is empty. Because, you see, if you don't, you'll likely come back from your trip to find that the problem was actually a deteriorating refill valve -- one that continued to deteriorate to the point where the imperceptible drip turned to a steady trickle that covered your bathroom floor in a half-inch of water. Welcome home!

At first, we tried to fix this by replacing the rubber washer that goes around the refill valve. But after a few futile attempts, we realized that the problem was the valve itself and replaced the whole thing. Irritating, but effective.

And now, our bathroom is back to normal again. Sort of. There's still some water damage to deal with, but it's not terrible. And plus, we can use the toilet.

By the way, you'll notice that there are no photos on this entry. Let's just say we had other things to deal with than finding the camera and standing around snapping photos of the little waterfall.