The bathtub in my flat has one of those posh plugs that pushes up from beneath when the overflow cover is twisted, or at least, it did until very recently. The plug-lifting mechanism failed after my last bath, trapping a few gallons of cooling water in the tub. What to do?
I tried everything to access the mechanism or to grab the edges of the plug, to no avail, there is no access to the plumbing in my bathroom without dismantling the pretty finishing.
Not the way I (nor any member of my family) would have agreed to its installation.
So first thing on Saturday morning I went out and bought a plunger. To my joy that had the plug out in a jiffy and all the water drained from the bath, so then I could alert my landlord to this minor maintenance issue.

The more I thought about that the more I realised that fixing the mechanism was going to be even more of a nightmare for my landlord than draining the bathwater had been for me.

So off I went again to buy a plug that lifts from the top with a chain. The chain is attached to a bolt which is supposed to be attached to the bathtub, but the same access issue arises and so instead, I attached the bolt to the underside of a pink rubber ducky that I found abandoned on Kastani Beach, Skopelos the last time I was there.

I sent this image to my landlord, who agreed that he would have done much the same, though he didn't have a pink rubber ducky to hand. I assured him that I had spent almost five years trying to provide a sense of purpose to this poor bird which can only float on its side.
Landlord replied “Cool!”

In case you didn't know, Kastani Beach was the one used in the original Mamma Mia film, which has now turned it from a beautiful secluded spot to Tourist Trap Hell. I have tried so hard to find an image of it, which I know I have, but it steadfastly refuses to come to light.