I just rented a charming little cottage with a not-so-charming low-flush toilet. It is only my second day here and I'm already faced with the predictable poop predicament: a clogged toilet. I did some research on the Internet and the one suggestion most doable for me was a combination of Dawn dishwashing liquid with boiling hot water added slowly to the toilet. I'm taking extra precautions by letting it sit overnight. Here were other chemical suggestions: Bleach. Muriatic acid. Hydrochloric acid. "Red Devil" lye.

This particular situation is a little different in that it's not a size issue, but rather a hard-versus-soft situation. This is due to the fact that I was recently sick with salmonella poisoning from pistachios -- a malady which resulted in my not eating for days and therefore having no fiber in my system. (Yes, I was one of the few who actually got very sick from contaminated pistachios.)

So there you have it. Any suggestions on how to deal with this situation? In the future I will try and eliminate the problem (usually a size issue) by eliminating elsewhere -- as in a five-star hotel with vigorous, self-flushing toilets. However, as you know, that is not always possible.