and the clue points to...

our toilet is 52 years old. no kidding. on the inside of the tank, there's a stamp of 1954. it's an antique toilet!

but there's actually a mystery -- old toilets are supposed to use anywhere from 3.5 gallons (up to like... 6 gallons) per flush. newer ones made after 1992 are high-efficiency, ultra-low-flush at 1.6 gallons per flush (GPF -- yup, there's even an abbreviation for toilet flushes). california law actually dictates that all toilets installed in houses after 1992 must be the ultra-low-flush kind. anyway, so i checked out my toilet to see how much water it uses everytime we pee and poop, and it turns out that... HEY, it only uses 1.6 gallons/flush. so does that mean it's actually a post-1992 toilet? if so, what does the "NOV 1954" date mean?

it's the mystery of the commode. where's sherlock holmes when i need him. or hercules poirot. okay, i've been reading too many sherlock holmes stories...