You Can Install a New Fluidmaster in 15 Minutes!

According to the box, even I, the non-plumber, can install my new Fluidmaster in 15 minutes AND improve toilet performance.  How can I resist such a promise?  So at top left is the bucket of seriously black water from the tank, which I slowly removed from the tank using the ratty sponge at lower right (4443).  I believe I used up my 15 minutes doing that chore.

Next came the fun of locating our inadequate adjustable wrenches, both shown on the right.  The real killer of the project was removing the worn and impossibly- welded- to- the- end- of- the- threaded- thingy that sticks out of the bottom of the tank.  At least an hour of not-very-pleasant behavior on my part as I embraced the toilet bowl in order to stick my head under the tank and squeeze my left hand and the wrench or pliers or whatever they are in a death grip on the slippery plastic lock nut (4438) and turned it clockwise about 250 partial turns.  This process was described as "Remove lock nut by turning clockwise."

The rest of the process was easy;  so if I don't count the hour of creeping the lock nut slowly around the shank (warped and deformed), or the fifteen minutes of drying out the tank with a sponge, I guess I DID install my new Fluidmaster in 15 minutes!