gemma58, your story is truly amazing!
Just think, if I can get ever this completed, I will have the best story to tell my grandchildren (if I had any). ".. And the Water Plant .. was thiiiiiiis biiiig .." Heh.
I was really, really wanting to fix the Plant myself, but being afraid of being left out of the plot, I now ask for help. Warning, confession follows: I feel like I might be being punished because I didn't yet tell my boyfriend that the next clue was out (we both play), since we fought over "he refuses to check the news or PPT; and I do, even writing tutorials for him so he doesn't have to read lots of splits like I do; so fine from now on go find your own news" (sorry, but we had this argument so many times, I finally went on with the plot and didn't tell him it advanced yet). I guess in retrospect this was the worst possible time to withhold such information.
I have learned that cooperation is always best! Okay now TNT, pleeeeaaaseee let me fix the Plant?
It seems like the sequence can be a few clicks or several clicks long. I just hope that I do not have some inanely long sequence. Last night I practically memorized what valve and lever does what, and where the water goes. But I still have no idea what the goal is, and all my "intuition" about how the water is going, moving, flowing, etc. leads me usually 1 flip away from flooding. Then of course there was the one time I tried to flood and the last "up" lever kicked a valve open in Room 1. Crazy, insane, really.
Anyway, thanks for everyone's sympathy (and/or pity) and encouragement.
This may be my last day trying. I have no more time or energy for this, to be honest, even as much as I want to go on.