09:41 – It was 54.0F (12C) when I took Colin out at 0640, clear and breezy. The little dog was again nowhere to be seen, although she did show up shortly after we came back in the house. She was gone again by the time I took Colin out after his breakfast.
Frances and Al made a quick trip up. They arrived Friday afternoon and stayed the night. We had an early dinner yesterday, after which they headed back home because they had things to do there.
We’ve never been happy with our current refrigerator. It’s a Whirlpool, and is the only Whirlpool appliance that we’ve ever been unhappy with. It’s only about ten years old, and we’ve had problems with it for about eight of those years, starting with the ice-maker dying shortly out of warranty. The only reason we’re still using that refrigerator is that it still works. We actually talked about leaving it at the Winston house when we moved, but there were so many costs involved in moving that we decided to take it along with us.
I overheard Barbara and Frances the other day as they were packing stuff into the refrigerator. Barbara mentioned she’d like to replace it. So this morning I suggested we head over to Blevins this week and buy a new one as an early Labor Day gift to ourselves. She said that was a great idea.
I get the old one. We’ll move it downstairs into the unfinished area, where it’ll become my lab/LTS storage fridge. I already have one of those 3-foot tall dorm fridges down there, which we’ll also keep. That’ll give us a total of four units: the new kitchen refrigerator/freezer, the old one, the dorm fridge downstairs, and the vertical freezer in the garage.
I’ll move all of my stuff from the vertical freezer in the garage. Right now that includes a bunch of #10 cans of high-value stuff like Augason powdered eggs and bulk quantities of various antibiotics. The highest value stuff will go in the freezer part, which I’ll set to the lowest temperature possible. The less critical stuff will go in the refrigerator part, which I’ll also set to the lowest temperature I can. Relative to room-temperature storage, that will extend shelf-life by at least a factor of four. I’ll pack the refrigerator part solid with stuff like jars of alfredo sauce, canned meats, Nestle Nido, evaporated milk, etc.
The primary fan died in our Whirlpool-made Kenmore refrigerator shortly after the warranty expired this past spring. Something has been up with Whirlpool IMHO since they bought Maytag out of bankruptcy and handed Hoover to the Dirt Devil parent company.
The (non-Sears) repair guy said he’s seen a lot of Whirlpool repairs lately, but he was seeing more with the Korean brands, especially LG.
Samsung had a big push at our local Costco this weekend. Check their (Costco’s) website if you have your eye on a particular model of the brand. The last time we had something large delivered from Costco, the item, a big Hon file cabinet, arrived on an Old Dominion truck, and, after helping remove the packing materials, the driver made sure to have me fully inspect for damage before he left.
Ask around for qualified local appliance repair now, before you have a problem. As I documented a few months ago, the Sears Home Services people were useless, and the complaint line is staffed in India with “freshers”.
“The (non-Sears) repair guy said he’s seen a lot of Whirlpool repairs lately, but he was seeing more with the Korean brands, especially LG.”
That’s a pity. There is a LG bottom freezer unit I’d had my eye on.
Sears is going the way of Ipana and Radio Shack. I believe they’ve already sold off Craftsman. Worked for Sears during high school in customer service at the local store. We used the 7th copy of a carbon form for deliveries, yeccch. They brought in the first POS terminals and eliminated 20-30 green shade folks in the back room.
SunFrost is the ideal prepper fridge with 4 inch insulated walls, but they are very expen$ive. ~$2500 or so….
Sears is going the way of Ipana and Radio Shack. I believe they’ve already sold off Craftsman. Worked for Sears during high school in customer service at the local store. We used the 7th copy of a carbon form for deliveries, yeccch. They brought in the first POS terminals and eliminated 20-30 green shade folks in the back room.
The division of Death Star Telephone I worked at was once part of Advantis/Prodigy. Bits and pieces of the Sears infrastructure still fell under our purview, and when I left in 2010, key points of the store chain’s network still depended on Windows for Workgroups 3.11.
Yeah, Sears is headed the way of Montgomery Ward. Sad. Unfortunately, both chains were doomed by key court decisions regarding department store cards made 25 years ago, and their business models depended on providing the basics to a middle class which is rapidly disappearing.
Stories I tell on myself:
I received a sample of walk in cooler wall similar to SunFrost cabinet construction during high school times. Seems I’d circled and sent off 3 of those blown in postcards common at the time from Architectural Record and Interior Design. Those are glossy, thick, professionals only magazines with stratospheric subscription rates that I enjoyed reading library copies.
I’d circled the entire card which listed a number for every ad in each magazine, a couple hundred apiece. So, someone at the publisher told every advertiser that I was interested in their stuff, a hugely laborious task I’m sure. For months I received via mail, glossy brochures and samples for an amazing array of building products.
In addition, that someone had interpreted my sloppy hand printed “M” as a “U” 3x in my name. That did make it easier for my Mom to separate out the flood of advertising from the actual household mail. The telephone solicitations for hardwood gym floors and full immersion baptismal fonts were less amusing for my folks.
It was decades before I stopped getting mailed solicitations for that name.
An article from Hot Air reporting on gun confiscation in NY:
Another Of Those Gun Confiscations Which We’re Told Never Happens
Yet another story has emerged from New York State detailing the travails of a citizen who had his firearms taken away by armed officers with a warrant. The NRA-ILA brings us the tale of Don Hall, a 70 year old Vietnam veteran who received an unpleasant visit from Sheriff’s deputies at his Talberg, N.Y. home.
Can you imagine, one day out of the blue, some uniformed thugs show up at your door: "We have a piece of paper that says you are mentally defective. Give us your guns or *we* open fire." A nightmare scenario that is actually happening. 34,500 investigations in NY alone. Geez.
The Vampire State is notorious for that shit. I’d already seen the story on the ‘Nam vet the other day. No apology, no reimbursement of expenses, nothing, just a big fuck you.
I’d be less inclined to open the door and cooperate, quite frankly.
Well, it was RBT that put me onto Kindle and ebooks about a dozen years ago as I was just reminded by the link to author Joe Konrath to the right.
Just downloaded a book yesterday for $0.00:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J1QC2KK/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o00_?ie=UTF8&psc=1
“A nightmare scenario that is actually happening. 34,500 investigations in NY alone. Geez.”
Something similar happens in CA, too. /Most/ states do not have a firearms registry, thank goodness, and I certainly wouldn’t admit to ownership of /any/ guns to a medical person. That said, I’d recommend the works of J.J. Luna to lower one’s official profile and steps to take to confuse the enemy.
There is a facility in KY or TN where old 4473’s go to die. I’ve seen articles about the boo hoo hoo difficulty in tracing firearms and the legal roadblocks to digitizing the records there. OTOH, I’m positive the NICS background check system is compromised. Fortunately, these bureaucratic workplaces are cesspits of inefficiency and error, almost by definition.
_Makers_ by Cory Doctorow
https://www.amazon.com/Makers-Cory-Doctorow/dp/0765312816/
A singular book, no prequel, no sequel. I read the very nice trade paperback version. The cover is most unique with a picture of thousands of used computer keyboards with dollar bills sprinkled throughout.
After the second blowout of the dotcoms and the bankruptcy of Walmart, a couple of guys start the New Work movement repurposing old electronics such as the Linux / Atom powered Boogie Woogie Elmo dolls.
I cannot decide if this is a dystopian novel or not. I believe that it is but, only a small portion of society is presented to the reader. Doctorow has special criticisms for many segments of society such as the TSA, Disney, and the fatkins people.
You can read the book for free online as Cory Doctorow believes that everything should be free also.
http://craphound.com/makers/download/
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars (79 reviews)
From the Two Cities and One Web Site To Avoid Department:
http://takimag.com/article/the_week_that_perished_august_6_2017_takimag/print#axzz4ounN5axk
Now we have felons running for mayor in Detroit and Ballmore is racing them in their slide down the toilet. Meanwhile Google/YouTube plans to p0lice us more rigorously.
I’m on my 30-day countdown to ditching all things Google. Mainly a matter of making sure certain emails are getting forwarded and downloading a few remaining vids I wanna keep.
The little dog was again nowhere to be seen, although she did show up shortly after we came back in the house. She was gone again by the time I took Colin out after his breakfast.
Once Is Chance, Twice is Coincidence, Third Time Is A Pattern. She would love to have breakfast at your place too.
Now we have felons running for mayor in Detroit and Ballmore is racing them in their slide down the toilet.
How many black men are felons, 50% ? And many of those convicted black men are due to illegal drugs ?
The War on Drugs ™ is killing us. The War on Coke ™ will finish us off.
[snip] That did make it easier for my Mom to separate out the flood of advertising from the actual household mail. [snip]
That’s actually a good way to segregate your advertising mail vs. what you really want to get. “Stan” is the guy who gets named on stuff you don’t want / care about / trust; this is also what I use my yahoo email account for.
“That’s actually a good way to segregate your advertising mail ”
Ya can farther, too. I introduce myself and my friends call me by my legal middle name. Overly familiar strangers and officialdom use the first name on my license. When someone does use that name, I’m on guard that they are not my friend, yet.
Ya can farther, too. I introduce myself and my friends call me by my legal middle name. Overly familiar strangers and officialdom use the first name on my license. When someone does use that name, I’m on guard that they are not my friend, yet.
Me too. And you are correct, when someone calls me by my first name, they are not an acquaintance. The exception is old people at church who are a little confused and think that I am my father since we look almost exactly alike and have the same first and last name.
There is also my personal favorite. Someone who sends me a snail mail or email entitled “Ms. Lynn”.
“There is also my personal favorite. Someone who sends me a snail mail or email entitled “Ms. Lynn”.”
Heh! My dad and I share my first name as well and that was the confusion reducing reason to use the middle name. The joke I use for those who will get it is specifying the spelling of my name “Marshall” with a double “L” as I don’t carry a six pointed suppository. 😉
Doctorow has special criticisms for many segments of society such as the TSA, Disney, and the fatkins people.
Don’t forget Florida. I doubt Doctorow has spent much time there other than Orlando.
I have a similar love/hate thing with Disney. This is the link to my favorite Doctorow book. The Mansion *is* perfect.
http://craphound.com/down/download/
Speaking of critically examining current situations…
https://christianmerc.blogspot.com/2017/08/one-day.html
We may get a shorter window of time to get our ducks lined up than we thought. Rather than the four years or eight years, we may be deuced lucky to get just one.
How it is with me and my name:
1. My last name is pronounced as a 5¢ piece.
2. If it is pronounced as if it were the first name of a French girl, I know that they don’t know me.
Pool pump has developed a leak. Seals are shot and leaking enough to cause quite a puddle in the garage. Pump is in the garage which is below the level of the pool, in fact the bottom of the garage is the bottom of the 8′ pool. Removing the pump is a hassle. Intakes and discharge can be valved off, pipes disconnected with universal couplings. But it is not a perfect seal and the lines are full of water. You get soaked in the process.
Replaced the pump with a spare and now have a leak in the high pressure discharge line from the pump. So everything has to be disassembled and the connections redone. Main leak is in one of the cutoff valves in the threaded portion. I can replace that tomorrow.
New seal kit is on the way for the removed pump. I have already taken apart the pump and removed the old seals. It is a ceramic seal surface that runs against a graphite bushing to provide the seal. The graphite portion rotates with the motor and thus is subject to quite a bit of wear.
I have two pumps and keep one as a spare. I had to have each one rebuilt once already due to motor issues, mostly bearings. Costs about $120 to get the motor rebuilt verses $400 for a new pump.
There is an advantage to having the pump and filter in the garage. Freezing is not an issue. Downside is that water leaks regardless of size are not trivial and must be taken care of fairly quickly.
Had a sand filter explode on me once when I started the pump (1HP, 220V). Pressure cracked the filter around the middle. That was a mess. Plastic filter casing. Replacement was fiberglass filter that is much more durable. 250 pounds of sand in the filter that must be replaced about every five years.
Good luck with all that, Mr. Ray. Yikes.
No pool here, shucks. Just the sixth-largest lake in CONUS.
And still no sign of the annual summer algae blooms in the bay.
Saw a guy working one of them Sunfish sailboats; looked like a blast. Did I mention I hate motorboats and motorheads?
Pump is in the garage which is below the level of the pool, in fact the bottom of the garage is the bottom of the 8′ pool.
I can’t remember what your property looked like on google earth. Is your pool above ground ?
My pool control automatically turns on the pump when the ambient temperature drops below 37 F. If it gets below 37 F for a week (happened back in 1989), that could be interesting.
I can’t remember what your property looked like on google earth. Is your pool above ground ?
No, it is an in ground pool. The garage is on the basement level, the pool surface sits on the same level as the upper, primary living space. The pools is 8′ foot deep and thus the bottom of the pool is about even with the garage floor. That is where the pump sits. Bottom drain and skimmer pipe come into the garage, merge into one line, through the pump, into the top of the sand filter, out the bottom of the sand filter, into the discharge line.
Interesting arrangement. Pump and equipment are protected from the environment such as the sun, rain and freezing temperatures. There is never a need to drain the lines or sand filter to protect from freezing. Downside is that removing equipment, such as the bottom drain, and you have several feet of water above the line. Thus the water wants to flow, really flow. Multiple cutoff valves to keep it all under control
Upper edge of the pool needs to be replaced this fall. Fellow that is going to chisel it all off and replace wants to wait until early winter to start the project and that is fine with us. Current edge is deteriorating in places due to some shifting of the concrete. About $7K to have it done. Should not complain. First major repair in 25 years. Will probably have the gunite replaced at the same time.
Pool is going to have to be drained, 1st time in 25 years. The refill is going to be expensive, somewhat north of $500.00. I get charged for the water, 25K gallons, plus I get charged sewage on the water I consume.
When I drain I will have to pump to the sewer. Rules here will not allow pumping out to the ground as the pool is considered hazardous waste and thus cannot be discharge in such a way that it will drain off my property. 25K gallons would run off the property.
Google earth view is at latitude 36° 2’4.94″N and longitude 84°19’49.76″W. Street view is several years old as I no longer own the white pickup and the boat cover has been painted white.
I did not know this about Michael Savage’s background; I’d written him off as just another tee-vee crank.
https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2017/08/05/is-america-on-the-verge-of-nervous-breakdown-or-civil-war/
I guess we’ll find out soon, maybe by Xmas. As the author says, stay tuned.
From the Is tRump Actually Winning? Department:
https://straightlinelogic.com/2017/08/06/is-trump-winning-by-robert-gore/
He’s walking a high wire down there; any Black Swan event or deliberate tanking of the markets could knock him off.
I did not know this about Michael Savage’s background; I’d written him off as just another tee-vee crank.
I didn’t know Savage did TV. I’ve only listened to the radio show, and I haven’t done that in a while.
Back when I listened, he would occasionally talk about his North Beach days on the air. I clearly remember one night when Savage ripped into the owner of City Lights for tolerating NAMBLA’s philosophy. Dunno if that was the issue that came between Savage and The Beats.
Yikes, Ferlinghetti’s 98 years old and still be-bopping around out there.
Not sure who the owner was when Savage ripped him or her. Princess has been in there, maybe also wife. Not me, not without an M-60. Just kidding! KIDDING!
Savage himself seems to be all over the map with stuff; it appears he broke with the Beats and libtards way back about forty-plus years.
And still no sign of the annual summer algae blooms in the bay.
I am beginning to wonder if we are going to have a 1970s style winter. You know, massive hard freezes for weeks on end, snow out the wazoo, and general misery. Especially you people north of the Mason-Dixon line. You may want to have extra food, fuel, and water on hand. You know, just in case.
“TEMPERATURE READINGS PLUNGE AFTER AUSTRALIA’S BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY ORDERS END TO ‘TAMPERING’”
http://www.climatedepot.com/2017/08/04/temperatures-plunge-after-australias-bureau-of-meteorology-orders-fix/
Something very strange is going on down under. Very strange.
I have two pumps and keep one as a spare. I had to have each one rebuilt once already due to motor issues, mostly bearings. Costs about $120 to get the motor rebuilt verses $400 for a new pump.
Yup, the least little bit of misalignment and something will go out early. Sometimes the same day it was installed. Or, lack of cooling on the bearings is another recurring favortite.
Yup, the least little bit of misalignment and something will go out early.
I have had fairly good luck on the pumps. They seem to last about 8 years before I have an issue. This time it is just a seal as the motor still runs well. I think having the motor out of the sun actually helps with the longevity. The motor stays cooler and is not exposed to the elements.
From my experience I am learning that Hayward has not changed their pump design in at least 30 years. Same motor, same pump housing, same internal parts. I guess what they have works and works well so no need to change. There may have been some subtle changes but nothing my eye can detect.
There is a motor repair shop in Knoxville that does an excellent job. I have used them twice and have been satisfied with the results of their work. The shop works on all electric motors from some monsters that I saw in the shop to my puny motor. The big ones they will completely remove all the wiring and rewind them and replace the bearings. Several thousands of dollars. Which indicates those big motors must be horribly expensive.
Not sure who the owner was when Savage ripped him or her. Princess has been in there, maybe also wife. Not me, not without an M-60. Just kidding! KIDDING!
IIRC, Ferlinghetti was the owner at the time.
Visiting BookPeople here always makes me wonder if my Tetanus is up to date.
I am beginning to wonder if we are going to have a 1970s style winter. You know, massive hard freezes for weeks on end, snow out the wazoo, and general misery. Especially you people north of the Mason-Dixon line. You may want to have extra food, fuel, and water on hand. You know, just in case.
Cat food stock levels at HEB have been strange here in Austin as of late. Dunno what that means, but a supply chain problem obviously exists somewhere.
There goes my retirement dining plans.
Cat food stock levels at HEB have been strange here in Austin as of late
Maybe a lot of Chinese eateries are fattening up their “stock”.
-gasp-
Microaggression! Microaggression! I need a safe space!
-gasp-
It’s a good day when you can make Steve gasp.