The sink faucet didn't work because the water was shut off because the O ring leaked. I don't have to find a weird part from the 1930s, I just need a pair of washer gaskets.
The shower diverter valve was jammed, but miraculously just sort of started to work after I took the knob off. It doesn't leak.
The autocross class definitely accentuated one of the issues with white wheels. Finally had a chance to clean them off:
after:
I was blocked on FB by a zillion dollar company for pointing out that their social posts are actually hurting their brand image. Making fun of your own employee competency when your reputation is...having competent employees...seems like an odd choice. I guess suggesting that their social media team works for their competitor on the weekends was a bridge too far.
In reply to slefain :
Note: you were not blocked by the "company," you were blocked by the "social media team." Makes a lot more sense now, doesn't it? "The company" will never know.
In reply to P3PPY :
There was a recent episode of "The Rookie" that comes to mind. S7E12, social media manager does some damage...
Buddy Guy recently hearted one of my FB posts:
Someone just offered me $199k CASH for the house we just bought!
Man, that won't even cover the loan amount let alone all the other money already spent. And the house was already appraised at over what we bought it for...
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
The onslaught of home warranty fliers is coming next!
Today's minor win: assuming everyone else holds up their end of the bargain, I managed to get an entirely unnecessary meeting cancelled. Twenty-two people were scheduled for an hour-long Teams call to go page by page over a submittal that hasn't materially changed since I flunked it the first time last December. Can we maybe just agree to get the key players involved, and only once we have something to talk about?
Fixed the 28 year old GE dishwasher with a $15 pumpout check valve, easily accessible from inside the DW.
Good job, GE engineers of the 1970's who originally designed the unit.
ReconGrandma fell at the beginning of April and fractured her T-10 vertebra. As she has made it to the ripe old age of 95, we were understandably worried.
Not sure why. Here we are 3 weeks later, and she's been discharged from the hospital, completed inpatient therapy, and is currently undergoing OT in preparation for going back home. Home is The Farm, 13 miles south of Hay Springs, Nebraska.
Never heard of Hay Springs? I'm not surprised. Population hovers around 600 souls...
I have some predecessors that are tougher than hell.
My middle son Tyler did a Tune up for a guy I work with. I ordered the parts, the car was at my office and Tyler came after school and did the usual plugs, wires air filter ext. After he was finished we took the 2004 Hyundai Accent manual for a test drive, When we got back to the office Tyler said he really liked the car and now he has been ruined by a cheap, light zippy low powered car.
Ventured into "handyman light" today to install a reverse osmosis under-sink setup my wife bought. Took a little time and I had to find a diamond bit to drill through my counters (that's a first!), but I got it done in an afternoon and it works well!
The gear indicator on the F-350 didn't quit working, I just inadvertently turned it off.
Also a high water mark for the usefulness of truck forums, quickly finding lots of folks who had the same issue, answered with a chorus of "hit the +/- buttons on the shifter stalk."
FJ40Jim said:Fixed the 28 year old GE dishwasher with a $15 pumpout check valve, easily accessible from inside the DW.
Good job, GE engineers of the 1970's who originally designed the unit.
This is beautiful. I do like a lot of advancements that have been made in a lot of machines, but something that works well, is designed to be repaired easily, and for which you can get reasonably priced parts... Underrated in the onslaught of shiny things.
Trent pointed this out to me, and as predicted, it made me cross about the over-complication of a thing for which such an elegant design already existed. More like this, please, and less like the Samsung devices I bought which are now wending their way through, hopefully, some amount of recovery and recycling before the rest is spit into the landfill...
In reply to Jesse Ransom :
He has a great video about a microwave from the 90s that incorporates, I think, a humidity sensor
Finished my seventh year of autocross. Currently (and it’s early yet), I'm the H Street points leader for the year for at least two and possibly three different clubs.
And I'll turn 70 this year.
My archiving internship got extended to over the summer, in the face of massive budget cuts and defunding at my school. 
I just heard from the recruiter that they're putting together an official offer for me for the job I really wanted and I should expect it in the next day or so.
I am now free of excess debt. Just have the mortgage to pay now.
Feels good.
wae said:I just heard from the recruiter that they're putting together an official offer for me for the job I really wanted and I should expect it in the next day or so.
Yay, more BiTurbo money!
Sunday the kids and I saw someone pulled over by an unmarked Ford "Police Interceptor Utility" (Explorer). I swung around and we drove slowly by to see if we could have picked out that it's a cop. No ghost lettering, no spotlight, non-gov plates, but to answer the question -- yes, Virginia, there is a dead giveaway from the front every time. (Who else knows what it is?)
Back to my story.
I was explaining to them the difference between standard Explorers/Tauruses (they're not "civilian versions" - because police are civilians, too) and the PI versions. With my captive audience in tow we swing by a local flipper who converts ex-patrol vehicles to something your aunt might buy. Then we cruise some neighborhoods to see if we can compare with the non-PI versions. We find a few as well as an ex-cop Taurus in someone's driveway, still rocking some of the standard police parts. Then we turn a corner and *bam* there it is! A police motorcycle alongside the road with a sign that says "FREE"!
Well my 4 y/o has been asking for a Powerwheels of her own for a while now (not fun to have to ask for sibling permission) so despite the fact that the Mrs hates the things (for admittedly good reasons) I talked to the homeowners and picked it up. Maaaaaan she was ECSTATIC!
"Was" is not correct. She is STILL ecstatic about it.
It took me a few hours over a couple days but I pieced together some wiring and controls from when I worked on the older kids' cars and now it maintains its 6V lights and sirens but is motivated by 12V to the single rear motor.
She has this little waitress order pad and has been pulling up to all the neighbors in her best authoritative man voice saying "what seems to be the problem?" and everyone is loving it! Including the Sheriff deputy parked at the end of the block the other day who suggested that she should only accept candy as the proper payment for fines :)
Maybe I like working with my hands more than I realized, or conquering a project that was stubborn, but I've been surprised at how pleased and fulfilled I feel at getting that working for my little pumpkin. That was a lot of fun, and it's great to see how much she likes it!
I roasted a chicken, and the combination of salting and tempering it a bit and starting it on the convection roast setting while I prepped the vegetables made for the best crisp, golden skin I've ever achieved and on a flavorful chicken. The veggies ended up beautifully roasted to a deep caramel brown as well.
Also nice that we've got ample thyme and rosemary in the garden.
Good people are a Godsend and worth every penny.
The old admin was decent. She had been with us for 8 years. I had to explain things to her in detail, and if she didn't understand it, I would have to do it. When we were less busy, she was all I needed, but she had no interest in expanding her role. We are running wide open at this point, so I was starting to think about options.
Lucky for me, she decided to move on, so I had to find someone else. I ended up hiring a fellow car person I knew from the SCCA and Lemons. She started 3 weeks ago. I pretty much gave her free rein as to how she wanted to keep up with things pertaining to her job and opened the floor to any ideas to make the company as a whole run better. One of the main reasons I hired her is for her organizational skills.
Holy smokes, she's a ball of fire.
The last admin was like a computer. She would run her program, and that was it. The new one is a self-starter. She nails down one skill, and then she's asking what's next?
The warehouse has been rearranged. Materials are neatly sorted by job and labeled. A system I tried to get the last admin to keep up with is now operating smoothly.
A job numbering system was devised and instituted to make tracking easier.
A new PO log was created and implemented.
All of this was done while keeping up with all of her other duties, like invoicing, estimating service work, and answering the phones.
Her answer to everything is simply "I'll take care of it." And she does.
She has jumped in with both feet. All in, 100%.
She is going to be pushing me to be better.
This is going to be so good.
DMV success to register my Avant. I should have scheduled the appointment earlier but wanted to make sure I could leave work, get lunch, and eat beforehand.
CT does DMV transactions via appointments you schedule online a head of time.
Scheduled at 2:15. Arrived early at 1:40. You're not allowed to check in and get your official number in line until 10 minutes before your scheduled appointment. I think I was called around 2:30 and out at 2:40.
So about an hour total being early, or if I paced myself it would have been 35 minutes.
In reply to P3PPY :
Roof rack is a dead giveaway, strobes in the grill and along the top of the back glass sometimes as well, but the missing roof rack is the biggest giveaway.
Edit: unless you're in my neck of the woods. Then the cops are always in the explorer that is seemingly attached to another vehicles rear bumper pushing them up past the speed limit.
You'll need to log in to post.
