Not that Bob

I have 65+ grains of hardness and something crazy like 2300 tds in my well water. I have a softener and chlorinator, but that doesn't do it all. I've just had one plumbing disaster, breaking off an angle stop and I think I should just replace all the angle stops and shut off valves throughout the house. I'd like to get the good stuff if I'm going to do the job. The one that broke looked like low quality, part plastic, part pot metal crap. I'm looking at BrassCraft. Any other brands I should research? Any other tips?

Ages 17-27. Pretty much any day every day. More often than not drove home from drinking and did not remember how I got home or when I left. Played in a frat party band and part of the pay was access to the kegs. I made sure I got paid. Not as dramatic as most stories on this thread will be, but absolutely the truth. Miracle that I didn't kill myself and others. I have since learned better. Met this unbelievable girl in a music store. Got her number. Took her out. It was an innocent date. I was a kid. She was a kid. I drove her up to her house to take her home and she said, "Oh shit! My brother! Get out of here!" He was running at me and screaming. I took off as fast as I could run. He was screaming "You better run you motherfucker!" I was younger and lighter and got my ass to a phone and called the cops so I could go get my car without getting killed. He had broken two windows and pulled the driver side door almost completely off from the body of the car. Good thing I was fast because if he had done to me what he did to my car I'd 'a been kilt.

I have a 1 1/2 garage that I use for storage. I ran a window unit and sometimes a small dehumidifier. In my experience, you need AC if you intend to spend any time there. Room size dehumidifiers last for 2-3 years, at most. Plan on replacing it now and again if you go that route...they also add heat, so again AC is preferable. I'm going to add a mini split when the financial world settles down.

If they have a long term care policy, read it. Most, if not all, have a waiting period and a degree of disability that must be met before they start to pay.

I have Intermatic PanelGuard Model IG240RC. Warning lights all indicate it is working properly, but my fried AC says otherwise. I get the variable speed thing, but it seems like that could be accomplished mechanically rather than digitally. I have a Square D box in the pump room that tells the well pump when to turn on and off. A simple set of points and two springs that essentially read the pressure. Worked for a quarter century, and would still be working if I hadn't fallen asleep and let ants get in to it. Ants got it, not a power surge. Circuit board just seems unnecessarily complicated to me....but I'm an old who actually fixed a carburetor instead of just bolting a new one on.

4 AC fans and circuit boards have fried amongst my circle of friends and neighbors in the past 6 weeks. I have what is supposedly a whole house surge protector, but that didn't save my fan and circuit board. Is Austin going through a period of electricity fluctuations bad enough to roast things? Is there such a thing as a whole house surge protector that actually works? I may start another thread about the idiocy of having a circuit board on a fan. On/off switch operated by points or solenoid would seem to suffice, but ohhh noooo...we gotta have a gotdam mini computer to turn on the fan.

...well, avoid Cloak Room.

It would be nice to be able to get facts, curve flattening, etc., without having to read dozens of posts of political crap. I can go to CR for political crap.

While I do understand the convenience of not having to touch the faucet lever with hands covered in chicken blood from grill prep, or oil from mechanics chores, I also think it's a problem to introduce a computer chip into a simple mechanical device. That said, even "simple" mechanical faucets now contain many plastic parts and are much more complicated than the simple brass worm gear of the past...but that's a subject for the "shit that pisses off old men" thread. There are toe and knee operated levers used in medical settings, but I doubt that would pass the wife's desired design elements and would be considerably more expensive.

I have about a dozen tube radios and about a dozen more antique speaker cabinets. My plan was to build small guitar amps and use them with the cabinets to produce "bedroom" amps that would be more wife acceptable. I made one, but then life got in the way plus I ran out of interest and motivation. I hate to put them in the landfill, but they are taking up room. I asked the guy who fixes tube radios in Austin and he doesn't want them. Any ideas? I'll give them to anyone who will take them. Is there an antique store that specializes in electronics?

Me too. Looks like Visa got a sweet deal.

I have a Margarittaville. Haven't used it enough to get the ratios right, but I used at one party and no one complained. I have made some good lemon freezes without the booze. Do let the ice sit out for several minutes before using it. I don't know why, but letting it "soften up" a little produces more snow and less shards.

Bacon in a cheap ass aluminum (disposable) cookie sheet, outside on the grill. Take bacon out with tongs. Let disposable cookie sheet cool. Toss when grease solid, or pour in jar for later use. Almost zero clean up.

I think it may be the "new improved" no stick liner. I ordered a stainless steel one to see if that takes care of it.

Sort of OT, Luke AFB did a "Covid Flyover" in the Phoenix metro. Went right over my daughters house. I'm sure social media will be all over it. I like flyovers and this was the biggest one I've ever seen. 14 planes I think.

Anyone getting a metallic taste from the IP? Gave old one to my son. Old one never had a problem. Got new larger one and it has a definite metallic taste to everything.

Dumb question amnesty request: I don't get the closed restaurant/food supply chain debacle connection. I'm going to eat the same amount of bacon whether I eat it at home or at IHOP. Same amount of bacon bought from the pig farm either way. Is it the restrictions on export causing it?

It's not "soda", it's "Coke", dammit!! Bunchca' yankees around here.

I did that one time. It was not a good day.

Pop some real popcorn, not the microwave stuff, in a touch too much oil in the heaviest pot you have. Throw in a quarter stick of butter as soon as it starts to pop. Salt to taste. Takes care of the salt craving.

I'm sure it's somewhere on these 614 pages, but I can't find it, so sorry for being behind... My father is 98 years old, yes 98, not a typo. He has pulmonary fibrosis. He has a pacemaker. He has hypertension. If he gets corona and dies will the cause of death be listed as corona? Just wondering about how the statistics divide out preexisting conditions vis-a-vis corona.

Real men wear Red Wings.

Had a Nordic Track elliptical for years and the only maintenance I did was a couple of drops of oil when it started to squeak. I'm an old with the expected joint problems. I went to PT where they had a NuStep which is fantastic, but 4-5K depending on the model. I got a Tetter Freestep Recumbent Cross-trainer, which is a poor man's NuStep. It ain't no NuStep, but it'll do. Easy on the joints and you can work as hard or as easy as you want.

What's the story on aspirin?

Maybe addressed elsewhere, but I can't find it. Say you get a negative test. Yea! Golden Ticket! Then on the way to freedom some positive guy coughs on you. I worry that testing may result in a false sense of security.