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Vaping on the Front or back Porch

SteveS45

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So I was outside checking on my Cucumbers which I don't understand why they are not doing well~! Something dug them up or ate them. Usually my cucumber plants are 10 feet tall~!
 

2WhiteWolves

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The fountain I rigged up for my mom. Nothing fancy, hauled a larger stump in there for her for the base. Holds around 8 gallons. Thankful for a hand truck, no way I was lifting that stump lol. I can flip it over but that's about it.

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That's nice ! Your mom will really enjoy watching the hummers.

What is and where did you get the top piece where the water is coming out?



! WAKE UP ! from the MEDIA SPELL !
 

SteveS45

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So I walked passed the Stairway to Moms Bedroom and the heat coming down the stairs felt like an oven~! Go up and check her AC which was running but the Compressor Kissed the Ghost~! I put that sucker in almost 20 years ago so I guess they got their monies worth~! Fucking off to PC Dickheads to buy a new one and picked her up the bigger Model of my Freidrich with WiFi so I don't even need to be home if she needs me to adjust it~! I can see all the functions on it from my Phone.
 

SteveS45

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It never fails when the Temperature is Heat Wave Shit I have to sweat my ass off replacing a Friggin A/C Unit~!

I guess I can look at the bright side I probably burned a few hundred calories~! LMFAO
 

Synphul

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Member For 4 Years
That's nice ! Your mom will really enjoy watching the hummers.

What is and where did you get the top piece where the water is coming out?



! WAKE UP ! from the MEDIA SPELL !
Thanks. You mean just the fountain head portion? The dish was a melamine chip or serving platter they had at wally world. Had some nice flower design on it and was the right size. The fountain head itself is one of the solar ones off amazon. 3w with a variety pack of heads. The solar plate is separate (some fountains have a circular floating base that doubles as a solar collector). I mean it came with the pump but it was a separate collector with an option to mount it to a wall or fit a small plastic ground stake and has an adjustable tilt head to aim it. It doesn't have an internal battery so it doesn't collect power then run. It's direct, so sunlight it works, it gets darker or raincloud cover (overcast) and it goes off.

The kit came with a closed cell foam disc with a center hole, to slide the plastic plumbing extension through and acts as a floating collar. Has a small mesh bag you can fill with rocks (pebbles, it's small) to weight it in place instead of the wire outrigger type centering rods on other units.

I got some sort of black vinyl tubing 1/2" od, 3/8" id and it worked out. In the photo they show one of the fountain heads connected to the nipple on the pump. I extended it with around 3-4ft of tubing, used a hose clamp at the pump nipple and the other end that inserts into the fountain head is a bit thicker. No clamp on that end, I heated a bowl of water and held the end of the tubing in the hot water for like 20-30s to soften it up. Pushed it over the nozzle end. I did use the foam collar it came with just to help center it where it passed through the serving tray. The foam disc was just the right size to fit in the dip tray or whatever in the center. 10ft cable from the panel to the pump and they can be disconnected with a weather sealed dc jack looking connector.

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Synphul

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Member For 4 Years
Keeps raining on and off. My issue is even when it lets up it's rained so much my yard is soaked and muddy. Might have to just bite the bullet and set the grill outside the shed on the wet ground (still in the box, trying not to disintegrate the box until I'm ready to assemble it). Only problem, the 'temporary' spot to shove the grill box out of the weather is right in the entry of my shed. Naturally my tools and things I need to fix the ac up are in the shed on the other side. And the ac is temporarily setting on top of the grill box. So need to pull everything out of the shed, find the least sloppy place to shove it out of the way so I can get to the tools I need. Did not think this through. lol. Kind of prioritizing things, would like to get the ac done before dicking with the patio area. Even these overcast days are hot and muggy, be nice to have cooler drier air in the living room.

Went out to the garden, hauled another big load of dirt down to prep for a second row of corn. The dirt in the strawberry tower keeps settling, so refilled that and packed the dirt in better. Planted more radishes. The butternut never popped up so dug around a little and found nothing, no signs of seed or plant or anything. Weird, so I planted 5 more seeds. Maybe because they're older and gone to pasture. The other two spots I planted cantaloupe and watermelon but can't recall which is which. One of the two is finally growing, the other is just sitting there with the first two little leaves and not getting any bigger. So planted like 5 more seeds of each in that spot. I figure if it looks like the first one coming up and the other sprouts look different, I'll just thin them until I have some of each. It can surprise me. lol.

Picked some more lettuce and things. So far 2.5lbs of greens out of the garden. Around 15oz last night. Too much kale to put in salad so cooked it down with some balsamic vinegar. Wasn't too bad, not overly bitter. But stout leaves, even cooked down that's some chewing. Wasn't sure about these things when I planted, the spinach is growing fine but only puts out a handful of leaves. So planted more spinach in another container. And planted more onions, my green onions don't stand much of a chance in the kale/lettuce forest. Not getting enough sun. Never done greens or leafy stuff like that so didn't know how big things would or wouldn't get. Strawberries are doing decent, been putting out runners (bedded some of them in) and got a small handful of strawberries so far.
 

SteveS45

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tenor.gif
 

SteveS45

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Was doing shit on the PC this morning and then spent the rest of the day trimming bushes and had to pull out the Electric chain saw.
 

MyMagicMist

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*fades in sitting on a stool up again the wall with a stainless steel mug of Joe & his vape, breathes in & the universe enters him, breathes out and it exits him ... sighs and enjoys the coffee, vape with a wry grin*
 

MyMagicMist

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*deep guttural Southern voice* "I'll tell what. .... wut." :)

Yesterday I was called out to our local middle school. They called and put me on schedule from 2 P to 10 P. Me & a fellow cleared two out building class rooms.

The principle had told the teachers using them they three weeks to clear out. Well last night he kept his end of the or else. We toted out about two pick up beds of garbage & a bed full of books.

Got my wife three small boxes with Pyrex beaker jars and some Pyrex bottle/flasks. They come from the science class so are graduated and marked. Most of the beakers are 200 ml marked, one flask is a 300 ml one.

If I don't use for mixing juice, I'm sure she'll use them for cooking. Suited her well too as she told me coming home she was thinking of going to cooking with metrics. They were in the stuff slated to go out as garbage. The other fellow took a couple of nice 3d puzzles.

We left around 8 P. We both agreed we had gotten the work requested done. There was no point to stay longer. So yay, i got an extra 2 hours paid time. Not my concern, that's what the "bosses" budgeted so that's what I put down, will get paid.
 

gopher_byrd

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Back home for the weekend then back to southeast Minnesota again on Monday. It was actually cooler in Cali than MN this week. Working outside in 95+ heat with high humidity is not fun. The forecast for next week is in the 80s so it shouldn't be as nasty.

I had gone to DMV on June 1st to renew my DL with RealID for travelling in the future. I had to show them my passport and some bills to prove who I am and where I live to get it is the only reason I went to DMV. They said I'll get my new license in 2 to 4 weeks, surprisingly it was waiting for me when I got home yesterday. That surprised the heck outta me.
 

MyMagicMist

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Working outside in 95+ heat with high humidity is not fun.

Well last night/evening we only saw something like 85+ but we have nothing but overcast and the humidity was not joking. It rained once for about a half hour.

It come as a cloud burst, like a cow peeing on a flat rock. Luckily we were inside with a air conditioner running at 60. We sat and waited for the rain to break to get trash out. Shame being the humidity remained.
 

Smigo

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Member For 2 Years
Here we have had rain a couple of days every week for the past 2 mths. Normally I dont care but we have been waiting for a guy the landlord called to fix some serious cracks in the concrete of the garage roof. The first month, 3 months ago, he said it had to be dry. That whole month it was but he was a no show. Its got worse. Now we have on the garage roof what looks like salt build up which falls on my car roof every day no matter how much we brush it off with a broom. It also stinks. My searches said its a type of salt from the moisture in the concrete, but it really smells musty and off. Its got so bad I cover the car each night with sheets as I heard it can eventually damage the paint.
Its really bugging me now as the guy big mouthed how easy it was to fix but never showed up to do so. This is it. On the roof, the blankets on the car as it falls on its own and on the floor when brushed off.
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Every day now.
 

SteveS45

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Worked in the back yard trimming bushes yesterday and cutting the lawns for 8 hours straight~! Feel it today for sure but not in pain just a little sore. The good kind from a workout.
 

MyMagicMist

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Morning, watching a replay of NXT Take Over: In Your House. Watched the first two matches last night. *CLICK* The lecy went out on us. So, seeing it this morning. Not checked anything online to spoil seeing it. Do not want spoilers. We also looked at a free INXS concert yesterday evening.
 

Synphul

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Member For 4 Years
Got the ac installed in the living room. Finally. What a fricken nightmare. So the place is a rental but kind of a backwoods rental. Meaning rent's cheap but if it breaks you fix it. Was already a bit sketched out because the walls aren't the strongest, apparently there was some damage under one of the windows. They drywalled over wood paneling. Insulation half missing. Patched it up with some new framing under the window, foam sheet insulation, new wallboard. And no real window sill to speak of so made one. Giving a solid support for the ac bracket to mount to and rest on.

Those ac brackets are a pain in the ass. The instructions were pure shit, never installed one so took some sorting out. I mean they had parts labeled in the diagram #13, the parts list stopped at like #10 or #11. Fantastic. Braced the outside of the wall a bit where the feet of the ac bracket are supposed to rest against. Had it initially installed but something didn't feel right. Whenever I'd hang from it some to test it for weight it would slip and fall. Oh, the legs have to be dropped fully to lock against the lateral pieces, then let it drop down and figure out which hole to use. Instructions didn't mention that crucial tidbit. Everything secured, finished cleaning up the ac. Lugged it inside, go to sit it on the arms extending out the window carefully set with a level so it had a slight downward tilt. Nope. Ac doesn't sit level. Even with the support arms dropped a bit the ac was still tilted inside. Fuck. Back out of the window, tinker with the arms some more. 2-3 more attempts before I finally got it pitched out.

Get all done with it for the most part (still need to build insulated panels for the sides). Plug it in, the breaker on the plug pops. Typically, just push it in to reset and go. Press it and nope, popped right back out. All that shit and the ac wouldn't turn on. Gotta be fricken kidding me. Blew any moisture out of the plug, the control panel. Finally let it sit. Eventually it stopped playing games and kicked on. Only used it 2 seasons. Tired of lugging that thing around, it's like 75lbs and bulky. My back's feeling it.
 

MyMagicMist

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Wife's sis & b.i.l did go buy and put in an AC unit. Me & wife both looked at each other "dad bought it." Sure enough we found that he had got it for her sister.

Her dad recently told her that he would deed us out some property in the bottom. A few weeks ago I ran a thought by him just to get a sounding board. "Reckon it'd be too much to put something in the bottom," I asked him.

Me and him agreed it would be too much, cost wise as well as just raw hassle wise. So I figured it was left at that. *smh & chuckles* Apparently he thought I was asking to put something in the bottom.

We (me & wife) both agreed that it's a little too little and far too late. First of all her b.i.l & sis come back here once and tore everything in the hovel out and burned it. That included stuff she and I had figured would be kept, and be safe to leave until we returned.

We figured at least someone would ask about some of the stuff as it was put up neatly in what was then our room. No, there was no asking, no apologies either for losing our stuff. My class ring, a few of her rings, some various other sundry items we felt of value.

Me and wife have never felt this "family" welcome her b.i.l so flagrantly touts of upholding. It's always been the narcissists babies getting all they want with no regard for anything/anyone else. We're "tolerated" at best but be damned if we actually do "live" here.

That's also part of why I thought putting anything in the bottom would not be good, even given the technical issues aside. Me and wife need to be "away" from here, somewhere our own without them. She's only wanting to stay in the county for her mom.

Technical issues summarized; the bottom is in a verified/certified flood plain. Anything we built on the bottom would need to be set up on stilts and a platform. That of course then means we'd need to have all utilities brought up/down from the house. We could maybe bring in fill, create a rampart to place a home on but that too comes at cost/issues further.

So anyway yes we are being graced by air conditioning. It's only thanks to her dad buying a new unit for her sister. Funnily enough her sister and b.i.l are both working. They could have afforded to buy the ac themselves, "oh but no they couldn't' with all the money going out for whatever aside from bills or actual needs. *smh*

And yes me & wife could have afforded the AC as well. We didn't want to get one as a matter of principle of throwing good money after bad. Not sure why AC units "go bad" here but they do and they end needing replaced yearly. Given how we're "tolerated" we don't feel it's our responsibility to buy stuff for the hovel, that's for sister and b.i.l to do.

I guess they pay electric, water bills. They pay half on the internet and wife does pay half on that. We figure the electric here runs about $150 mo. here & water runs around $30. The internet runs around $50. Me & wife could get the electric down but it would require a major upfront investment, a bulldozer. So really not worth the effort/money.

As I've been growing fond of saying lately, "not my monkey, not my circus."
 
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SteveS45

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Get all done with it for the most part (still need to build insulated panels for the sides). Plug it in, the breaker on the plug pops. Typically, just push it in to reset and go. Press it and nope, popped right back out. All that shit and the ac wouldn't turn on. Gotta be fricken kidding me.

If the A/C was not sitting in the correct position as it sits in the window the oil runs into the lines and that causes it to blow breakers.
 

Synphul

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Member For 4 Years
If the A/C was not sitting in the correct position as it sits in the window the oil runs into the lines and that causes it to blow breakers.
It wasn't main breakers, it was the plug itself. One of those oversized plugs with the reset and test buttons on them sort of like a gfci on the end of a plug type deals. It very well may have been the oil, I know ac's are supposed to have components remain level. I had to lift it up to clear things getting it into the house and with no good way to grab it basically bear hugged the fat pig and raised it up against my chest. With the face pointed down and condenser faced up to the top. Not for long, just enough to get it into the house. May also have been moisture. Let it sit outside overnight after washing (careful not to hose the circuit board) and everything was wet with dew and condensation. Almost as if it rained (but hadn't). So maybe moisture got inside it somewhere?

The plug I'm talking about is like this. Usually it's not uncommon to have it trip when plugging in but then a press of the 'reset' and it stays pressed down. This one kept spitting it back out. Just a google image, my plug isn't that tore up looking. Damn near brand new. And naturally the warranty period ran out just last month. lol.

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SteveS45

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The plug I'm talking about is like this. Usually it's not uncommon to have it trip when plugging in but then a press of the 'reset' and it stays pressed down.

Yes, you are 100% correct. I have had them Pop when plugging it in which I believe is a self test feature. Last one I installed didn't pop so I pushed it and turned it off~! LMAO
 

2WhiteWolves

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Last Thursday or Friday, spent an hour n half cleaning the AC unit. The metal thingys that are behind the air filter (sorry, don't know what they are called :facepalm: ) with a small doggy toothbrush. Regular people toothbrushes bend the metal, so they don't work, but doggy toothbrushes are perfect to clean them.
I dumped the water 10 times or more from it being nasty dirty. It didn't look brand spanking new, but it looked 90% better. Probably do it again when the air filter needs cleaned again.

! WAKE UP ! from the MEDIA SPELL !
 

SteveS45

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Spent 4 hours in emails with Tech Support this morning from the UK. Good thing I get up early~!
 

Synphul

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Member For 4 Years
Last Thursday or Friday, spent an hour n half cleaning the AC unit. The metal thingys that are behind the air filter (sorry, don't know what they are called :facepalm: ) with a small doggy toothbrush. Regular people toothbrushes bend the metal, so they don't work, but doggy toothbrushes are perfect to clean them.
I dumped the water 10 times or more from it being nasty dirty. It didn't look brand spanking new, but it looked 90% better. Probably do it again when the air filter needs cleaned again.

! WAKE UP ! from the MEDIA SPELL !
Yea agreed, they're a pain in the ass to clean. And I can't be certain, probably that way on a lot of them but seems like the evaporator is deeper than just one set of fins. I used a soft bristle toothbrush, just careful not to scrub side to side which will bend the fins. Need to gently brush up and down with the direction of the fins, then lift and move the brush over, repeat.

Those aluminum fins are so delicate. If you do mess them up there are tools out there to straight them that work decent. Ac combs and they often have several sections with different sized spacing and thickness of plastic. It won't make them look brand new but will help restore them to like 90% and functional. If they're munched all the way up and down you might have to take a small flathead driver and tediously bend several fins back out sort of straight. Enough to work the comb into them and gently work it up the length of the fins.

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SteveS45

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Yea agreed, they're a pain in the ass to clean. And I can't be certain, probably that way on a lot of them but seems like the evaporator is deeper than just one set of fins. I used a soft bristle toothbrush, just careful not to scrub side to side which will bend the fins. Need to gently brush up and down with the direction of the fins, then lift and move the brush over, repeat.

Those aluminum fins are so delicate. If you do mess them up there are tools out there to straight them that work decent. Ac combs and they often have several sections with different sized spacing and thickness of plastic. It won't make them look brand new but will help restore them to like 90% and functional. If they're munched all the way up and down you might have to take a small flathead driver and tediously bend several fins back out sort of straight. Enough to work the comb into them and gently work it up the length of the fins.

View attachment 183179

I have a coil comb and due to the changes in the way they make condensers these days I need new ones because they have more fins per inch~!
 

Synphul

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Member For 4 Years
I have a coil comb and due to the changes in the way they make condensers these days I need new ones because they have more fins per inch~!
Typical. They always new and improve things to death. Then have the nerve to call it 'progress'. Maybe I'm just getting grumpier as I get older but feels like the simple things that just worked are now 10x the pain in the ass. 1 step forward, 12 back.
 

SteveS45

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Typical. They always new and improve things to death. Then have the nerve to call it 'progress'. Maybe I'm just getting grumpier as I get older but feels like the simple things that just worked are now 10x the pain in the ass. 1 step forward, 12 back.

It is due to the change in Refrigerants that they use. First it was R12, then R134 and now everything from 401 to 454. The newer refrigerants generate more heat so require more cooling. Plus the new Evaporators generate more cold.
 
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SteveS45

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And plus everything is disposable because nothing is worth fixing. I told the Salesman when I bought the AC recently. Why pay for a warranty? By the time it breaks it won't be worth fixing and then I have to fight with them because they won't give me one as good as a replacement.
 

MyMagicMist

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And plus everything is disposable because nothing is worth fixing. I told the Salesman when I bought the AC recently. Why pay for a warranty? By the time it breaks it won't be worth fixing and then I have to fight with them because they won't give me one as good as a replacement.

Well planned obsolesce does exist and is not some crack pot conspiracy theory.

The rationale behind this strategy is to generate long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases (referred to as "shortening the replacement cycle").[2] It is the deliberate shortening of a lifespan of a product to force people to purchase functional replacements

Here's an article regarding it with cell phones but the principles apply for near everything.

Opinion: It seems the whole of our culture, society is based upon consume &/ discard. Find that this fits with it also being based upon greed quite well. Greed is a never filled hole right through us each. It is the darker wolf in that Native American tale of two wolves. :/Opinion
 
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Smigo

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Member For 2 Years
Well planned obsolesce does exist and is not some crack pot conspiracy theory.



Here's an article regarding it with cell phones but the principles apply for near everything.

Opinion: It seems the whole of our culture, society is based upon consume &/ discard. Find that this fits with it also being based upon greed quite well. Greed is a never filled hole right through us each. It is the darker wolf in that Native American tale of two wolves. :/Opinion
I heard on a radio program a few yrs ago some economists and others discussing the subject saying it was a well known real thing. Always recall one of them saying about how light bulbs were a classic example and how at one stage they made one, incandescent, that would last for ages. The executives or boss where it was made weren't pleased and told them to redisgn it to not last so long. Cars now are a perfect example. So many parts, electronic chips and stuff, that they are only required to make replacement ones, any parts, for 10 yrs. Not to say they all will do that with every part but they are not required to keep making them past that point. I highly doubt my car now will ever become a classic or vintage car like those of the past. :giggle:
 

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