NYCat Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 I'm sure you are all waiting with bated breath to learn about my plumbing adventure. The latest is that they decided the leak is from my pipes and they are going to remove my bathroom sink and open up the wall. There is a possibility they will also have to open the wall of my neighbor's bathroom. Both bathrooms!!!! I hope that will not happen but things are starting to fall into place. I have been afraid that the work with the sink would stop the work on the shower and when my guy wasn't here first thing this morning it seemed ominous. He had just had to deal with emergencies and he did come and put tiles on my shower floor!! He needs two more days of work on it and didn't know whether he would be working on Sunday. Most likely, the plumbers will be doing their thing on Monday and then my guy will have to put my sink back and repair all the damage. When I see how hard some workmen work I am very grateful for my life of ease. Lots of anxiety about all this but, really, it is one of those luxury problems. I don't have to do the work and I don't have to pay for it. Paulette 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 (edited) Got home to find a polite note on the kitchen bench, "Sorry, but I have cut through the cable on the mower." Meanwhile herself had disappeared to look after a grandchild. Thought I knew how best to fix a severed cable, but learned a few new tricks from Youtube. Out with the Stanley knife, wire stripper, pliers, soldering iron and insulating tape - job done. It was as well that I used the electric soldering iron, as, unknown to me, the garage supply had tripped out, leaving our chest freezer without power. Sorted that. Then I had to mow the lawns. I quite enjoy fixing things, but some days the amount of fixing required borders on the onerous. Last week after a shift on the garden I went to lock the allotment gate to find that the posts hade moved and I couldn't install the lock. Sigh......... Cycled home, returned with tools and wood to be used as a spacer, along with a length of rope to be used to pull the posts together. Fixed it. Tired but happy. Edited July 16, 2021 by Bryan 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 13 hours ago, Bryan said: insulating tape 😮not many proper uses for that when wiring up an appliance! I hope you just shortened the lead (as I did this week when OH did the same!) or put in a proper connector! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 7 hours ago, spacecadet said: 😮not many proper uses for that when wiring up an appliance! I hope you just shortened the lead (as I did this week when OH did the same!) or put in a proper connector! No chance Mark, a soldered connection is as secure as you are going to get, while I offset the two repairs to avoid any possibility of a short. Insulating tape has served me well over the years, never had a problem with it. Actually this is the second repair I've had to make on this cable, the first is still going strong after several years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 4 hours ago, Bryan said: No chance Mark, a soldered connection is as secure as you are going to get, while I offset the two repairs to avoid any possibility of a short. Insulating tape has served me well over the years, never had a problem with it. Actually this is the second repair I've had to make on this cable, the first is still going strong after several years. My stepfather and husband made repairs just like you, Bryan. Probably a combined 80 years fixing things without a mishap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 I had my poppyseed chicken recipe half prepared and strawberries sliced for shortcake dessert, when my son, who I was making the meal for, called. He had just left his home and had a two hour trip to my home. His part of the state overnight had and was still having a lot of rain and not only flash flooding, but rivers were out of their banks. After the second turnaround due to water over the road, (Slogan:Turn Around, Don’t Drown) I asked him to stay home. Even if he had managed to get here, there was a danger, if the rivers kept rising, that he wouldn’t be able to make it back home and to his job. I had a nice bountiful meal alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 16 hours ago, Bryan said: No chance Mark, a soldered connection is as secure as you are going to get, while I offset the two repairs to avoid any possibility of a short. Insulating tape has served me well over the years, never had a problem with it. Actually this is the second repair I've had to make on this cable, the first is still going strong after several years. Well I'm a bit of a health and safety fascist with mains voltage, especially if it's going to be dragged around on wet grass! I wouldn't want to rely solely on insulating tape on a join that was going to move a lot. But you must be happy with it. 11 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: Probably a combined 80 years fixing things without a mishap. We use 240V mains- quite a bit more dangerous than 110V. They even use 110V transformers on building sites here for precisely that reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Standfast Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 4 hours ago, spacecadet said: Well I'm a bit of a health and safety fascist with mains voltage, especially if it's going to be dragged around on wet grass! I wouldn't want to rely solely on insulating tape on a join that was going to move a lot. But you must be happy with it. We use 240V mains- quite a bit more dangerous than 110V. They even use 110V transformers on building sites here for precisely that reason. When I was an apprentice in the 70's we were taught to do repairs like this. Today? I'd buy a £3.49 connector. Stay safe, no really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 (edited) 31 minutes ago, Mr Standfast said: When I was an apprentice in the 70's we were taught to do repairs like this. Today? I'd buy a £3.49 connector. Stay safe, no really! Gosh, remember when appliances came without plugs and you had to buy one for 37p from Woolworths? I took lessons from a radiohead friend who fastened cable grips so tight you could pull the plug out of the wall without disturbing the conductors. We did some fairly crazy stuff but never took a chance with 240V. The other day I changed a drill lead because therewas a small bit of the outer sheath missing- the inners were fine- it had been wrapped with insulation tape- not by me! OH's late husband was a terrible wirer of plugs; I think I've redone all his distasters now but you never know what might be lying in a drawer somewhere! I'm all for moulded plugs, but I have had one fail in 30 years. A tricky one lately was the drill that kept cutting out for no reason. I got close to changing the brushes before finding out that the individual live wire strands had all broken over a length of about 50mm, inside the insulation, so the connection was intermittent. Things were getting a bit crispy in there. Edited July 18, 2021 by spacecadet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avpics Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 This morning whilst shaving my back went. The totally immobilising back issue that I get now and then but thankfully only a few times each year as bad as this. The plan for this morning was to see whether I could catch anything to illustrate the so-called 'Freedom Day', with little expectation of being able to do so. It's a difficult subject to pin an image on so I'd no expectations anyway, only to see on social media that an aviator has painted a smiley face in the blue sky over the town. That's front page material right there and would have been immediately on its way to Live News had I not been flat on my back 😞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 7 hours ago, Avpics said: This morning whilst shaving my back went. The totally immobilising back issue that I get now and then but thankfully only a few times each year as bad as this. The plan for this morning was to see whether I could catch anything to illustrate the so-called 'Freedom Day', with little expectation of being able to do so. It's a difficult subject to pin an image on so I'd no expectations anyway, only to see on social media that an aviator has painted a smiley face in the blue sky over the town. That's front page material right there and would have been immediately on its way to Live News had I not been flat on my back 😞 Sorry to hear your bad news. If it any consolation wherever I went today especially indoors in public places everyone was wearing a mask and that even goes for in the street too. Allan 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted July 19, 2021 Author Share Posted July 19, 2021 In Lincoln too, Allan? I had the feeling there were more masks displayed in Liverpool today than on the last lockdown weekend. I had mine, of course, with a spare in my pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 7 hours ago, Ed Rooney said: In Lincoln too, Allan? I had the feeling there were more masks displayed in Liverpool today than on the last lockdown weekend. I had mine, of course, with a spare in my pocket. Yes we visited a cafe where ordering indoors the mask rule was still in place and all customers complying, sitting outside in the sunshine it felt safe to do without. We'll be continuing to wear masks in shops etc for the foreseeable future. Not happy with the removal of the legal requirement to wear masks in crowded indoor places and public transport, it's going to lead to a further spread of the disease and cause problems for transport operators and shop staff. A bad thing, my wife picked the last of this season's broad beans and we cut back the plants for compost. We've left the roots in the ground to see if we get a small second crop, but, from past experience, that isn't going to happed, but you never know. Can't complain as we've had loads of beans, to the extent that one of our fellow gardeners complained of being beaned out, and asked that his supply be diverted to another recipient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thyrsis Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 2 hours ago, Bryan said: . A bad thing, my wife picked the last of this season's broad beans and we cut back the plants for compost. We've left the roots in the ground to see if we get a small second crop, but, from past experience, that isn't going to happed, but you never know. Had quite a good crop of broad beans but the stems have gone on the bonfire as they were covered with blackfly. Now into courgette season… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 Thyrsis, are you suddenly going to vanish in a puff of smoke soon. Rather sad, that. 😒 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thyrsis Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Thank you Ed! Yes, on the stroke of midnight on Friday I shall turn back into a pumpkin!! Actually I will probably check up on you all but I won’t be able to comment….how frustrating! I won’t miss the sniping and bitching that happens on some threads but I will miss the friendly chatter of the folk here. ❤️ 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Gilda's Club in NYC is changing their name to Red Door Community. This really makes me mad. Gilda's Club was started to honor Gilda Radner after her death by her husband Gene Wilder and friends. It is a place that gives help to all people affected by cancer. For family as well as patients. I joined in 2001 when I was getting chemo for breast cancer. The Club had been operating for about five years and we were definitely encouraged to think of it as our clubhouse. The decor was deliberately not hospital-like or office-like... lots of overstuffed furniture. We could hang out in the library, use the computer. There was a room called "It's Always Something" where you could go and no one would bother you when you needed to be alone. They provide support groups but also lots of classes. It is a wonderful place and, I hope, hasn't lost too much over the years. But it has lost a certain clubhouse quality. Some things are small. Instead of signing up at the desk and chatting with the receptionist we had to have a card scanned at a machine. A new manager likes everything to be efficient. The thing that happened last year was the beginning of a policy that after five years you couldn't go to the classes anymore. You were still a member and could volunteer and go to the open lectures but a lot of us long-term survivors were eliminated from classes. We were the support for people who were still dealing with cancer. We really were a community and it was as if the people running the place didn't understand what happens when you break up a community. Some people who hadn't been told not to come stopped coming. A wonderful, fun dance class had to end for lack of participation. I could go on and on and I guess I am but it does remind me of the change for us in Alamy. It had more of a family feeling before the sale to a business that is treating it more like a business. Gilda's Club has let us old-timers participate in the classes by Zoom during the pandemic but we don't know what will happen when in person classes begin again. I suspect we won't be allowed to come. In the case of the name change as well as the policy about long-term survivors there was a "reason" given that was lots of words but no actual reason given. We don't know who made these decisions and why. Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 Those Red Door newbies sound like they need a slap alongside the head. My ex-wife had cancer 8 times. She didn't make it past the last one. A great person, and we reminded close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 2 hours ago, Thyrsis said: Thank you Ed! Yes, on the stroke of midnight on Friday I shall turn back into a pumpkin!! Actually I will probably check up on you all but I won’t be able to comment….how frustrating! I won’t miss the sniping and bitching that happens on some threads but I will miss the friendly chatter of the folk here. ❤️ Yeah! but you will still be able to see what we are all saying about you.😈 Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Allan Bell said: Yeah! but you will still be able to see what we are all saying about you.😈 Allan And we won't know- of the 62 currently on the forum, only 12 of us are contributors. The rest are guests- extraordinary. So careful what you say, folks. Naturally I will try to Remain uncontroversial Edited July 20, 2021 by spacecadet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thyrsis Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 1 hour ago, spacecadet said: And we won't know- of the 62 currently on the forum, only 12 of us are contributors. The rest are guests- extraordinary. So careful what you say, folks. Naturally I will try to Remain uncontroversial I think if you’re a contributor but you’re not signed in you count as a guest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Thyrsis said: I think if you’re a contributor but you’re not signed in you count as a guest? Oh, I usually stay logged in to fora. Not sure I can remember the password for here anyway😀 Edited July 20, 2021 by spacecadet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thyrsis Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 11 minutes ago, spacecadet said: Oh, I usually stay logged in to fora. Not sure I can remember the password for here anyway😀 For some reason my ipad won’t keep me logged in so I have to log in every time I want to post, its frustrating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 31 minutes ago, spacecadet said: Oh, I usually stay logged in to fora. Not sure I can remember the password for here anyway😀 Same as your login to Alamy. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 13 hours ago, Allan Bell said: Same as your login to Alamy. Allan You think I can remember that either............? I stay logged in permanently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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