The Old Folks Home

[chickadoodles]

Ron I wish I could taste you bagels.

dsqard your train quilt is very nice and I like your colors on the spiders.

 

[drumstick diva]

Love the middle spider, if they really looked like that I probably wouldn't stomp on them.

 

[Latestarter]

As much as SCG loves spiders, I'm surprised she agreed to do that one with you.... They both look awesome, as usual. You should be headed out that way pretty soon, right? Hope you have a fun, safe trip!

 

[Latestarter]

Need to rant, and you lucky folks get to snicker at my misery...

So it has come to my attention that working on plumbing in a 30 year old manufactured home is a bit of a nightmare

Last month one of the outside hose bibs started "spray" leaking. Turns out the handle shaft was hollow and had corroded through, then the valve froze in the open position so could not be turned off. I'm on a crawl space... if I had been on a full basement, I would have done the repair myself. Instead, had a plumber come out and replace both bibs to the tune of ~$850.00! (well worth it in the end; done right, and I didn't have to crawl under the house and work in the dark with arachnids and such

)

So this weekend, the handle on the kitchen faucet (single lever) broke off. OK, no problem, buy a new faucet, disconnect the fittings, reconnect and good as new. Except, they used that old gray butyl pipe like in mobile homes (1st discovered from the plumber) and rather than place a shutoff valve near floor level then connect with bridging hose, the shutoff valve is hard mounted in-line just below sink level, so it's near impossible to get two hands up into the back to hold 2 wrenches to loosen/tighten the connections. In addition, the cold water valve is "bad" and even with the main supply shut off, it still leaks, running enough water to fill a 5 gallon bucket in less than an hour. (discovered upon returning from the store to buy the faucet

)

The manufacturer also had the dishwasher waste line hooked up to a vent pipe that was occupying the sprayer opening in the sink, so the sprayer is stashed underneath the sink and you have to open the cabinet door (single and NARROW as the sink is corner mounted) to pull the sprayer out to use it. OK, no problem, figured I'd fix that at the same time. So, I bought a cheap Delta single lever faucet, with sprayer attachment, and a new dishwasher to garbage disposal size adjuster to re-connect the dishwasher hose directly to the garbage disposal with an air gap in the line, and a "J hook" to hold the hose at a high point forming said air gap. Well, it seems they connected the water supply line to the dishwasher, installed it, then fed it under the sink and "T" connected it to the hot water line. So, guess what? There's no "slack" in that line to pull the dishwasher out!

Luckily with the hot water line disconnected from the faucet, I was able to get it far enough out to re-route the waste water hose... Have NO idea how I'll get it out to replace it when the time comes as I think it's the original dishwasher from when the home was new. Guess I'll have to cut the supply line, add a new shut off valve then connect using a bridging hose... I'll cross that bridge later... maybe another plumber call.

So I've just about got everything hooked up and the sprayer attaches to the faucet using a slide on plastic clip rather than a screw on fitting. And I can't get the blasted thing to go all the way on and "clip" into place, so when the water is turned on, the pressure forces the hose off the pipe and sprays water all under the sink

I went to Lowes on the harley to buy these items and the box was way too big so took everything out of the box and put in my saddle bags and threw the box away at the store. Luckily I have the receipt... so tomorrow, I have to return that faucet and get another and try this all over again. Sure is nice to be retired again... Sure wish I could win the lottery too.

Hope y'all enjoyed your weekend!

 

[drumstick diva]

Sorry Latestarter - hope the rant made you feel better. I really feel for you

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I'm sorry for you but glad for us that we got that story! It seems like that's the way my life goes, too. It's always something and things are never simple.

We had an electrician here a couple weeks ago. We have some switches and plugs that needed replacing, had 2 switches that we couldn't figure out what they went to and had a short somewhere that kept causing a fuse to blow.

It took the electrician hours to figure it out.

One of the rogue switches (next to my computer desk in the kitchen area on the first floor) went to a plug in the basement right above a hole in the floor in the kitchen with a grate over it. There's a wood stove in the basement. Apparently you're supposed to mount a fan in the grate and the switch turns the plug on and off. Except, being nerds, we hid our wireless internet router in the grate and plugged it into that plug. It now makes sense why we had so many internet problems.

The other light switch still goes no where.

The short was eventually solved (although the short was in a 4-way switch so finding it was difficult), although as soon as he fixed it and went and put his tools in his truck, I flipped the switch and blew the breaker again, and he had to come back in with all his tools and fix it again.

 

[Lynn Manes]

Yep sharp knives are the safest.  KNowing how to stabilize the food and keep your fingers out of the way is essential for cutting.


I was not trained by any one except TV with regard to knife safety.  But A tool is a tool and my dad always said let the tool do the job if you are working at it you are either using it wrong or the tool is dull.

But there are some things that require extra care when cutting even with a sharp blade.  Root vegitables come to mind.  Standing at the right height to make your cuts using the least amount of pressuere is ideal.  I am sitting in a chair when i work at the cutting board...  most times its good..  But cutting Rutabegas is Difficult at best...  I cant afford good quality knifes so I use the hand sharpener alot.

One of those kind that has two sides one for sharpening and one for Honing.    The sharpening side knocks off the microsocpic bits that are laying over due to work...  the HOning side is ceramic and usually white.  That side is the part that makes the knife sharp.

Here in Town there are people who sharpen knifes for a living  Sign in one window was five dollars a knife.  Used to be Buck knifes was right here in Santee and you could take your knifes there for sharpening.

I have three knifes that are my favorites and one knife for special duty. 

Long handle short blade paring knife
Long handle long blade for larger cutting jobs
Chefs knife for slicing dicing and 90 percent of my cutting work.

I also have a boning knife LONG flexible blade and VERY sharp.  It resides in its own plastic box and only comes out for projects.

Finally I would love to have:

A Cleaver
A Small Chefs knife
A Bread knife
A Slicing knife
A knife dedicated to processing chickens the kind that has disposable blades so its ALWAYS sharp.

I would also love to take a class on sharpening using a Wet Stone as well as obtaining a good sharpening machine for up at the house.

I could never use one of those sharpening steels...  Because I am AFRAID of knifes...  figure that one out.

If I were to be doing alot of butchering I would also need a Butchers glove.  Because I have cut myself countless times making stupid choices while using a kinife....  stabs, slices, and attempts to remove the tip of my finger... that one required stitches.  All while using a knife that was dull, or on an unstable work surface. 

My most recent injury was just a few weeks ago.  A shallow stab in the palm of my hand all the while I was thinking I was going to stab myself...  Yep it happened.  Cutting up Rutabegas.    For what its worth I should have foregone my ego and popped them into the microwave for a softening pre cut cook...  it only takes a little bit..

And If you are cutting onions to escape the noxious fumes you MUST use a very sharp knife.

My dream kitchen has a cutting station Just for keeping the knifes separate and maintined...  And a good cutting board that can be Stripped off and thrown into the dishwasher for sterilization.  Here in this house when I moved in all sharp knives were thrown into a drawer with all the other utensils...  I freaked out and broke the rules to buy a knife block...

deb

My fiance,Michael,is a retired chef. I don't think I ever owned a good sharp kitchen knife until he moved in. I was so scared to use his chef knives for the longest time. Now, although I don't cook much anymore, I've gotten over my fear and also took all my knives to the camping trailer and rv.lol

 

[Peep_Show]

Gee, Latestarter.... When it rains, it pours... or leaks!

What a cluster of plumbing aggravations. Almost makes one want to go camping.....

- - -

SCG -- I know what you mean about houses and wiring. It took us forever (well, the electricians) to find out that the trip plate for the bathroom was actually located out on the front porch. Huh? We still have a couple of switches to nowhere. Wish old houses came with a user's manual...it would save a lot of trial and error.

 

[dsqard]

Latestarter so sorry about your plumbing problems. I would much rather do electrical than plumbing work. Plumbing work always seems to involve at least three trips to Home Depot/Lowes because there is NO standard out there and it is hard to tell what size fittings you need unless you can bring the part with you.

 

[perchie.girl]

Need to rant, and you lucky folks get to snicker at my misery...

So it has come to my attention that working on plumbing in a 30 year old manufactured home is a bit of a nightmare

Last month one of the outside hose bibs started "spray" leaking. Turns out the handle shaft was hollow and had corroded through, then the valve froze in the open position so could not be turned off. I'm on a crawl space... if I had been on a full basement, I would have done the repair myself. Instead, had a plumber come out and replace both bibs to the tune of ~$850.00! (well worth it in the end; done right, and I didn't have to crawl under the house and work in the dark with arachnids and such

)

So this weekend, the handle on the kitchen faucet (single lever) broke off. OK, no problem, buy a new faucet, disconnect the fittings, reconnect and good as new. Except, they used that old gray butyl pipe like in mobile homes (1st discovered from the plumber) and rather than place a shutoff valve near floor level then connect with bridging hose, the shutoff valve is hard mounted in-line just below sink level, so it's near impossible to get two hands up into the back to hold 2 wrenches to loosen/tighten the connections. In addition, the cold water valve is "bad" and even with the main supply shut off, it still leaks, running enough water to fill a 5 gallon bucket in less than an hour. (discovered upon returning from the store to buy the faucet

)

The manufacturer also had the dishwasher waste line hooked up to a vent pipe that was occupying the sprayer opening in the sink, so the sprayer is stashed underneath the sink and you have to open the cabinet door (single and NARROW as the sink is corner mounted) to pull the sprayer out to use it. OK, no problem, figured I'd fix that at the same time. So, I bought a cheap Delta single lever faucet, with sprayer attachment, and a new dishwasher to garbage disposal size adjuster to re-connect the dishwasher hose directly to the garbage disposal with an air gap in the line, and a "J hook" to hold the hose at a high point forming said air gap. Well, it seems they connected the water supply line to the dishwasher, installed it, then fed it under the sink and "T" connected it to the hot water line. So, guess what? There's no "slack" in that line to pull the dishwasher out!

Luckily with the hot water line disconnected from the faucet, I was able to get it far enough out to re-route the waste water hose... Have NO idea how I'll get it out to replace it when the time comes as I think it's the original dishwasher from when the home was new. Guess I'll have to cut the supply line, add a new shut off valve then connect using a bridging hose... I'll cross that bridge later... maybe another plumber call.

So I've just about got everything hooked up and the sprayer attaches to the faucet using a slide on plastic clip rather than a screw on fitting. And I can't get the blasted thing to go all the way on and "clip" into place, so when the water is turned on, the pressure forces the hose off the pipe and sprays water all under the sink

I went to Lowes on the harley to buy these items and the box was way too big so took everything out of the box and put in my saddle bags and threw the box away at the store. Luckily I have the receipt... so tomorrow, I have to return that faucet and get another and try this all over again. Sure is nice to be retired again... Sure wish I could win the lottery too.

Hope y'all enjoyed your weekend!

Sounds like my house.... its sixty miles to the nearest "handyman" so i have learned to do it myself... And when I do go to the hardware store I wind up buying three sizes fittings... because I dont remember what size i am trying to fit. Good thing they are cheap.... I probably have at least four pvc pipe cutters too... One in the car one in the house one on the back porch here. Maybe even one in the green house room. Much safer for me to not have to search them out further than about twenty feet. (my current walking range)

PVC and I are on good speaking terms. For what its worth that odd colored pipe is probably for hot water. Seems back in the day when they made mobile homes there was a code difference between the two. I know my mobile home had two different types... and the house I have now has two different types... that's how I found out. When we found out this house was in fact an aluminum sided mobile home in its first life. Gutting the bathroom revealed aluminum siding half way through the stud wall... AND a kind of brownish white pipe going through the floor. The fellow gutting the bathroom for rehab was a licensed plumber and ID'd the pipe then determined it had been capped off somewhere because there was no water going through it.



So did you really retire?

deb