The Vent and Rant Thread

[cromag]

Some of the things that can trigger the check engine light are actually pretty minor, and some may even correct themselves. Use Google to see if there's an easy way to check you engine's trouble codes. On my old Dodge minivan flicking the ignition key on and off three times in succession would cause the odometer to show a four digit trouble code, and there were web sites that could tell me what the code meant.

[John F]

Originally Posted by HLS

My check engine light turned on. taking to the dealer Monday. little worried. the car has only 52,000 so I hope its something small. car runs good.

Maybe take it to an auto parts place first? Around here, they'll use the devices to hook up to the car that reads the error codes, free of charge.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Right?? Though I'm still laughing at, "Of Course I Still Love You Loss of Signal". I guess drone ships use the same naming conventions as racehorses?

THERE YOU ARE!!!!!!! How are you??

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

THERE YOU ARE!!!!!!! How are you??

Here I am! I'm getting by. LOL I'll PM you.

[Deskisamess]

For the second day in a row, our power has gone out. Yesterday it was out for about 6 hours, today not so long yet, but estimated another hour+ til it comes back on. Another estimate just came in saying it should be back by 4 eastern.

The house is getting warm, it's 90 outside. The family room, dining room, and our bedroom are all on the west side of the house, so the sun is beating down now.

1st world problems I know. This too shall pass. Grumble grumble.

Hubby is still working from home, so he is using our cell data to connect to the work VPN. Unfortunately, he is having to stare at a laptop screen instead of the 27" monitor they gave him to use at home.

[covingtoncat73]

So, Goodreads is synced with my Kindle, so, whenever I just go into a book to find a quote or abandon a book quickly, it puts it on my reading shelf and now I have a ton of them to remove. *Sigh*

Work is, apparently, going to expect me to take temperatures, maybe. I am the furthest thing from a medical professional or sanitation expert. There was an email to let your supvisor know if you are at risk and I am. That didn't appear to register, though.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Hubby is still working from home, so he is using our cell data to connect to the work VPN. Unfortunately, he is having to stare at a laptop screen instead of the 27" monitor they gave him to use at home.

What laptop, running what OS? Laptops I have have ports you can plug a monitor into (and external keyboard and mouse, for that matter), and that 27" monitor should be able to connect to it and have the laptop use it as the screen.
______
Dennis

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

What laptop, running what OS? Laptops I have have ports you can plug a monitor into (and external keyboard and mouse, for that matter), and that 27" monitor should be able to connect to it and have the laptop use it as the screen.
______
Dennis

Not with no electricity. The monitor needs power. He's been using the larger monitor just fine, but this is the second day in a row we've lost power for 6 hours.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Not with no electricity. The monitor needs power. He's been using the larger monitor just fine, but this is the second day in a row we've lost power for 6 hours.

D'oh! Right. Power outage.
______
Dennis

[wodin]

ARRGH!!! I dropped my thousand dollar cell phone yesterday, and it must have hit just right to crack the screen. I can still see the top half of it, but the touch screen doesn't work. I cant even turn it off 'cause you have to tap the power off button, and that doesn't work. Luckily (or not) I have insurance, but it'll still cost a couple hundred to get it fixed.

Soooo, I pressed my $200 backup/wireless hotspot into service, loaded the must have apps, set up email, and synced my contacts. Aside from being a little smaller, a little slower, and no wireless charging it works just fine. It's just a PITA to give everyone who matters my alternate phone number.

[CRussel]

Pull the SIM card out of the new one and replace the one in the old phone? Even if the new (broken) phone uses a smaller SIM, there are adapters that let you do that.

[wodin]

Got Sprint... no SIM. Luckily I had just backed up my photos on Saturday. Most of them are on the SD card, so they're safe in any case.

[Rumpelteazer]

We have a blocked drain. And it wasn't in the spot where it blocks every 12 to 18 months and is fairly easily solved. It's probably behind the kitchen where multiple drains come together. It isn't accessible, when my grandparents placed the kitchen over 50 years ago (yes, our kitchen is an antique) they blocked off access to the drains. And knowing how my great grandfather and grandfather worked on this type of things it'll probably be a cobbled together system.

Yesterday we tried regular declogging solutions, which didn't really work. Last night my father used an old fashioned mixture of sodium carbonate and vinegar. And this morning the plan is to go to a connecting point below the blockage and try and suck it out with the wet vac (he tried it from above the blockage yesterday and did suck out a lot of gunk, but it only improved the situation a little bit).

Tearing down the kitchen isn't really an option. Laying new drains is fairly easy for the most part, for my sink, the washing machine and shower. But for the kitchen it's hard, since there's a beam in the way.

Luckily we can use the toilets, since they have their own drain to the sewer and the dishwasher is also behind the blockage, so we can use that. But we can't shower or do laundry. Last night I went to my sister to shower and if need be we can do our laundry at her place too. But hopefully we'll manage to unclog it. After that my father still wants to put in a new drain, but then he has time to figure out how to do it for the kitchen.

[Gardenman]

From what you say about a cobbled together system. I bet you will find the pipe is too small.

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

We have a blocked drain. And it wasn't in the spot where it blocks every 12 to 18 months and is fairly easily solved. It's probably behind the kitchen where multiple drains come together. It isn't accessible, when my grandparents placed the kitchen over 50 years ago (yes, our kitchen is an antique) they blocked off access to the drains. And knowing how my great grandfather and grandfather worked on this type of things it'll probably be a cobbled together system.

Yesterday we tried regular declogging solutions, which didn't really work. Last night my father used an old fashioned mixture of sodium carbonate and vinegar. And this morning the plan is to go to a connecting point below the blockage and try and suck it out with the wet vac (he tried it from above the blockage yesterday and did suck out a lot of gunk, but it only improved the situation a little bit).

Tearing down the kitchen isn't really an option. Laying new drains is fairly easy for the most part, for my sink, the washing machine and shower. But for the kitchen it's hard, since there's a beam in the way.

Luckily we can use the toilets, since they have their own drain to the sewer and the dishwasher is also behind the blockage, so we can use that. But we can't shower or do laundry. Last night I went to my sister to shower and if need be we can do our laundry at her place too. But hopefully we'll manage to unclog it. After that my father still wants to put in a new drain, but then he has time to figure out how to do it for the kitchen.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

From what you say about a cobbled together system. I bet you will find the pipe is too small.

It was in the wider part of the rain. A little further along it gets narrower.

Vacuuming from above didn't work. Vacuuming from blow did work a teeny tiny bit; it started to drip slowly. My father was giving up, but was willing to try the drain snakes he bought yesterday. The 6mm made it drip a bit faster, but the 9mm did the job, a wad of what looked like fabric or rope with hair was pulled out. We're not sure how the fabric/rope entered the drain, that's not something you flush through the sink or shower drain. The €15 for the two drain snakes were well spend! And the indoor scaffolding also came in handy again (even if it took longer to set up and take apart than the actual unclogging).

Looking back, we're lucky it didn't get stuck in the narrower part further along. We probably wouldn't be able to get it out.

We also discovered that the beam is in the right place, so putting in a new drain system will be fairly easy. My father already replaced the siphon of the kitchen sink for a better and more practical one.

I took a nice long shower, used my favorite shower gel/shampoo and put some music on and sang along, loudly.