Rant for the Day (keep it clean)

[Neb]

Thank you! That is a great idea!

Fluid Master fill valves have a diaphram that can be replaced in 10 minutes and the diaphram only cost a dollar or so.

Ben

 

[zoomzoom]

You could shut off the water to the house replace the fill valve assembly and ignore for a few more years.

Might as well replace the valve going to the toilet as well.
If you have some penetrating oil, squirt that valve, let sit awhile then slowly turn the valve back-and-forth. It may free itself up... or it may start leaking in which case you need to replace the valve anyway.
Don't forget teflon tape on the threads of the valve when you do replace it.

 

[Weedygarden]

Might as well replace the valve going to the toilet as well.
If you have some penetrating oil, squirt that valve, let sit awhile then slowly turn the valve back-and-forth. It may free itself up... or it may start leaking in which case you need to replace the valve anyway.
Don't forget teflon tape on the threads of the valve when you do replace it.

Thank you!

 

[The Lazy L]

Do we really need FOUR magazine rack in the kitchen? Evidently the wife thinks we do. Her clients throw things away (like magazine racks) and the wife thinks it's too good to throw out and somebody, somewhere might possibly want it. So she brings it home. The two spare "bedrooms" are full, the basement is full, the dining room is full and she's doing her best to fill the garage too.

In my den I had a cufflink box that looked like a treasure chest. Mom gave it to me when dad died, full of junk. Yesterday I threw it in the garbage can. We have enough junk laying around and this would be one less the children will have to waste their time on!

This morning I roll the garbage can out for the trash-man to pick up. I happen to look inside the can and the cufflink treasure chest is gone! Wife saw it and it's back in the house hidden somewhere so I will not find it and throw it out again.

Mental note to myself. Next time I throw something away, bust it up but good!

 

[zannej]

Trying to figure out about a toilet problem that developed yesterday. After I flushed it, it kept running. I took the lid off the tank and could not make it stop without using a piece of wood wedged in there to stop it. I can see that the parts are corroded. I could replace the parts, but I cannot shut the water to the tank off with the turn off valve. It must be pretty corroded as well, and I have no memory of ever needing to turn it off in 30+ years of owning this house. The lid to the tank is not the correct one, so if I am going to do some work, I should replace the toilet so I can have the correct lid on the tank. I have never liked the tile in this powder room and whoever did it, never completed it, so while I am at it, I should replace the tile. If I am going to replace the tile, I should replace the base boards because whoever installed them (not me) never completed it, only partial. There are sections of the wall that never had baseboards. If I am going to do this, I might replace the sink, as it has never been attractive. And there is wood paneling halfway up the wall that was never completed under the sink. I am thinking it is time for a sink with a cabinet, but the powder room is the former entrance to the basement, and narrow. It would take a very small cabinet and sink. Not impossible, but a challenge. Ever heard the children's story, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..."?
I have removed and reinstalled a toilet myself previously. That is something that I can do. It is the water turn off valve that I cannot move. I do not want to force it, break it, and then have a flood or to be forced into turning off all of the water to the house until I can get a plumber here. I have my full bathroom, so I can use that toilet until I get the rest of this together. New toilet, new tile, new baseboards, and...

I had problems with my toilet running because my mother put a magnet in the toilet-- some gimmick from tv that was supposed to attract iron sediment. It broke apart, got stuck under the flapper, and pieces of it somehow got into the fill valve. First I replaced the flapper (after throwing the broken magnet out-- it was too weak to be of any use), I then dismantled the fill valve and cleaned it out and put a new cap on it.

If you're looking for a good toilet, Toto is a good brand. I have Toto Drakes (first version) with a 3" flush opening. The new ones come with a flush tower instead of a flapper. The shorter ones come with a coating that makes it so you don't have to clean them as often. The Drake II supposedly has a better bowl wash and comes in that coating as well, but it's more expensive. The cheapest one is the Entrada. It has the 3" flush and comes in chair height. Got one for my friend's house & it's great. 1,000 MaP score. Flushes like a beast but doesn't splash.

Speaking of flushing, ever since the kid (who is no longer at his house) flushed the entire roll of tp down, his plumbing has been clogged up. He's augered the toilet, augured the drain, had a plumber come in and auger it, plumber told him to pour "liquid fire" (sulfuric acid I think) down it and said he'd come back and work on it if that didn't do the trick. Well, it didn't do the trick but the plumber keeps no-showing. Promises "come hell or high water" he'll be there and never arrives. He did the same thing to me when we hired him for a job (fortunately, we didn't pay him up front). So my friend got a longer augur but that still didn't work. He also used a 100' hose. There must be something else stuck in there or the pipe has collapsed. To add insult to it, he was checking his bank statement after buying the stuff to try to clear the drain and Walmart and saw that the charge was $60 more than it should be-- exactly the amount that would have been tacked on if he'd gotten cashback. But he didn't get cashback so that means the cashier likely put in he was requesting it and pocketed the $. I've told him to contact asset protection and ask them to review the tapes.

 

[Weedygarden]

@zannej , thank you! I do have research to do to figure out what I am going to do.

 

[zannej]

Correction, the plumber has been no-showing at my friend's house every day for 3 weeks now. It seemed like a shorter period of time.
My peeve for the day is my friend's ex. Even though they are not a couple she's still trying to be super controlling and wants to know where he is and what he's doing at all times. She constantly messages him asking him where he is. There's a woman he likes that he helps out and his ex is extremely jealous of her. She keeps thinking he's sleeping with her-- which, if he was, it would be none of her business. She cheated on him multiple times & is acting all buttsore that he's spending time with a female friend. She tanked the relationship but she wants him to refrain from dating anyone else because she's still holding on to some hope that he'll take her back. Her presence at his house really pisses him off but he's too nice to kick her out so he's deliberately spending time away from home to avoid her when she's not at work. She also has a habit of getting pissy and burning bridges with people who help her out. She always creates drama. There was a guy who works with her who had been driving her home. They gave him some gas money for it. She apparently made him mad the other night by yelling at him-- claiming something about him rolling the wheels of his vehicle near her feet or something when he went to pick her up and she wasn't getting in fast enough & he was having to wait on her. I'm pretty sure her version of events is not fully true-- she's terrible at relating what happened. Also, I was tired when she told me about it because it was after midnight when she called and woke me up. She acted like she was worried that my friend got in a wreck or something because he wasn't answering her calls & messages. I think she was lying to me when she said she didn't know where he was. She knew he was over with the woman she's jealous of. I messaged him to let him know his ex woke me up & was asking about him. He said he fell asleep on the couch, headed home, and I think he chewed her out for waking me up because I haven't heard a peep from her since. She needs to let go and move on, but he also needs to kick her out so he can move on with his life. And he needs to get a DNA test to see if the baby is actually his (we all think it's not) so he won't have to be financially responsible for another man's child.

Editing to add my other peeve is my brother being irresponsible. My mother ordered a new ISP that he begged her to get and he promised to clean the house in return. But now he's claiming he only agreed to do the living room (which he hasn't done). He also was asked to take out all of the trash cans, pick up trash that fell on the floor from them getting knocked over, & replace the bags in them. He took the bag out of 1 trash can & took it out, didn't replace the bag, didn't pick up any of the trash, & didn't dump the other cans. He knows that if he waits long enough I'll do it. I've put off doing it because he never learns to be responsible if I do things for him but things have to be done. It's so frustrating. He also still doesn't rinse his own dishes & he recently ruined one of my favorite pans. He used it for cooking hamburger steaks, left it on the cooktop, forgot to flip the switch to turn the cooktop off, and left. Cats stepped on the controls & turned it to max sear and ON. I smelled something burning and came out to find it on, the pan warped and covered in blackened crud on the inside. It's supposed to be copper color. He waved if off like it was no big deal & "not that hard" to clean. Yeah, bc the punk never actually cleans the pans himself. The pan no longer sits flat on the cooktop & I don't know if I can get the charred crap out so I may need a new pan. It's the one I use for making shepherd's pie and stroganoff.

 

[SheepDog]

To clean the blacked and burnt contents put water in the pan and heat it. Water is very good at loosening and dissolving carbon. Once it starts to boil remove from the heat and add a bit of liquid dish washing soap. Work the soapy water under the carbon with a metal spatula. Finish the clean up with a stainless steel scrubber and some copper or stainless steel cleaner. The outside of the pan should clean up nicely with the paste cleaner and stainless scrubber. The warp may not be so easy to straighten out but you can try gently heating it or using hardwood blocks and a press or hammer.
I have a habit of burning pots and have learned that they can be fixed.
It might serve your brother well to take him shopping to replace it with a new pan of the same type. If there are no consequences there is no reason to change his behavior. You can teach self discipline by using forced discipline. You have to treat him as though he is the age he is acting out, that might include excluding him from the services he enjoys.

 

[Meerkat]

She may be cancelled soon like all other internet conservatives are now. YouTube user like her are being taken down 'some who had 5 MILLION views now have 72,000 or just gone. I put up some songs of a couple of them.

She is right we have sat back on our laurels [like the Romans did ] for too long.The armies they are bringing in now to fight us for them are building up while we kiss their ass.

 

[zannej]

Thanks, Sheepdog. The pan was supposed to have some sort of non-stick coating but my brother completely ruined it. To my surprise, he actually cleaned the pan himself and re-used it and cleaned it one more time. He left it on the stove again this time, but it's not as bad, but it is warped. We've had to replace numerous pans over the years because he ruined them. I think the only reason he cleaned it was because he wanted to use it.

My rant for the day is rude people. We were at Samsclub and there was only 1 working riding cart in the cart bay. Mom was walking toward it with her cane and was about to get into it when a smaller woman, who looked at her and seemingly realized she was going for the cart, ran ahead and nearly bumped into her to jump into the cart to beat her to it. She then zipped off as fast as it could go (after nearly running Mom over) to go back outside. Not a word said to her. No "excuse me" etc. I followed the rude witch outside to give her an earful (and also see if I could spot any riding carts in the parking lot). Just as I was about to reach her, a man with one leg climbed into the cart after she got out of it.

Now, I get that the guy needed the cart and she was getting it for him-- I've often gone and retrieved carts for my mother-- but she could have at least said "excuse me" or explained that she needed it or not been a completely rude hag about it. The old man with one leg rode on by my mother-- who was glaring angrily at the woman who remained outside to smoke. We couldn't find a single riding cart so we ended up leaving. I'm sensitive to cigarette smoke so I was coughing when I breathed it in. I flipped the lady off as I headed to the truck and Mom glared at her. She just turned away and puffed on her cigarette.

I have never taken a riding cart out from under someone who clearly needed it to get one for my mother but I've had people steal carts from me. Can't blame it on younger generations either bc these are older people. I don't think it's the generation, but I think it's a culture thing with people in my area in that age range. No respect for others and act like they are entitled to everything. Not a political thing either bc I'm in a deep red state. Some of the most rude & entitled people I've ever met are the boomers from this area. (Mind you, I have nothing against any generation, but certain people from various generations are a-holes).

 

[zannej]

The mayor of my town is so corrupt! I've complained about him before, but his greed and corruption are getting worse. He went to my best friend's door with the cops this afternoon to give him verbal notice that he had until next Tuesday to get his yard cleaned up or he will be fined $5400. The mayor happens to own a business that does yard cleaning. I wonder how many other people he's done this to. I also wonder if someone actually complained or if he's going around doing this to other people. By law, he's supposed to give him 10 days written notice, but the city clerk said that whatever the mayor says goes. Greedy scumbag. He was a greedy scumbag back in the 80s. I think he got mad that he felt my father "stole" the Boy Scouts leadership from him. He would charge the kids $10 a head for "insurance" if they went on field trips with him or had any sort of events. Charged kids he drove extra $ for gas. My dad got interested in it and started doing stuff for the kids for free & the parents preferred him over the scumbag. He wasn't mayor back then though. Ever since he became mayor the town's taxes went up, water fees tripled, and he's been using taxpayer $ to buy himself new vehicles. But there hasn't been any more maintenance or improvement. He's been using the $ on himself. I wasn't able to vote against him in the elections because I live out of town. The fee in the past was much lesser, but I guess he wants to scare people in to hiring his business for the cleaning.

 

[havasu]

Sending a mayor to prison is easy. We put ours behind bars for 2 years for accepting bribes and corruption.

 

[Meerkat]

Thanks, Sheepdog. The pan was supposed to have some sort of non-stick coating but my brother completely ruined it. To my surprise, he actually cleaned the pan himself and re-used it and cleaned it one more time. He left it on the stove again this time, but it's not as bad, but it is warped. We've had to replace numerous pans over the years because he ruined them. I think the only reason he cleaned it was because he wanted to use it.

My rant for the day is rude people. We were at Samsclub and there was only 1 working riding cart in the cart bay. Mom was walking toward it with her cane and was about to get into it when a smaller woman, who looked at her and seemingly realized she was going for the cart, ran ahead and nearly bumped into her to jump into the cart to beat her to it. She then zipped off as fast as it could go (after nearly running Mom over) to go back outside. Not a word said to her. No "excuse me" etc. I followed the rude witch outside to give her an earful (and also see if I could spot any riding carts in the parking lot). Just as I was about to reach her, a man with one leg climbed into the cart after she got out of it.

Now, I get that the guy needed the cart and she was getting it for him-- I've often gone and retrieved carts for my mother-- but she could have at least said "excuse me" or explained that she needed it or not been a completely rude hag about it. The old man with one leg rode on by my mother-- who was glaring angrily at the woman who remained outside to smoke. We couldn't find a single riding cart so we ended up leaving. I'm sensitive to cigarette smoke so I was coughing when I breathed it in. I flipped the lady off as I headed to the truck and Mom glared at her. She just turned away and puffed on her cigarette.

I have never taken a riding cart out from under someone who clearly needed it to get one for my mother but I've had people steal carts from me. Can't blame it on younger generations either bc these are older people. I don't think it's the generation, but I think it's a culture thing with people in my area in that age range. No respect for others and act like they are entitled to everything. Not a political thing either bc I'm in a deep red state. Some of the most rude & entitled people I've ever met are the boomers from this area. (Mind you, I have nothing against any generation, but certain people from various generations are a-holes).

Far as the pan coating,your brother may have done you a favor. Non stick coating can be dangerous,we use only steel or iron cookware. .
We try to respect those who don't smoke .We don't stand at entrace to do so when we smoke outside.

 

[angie_nrs]

The mayor of my town is so corrupt! I've complained about him before, but his greed and corruption are getting worse. He went to my best friend's door with the cops this afternoon to give him verbal notice that he had until next Tuesday to get his yard cleaned up or he will be fined $5400. The mayor happens to own a business that does yard cleaning. I wonder how many other people he's done this to. I also wonder if someone actually complained or if he's going around doing this to other people. By law, he's supposed to give him 10 days written notice, but the city clerk said that whatever the mayor says goes. Greedy scumbag. He was a greedy scumbag back in the 80s. I think he got mad that he felt my father "stole" the Boy Scouts leadership from him. He would charge the kids $10 a head for "insurance" if they went on field trips with him or had any sort of events. Charged kids he drove extra $ for gas. My dad got interested in it and started doing stuff for the kids for free & the parents preferred him over the scumbag. He wasn't mayor back then though. Ever since he became mayor the town's taxes went up, water fees tripled, and he's been using taxpayer $ to buy himself new vehicles. But there hasn't been any more maintenance or improvement. He's been using the $ on himself. I wasn't able to vote against him in the elections because I live out of town. The fee in the past was much lesser, but I guess he wants to scare people in to hiring his business for the cleaning.

Do you go to any of the city meetings? Call the clerk before the next meeting and let him/her know that you want to be put on the agenda of the next meeting. Voice your concerns calmly about what you view as a conflict of interest. If you're nervous, prepare a statement ahead of time that you can read off of. Also, make a call to the local paper and request that a reporter attend the next meeting. This shines a light on the issue so that others will read about it in the paper. If you get enough people aware of the problem, then that's where the power comes from on the next election. Someone needs to run against him! Many times, nobody is intersted.

Nothing will change unless good people step up, regarless of whether they want to or not. It all starts at the grassroots level. Around here, hardly anyone attends the meetings. When they do, the board acts completely differently. It's amazing what a small crowd of people can accomplish, especially a local business owner or two since they talk to a lot of people in the community. Shedding light on what's going on is not what the corrupt politicians want. It's time everyone get involved in their local politics and hold them accountable. You can't do that sitting on your couch.....unless there is a zoom meeting. Get involved! Attending one meeting a month is not too much to ask in exchange for keeping local gov officials accountable and preserving our freedoms.

 

[zannej]

Thanks for the advice, Angie. They town doesn't hold public meetings anymore. I'm going to encourage my friend to call the DA's office and possibly speak with one of the parish judges about the issue. Instead of making accusations, he can broach it as a question and ask if it's legal and what recourse he has. DA's office people are very nice and helped me in the past when local cops were too lazy to do anything about someone robbing another friend of mine. We knew who did it and where she went. Cops pretended they didn't know who the robber's probation officer was and didn't file the report. I got the DA's office to put me in touch with the probation officer, informed him and the DA's office of the perp's movements (she was stupid enough to post it publicly on FB) and then they were able to arrest her. DA's assistant called me personally to tell me when the arrest happened. She didn't stay in jail long, but my friend felt vindicated that she had some consequences for her actions.

 

[Meerkat]

Do you go to any of the city meetings? Call the clerk before the next meeting and let him/her know that you want to be put on the agenda of the next meeting. Voice your concerns calmly about what you view as a conflict of interest. If you're nervous, prepare a statement ahead of time that you can read off of. Also, make a call to the local paper and request that a reporter attend the next meeting. This shines a light on the issue so that others will read about it in the paper. If you get enough people aware of the problem, then that's where the power comes from on the next election. Someone needs to run against him! Many times, nobody is intersted.

Nothing will change unless good people step up, regarless of whether they want to or not. It all starts at the grassroots level. Around here, hardly anyone attends the meetings. When they do, the board acts completely differently. It's amazing what a small crowd of people can accomplish, especially a local business owner or two since they talk to a lot of people in the community. Shedding light on what's going on is not what the corrupt politicians want. It's time everyone get involved in their local politics and hold them accountable. You can't do that sitting on your couch.....unless there is a zoom meeting. Get involved! Attending one meeting a month is not too much to ask in exchange for keeping local gov officials accountable and preserving our freedoms.

Here most meetings don't haave that many people show up. And those who do are looking for a hero. All of them taake cut backs from big biz.
2 acreas of laand for a small City Hall, 2 million. I ask why do they need that much land for a small city hall. Got hate look from the clowns and noi answer.
Went to State Capital,yep,made enemies there too. At least they stopped talking on thei phones while suckers were talking to them.
I didn't realize how high the microphones were turned up,so almost busted all their ears,,It got their attention though. And i got to tell them how much I didn't like em. not that they cared.

 

[havasu]

Public access meetings are a national requirement and in violation of the Brown Act if not complied with. My group in my city, are watchdogs and I'm happy to say I am the president of our organization. We have 1550 active members, and have completely changed the tide of attempted corruption in politics. We were successful in ousting 4 out of 5 corrupt council members 2 years ago, and this election, our group took over 3 of the 5 positions. It can be done. You just need to be persistent.

We right now are suing one of the biggest businesses in America, which I will not name, but everyone knows who they are, to stop them from building a 1 square mile transportation depot in our bedroom community. The attorney would have cost us $100k just to start, but he suggested we file for a non-profit corporation, and the attorney would take the case on "Pro-Bono", which he did. We were offered $6 million cash to drop the lawsuit, but me also being the president of this non-profit organization, money means nothing, we want them out of our town.

 

[rusty]

To speak at a city council meeting here, you must have approval days before. And they never give approval. I live next door to a council member whose yard is a mess, and they never bother him. But I called the trash company about picking up a recliner I had. I put it out at dark the day before pickup. When they picked it up at 6 am the next morning, my yard had been tagged.

 

[havasu]

Go to your local newspaper. This is a violation of law, and more people need to know about it.

https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/facs-brown-act-primer/
The above is specific to California, but the constitution is nationwide, and I'm sure every state has similar coalitions.

 

[Meerkat]

Public access meetings are a national requirement and in violation of the Brown Act if not complied with. My group in my city, are watchdogs and I'm happy to say I am the president of our organization. We have 1550 active members, and have completely changed the tide of attempted corruption in politics. We were successful in ousting 4 out of 5 corrupt council members 2 years ago, and this election, our group took over 3 of the 5 positions. It can be done. You just need to be persistent.

We right now are suing one of the biggest businesses in America, which I will not name, but everyone knows who they are, to stop them from building a 1 square mile transportation depot in our bedroom community. The attorney would have cost us $100k just to start, but he suggested we file for a non-profit corporation, and the attorney would take the case on "Pro-Bono", which he did. We were offered $6 million cash to drop the lawsuit, but me also being the president of this non-profit organization, money means nothing, we want them out of our town.

Good for yall.People seem to lay upon the tracks for the train of the future to run over them. Forgot who said that.

 

[Meerkat]

Go to your local newspaper. This is a violation of law, and more people need to know about it.

https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/facs-brown-act-primer/

Yep the sqeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

[The Lazy L]

To speak at a city council meeting here, you must have approval days before. And they never give approval...

Then just show up!

 

[rusty]

Then just show up!

They will have you removed.

 

[Meerkat]

They will have you removed.

Yep they sure will ,

 

[angie_nrs]

Public access meetings are a national requirement and in violation of the Brown Act if not complied with. My group in my city, are watchdogs and I'm happy to say I am the president of our organization. We have 1550 active members, and have completely changed the tide of attempted corruption in politics. We were successful in ousting 4 out of 5 corrupt council members 2 years ago, and this election, our group took over 3 of the 5 positions. It can be done. You just need to be persistent.

We right now are suing one of the biggest businesses in America, which I will not name, but everyone knows who they are, to stop them from building a 1 square mile transportation depot in our bedroom community. The attorney would have cost us $100k just to start, but he suggested we file for a non-profit corporation, and the attorney would take the case on "Pro-Bono", which he did. We were offered $6 million cash to drop the lawsuit, but me also being the president of this non-profit organization, money means nothing, we want them out of our town.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!!!!

They will have you removed.

Does your state not have an open meetings act or something similar? The public is (and should be) allowed to attend any meeting where officials are elected......by the people.....for the people. If not, I'd contact the local prosecutors office (also an elected position and they work for you) and ask them to investigate why meeting are not open to the public and tell them you want to attend and see what they do.
While this is going on, the board will get tired of having you removed at every single meeting and it may cause them some frustrations. So what? Let them do their thing because you may have recourse later. If the prosecutor comes along asking questions, they'll know you're not kidding around. Nobody, especially elected officials, want the stress of a looming lawsuit. Ask the local newspaper to cover it. Then speak with the reporter after they remove you. They'll want to know why you were removed and you can say whatever you like while being removed. Persistence beats resistence. Yes, it will take some effort and frustration......but it's worth it. The people need to start demanding transparency and accountability if anything is ever going to change.

I'm move involved in local politics than I want to be, but it has to be done. Of coarse, I'd prefer to sit home during the monthly meetings but it's just part of my regular schedule now. If everything is fine, the meetings aren't that long. If not, then it's worth the extra time to have common sense in the room. I consider it my patriotic duty. If nothing else, somebody has to ask questions and make comments. If not me, then who?

 

[The Lazy L]

They will have you removed.

What would their legal ground for your removal be? It's a PUBLIC meeting in PUBLIC building!

 

[Amish Heart]

If you're not on the agenda, then you're starting a commotion and have to go. Probably.

 

[rusty]

If you're not on the agenda, then you're starting a commotion and have to go. Probably.

Exactly.

 

[The Lazy L]

If you're not on the agenda, then you're starting a commotion and have to go. Probably.

I can understand how they would like to know in advance who from the public is going to speak. Just setting quietly to take notes isn't speaking.

 

[Amish Heart]

That's how they'd do it in our little New Mexico village. I remember about 5 yrs ago a guy was open carrying outside the little park, and he had flyers set up about the Oathkeepers and Tea party. A lady called the police because she said guns were scarey and it scared her. The police brought him in. Then the village decided they would "make a law" against guns in the village, even though New Mexico is an open carry state. So that didn't go over well, and about 100 plus people came to the next meeting wearing NRA shirts, when usually only 15 or so are in the audience. The village lawyer then advised against it, and the weekly newpaper said that NRA stormed the meeting. Ha Ha. Still, it didn't stop people from calling the police every time they saw a gun. These village meetings also insisted on starting the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, but in SPANISH. So the NRA shirt wearing people spoke over them in english. It was a fun night.