Miscellaneous
Last week, I sent a text: "The water, it is hot. very hot!"
And I got this in return: "It is a beautiful thing."
That is so true.
The issue was that, although I had a wrench for the purpose of taking elements from water heaters, it was not budging mine. Also, shutting off the water to the heater was only partially effective--the valve, for whatever reason (i.e., lime, most likely) doesn't completely close, so using water anywhere in the house continues to incrementally fill the heater. Because the tank never completely drained, the hose had to be attached to the outlet the entire time, which ran out the door, into the garage, and outside. In effect, I've had an open door all winter.
So my brother said he had a ratchet socket that was big enough to fit over the element and that he'd bring it down next time he visited. I doubted this, but whatever.
I shouldn't have doubted it. He brought down his Big Bucket o' Sockets, and he did have one that was big enough. And he wrestled with the damned thing for a while, and he got it out. I'm still a bit in awe.
With judicious application of cussin' and swearin', he managed first to unscrew it; when it still wouldn't come out of the heater, he yanked on it for a while with a big set of pliers until he got enough lime knocked off that he could go at the rest with a screwdriver. He got the element pulled out far enough to get a grip on it and tug it a few more inches out; then we both yanked and jerked on the pliers until the element came out the rest of the way.
So, in other words, like this:
Top element and bottom element in place, and bottom element extracted, respectively. The top element wasn't too bad; it came out with the wrench and some effort, but that bottom one was stuck. It was completely coated in a durable layer of lime (a lot of which has been knocked off by point of picture), and it had been warped out of shape in addition.
Once the bottom element was pulled out, the other issue became apparent, namely, why it'd been so fantastically difficult to drain the tank and keep it drained. The mineral sediment inside was packed so high that you could stick your finger into the bottom element's opening and prod the surface of the stuff. So that's at least seven to eight inches of goop that the water has to drain through to get to the hose at the bottom outlet. Dumping two gallons of straight vinegar into the tank and leaving it for a few weeks didn't really make much of a dent in it.
The water around here is very, very hard.
(My brother keeps insisting that dumping CLR in the tank will "clear that right up." He doesn't seem to think that having lingering poison mixed in with the goop in my tank will affect the water's potability. UH HUH. No. Let's not do that.)
So we taped the new elements, screwed them in, rewired them, turned on the water, then turned on the electric. We left it overnight. The next day ... ta da! No hot water. Back to the manual! It said that somewhere there was a reset button that we'd needed to press. Where could it be? Where? Oh, I don't know ... could it be that big red button right in the middle of the top panel that says "RESET"?
Gaaah. So we pressed the button a few times. And a few hours later, hot water at last.
It only took a few months. Granted, the cold-water lifestyle is superior to the no-water lifestyle, but I've grown a bit tired of it all the same.
I don't think there's much to do about the overall problem. I don't think it'll be too long before this new bottom element is completely buried in sediment. Replacing the water heater again is on the list now. (The current one is my third.)
A weird thing: Cubby the Mystery Cat not only put in an appearance but followed my brother around and meowed at him, raucously and persistently, while he was here. Aliens have replaced my silent and spooky cat with a noisy, obnoxious model. It's the only explanation.
I'm so pleased that I can finally dispense with the hose because the temperature has been falling outside at last, and it's started to get seriously cold in here accordingly. It hasn't managed to drop below 45F yet, so it's fine. Adding the straw bales to the foundations last fall seems to have helped. The space heater in the kitchen had been making unfortunate noises toward the end of last winter, so I'd gotten a spare while they were on sale at Sam's Club this fall. I switched them out a few weeks ago, and this new one does seem to work better than its cranky predecessor. The other two are still plugging away, and the place is liveable without adding in the oil heaters.
Other than that, the stupid temporary caps seem to be staying on the stupid teeth for now, making them one less thing to fuss about until I have to go back to be dentaled again. (Joy.)
Oh. Another weird thing. This was in November, but I forgot about it until I was messing with book boxes here lately. I've been boxing up the books and trying to ditch some of them, and I decided that no one really needs a complete set of the works of Charles Dickens printed in the 1930s. Well, I don't need them--it's not like they're difficult to find online. I think these came from some auction or other, many, many years ago; they were eating up an entire shelf to themselves. So I wrote down all the titles and posted them on the mailing list -- "must take complete set" -- along with two cases of Vernor's ginger ale. The latter were leftovers from my father; he'd been a fan, but no one else likes the stuff. I figured a lot of people might want the free pop, but very few would be interested in a big box of Dickens.
Wow, was I wrong. A few people were interested in the pop, but it was ... rather nuts with the books. I got about 15 replies in the first few hours, and they just kept coming. Even after I shot off a "pending" notice to the mailing list, new people emailed me anyway about them. I was not expecting it to turn into a competition. O_o;
Here's the thing though. Explaining to me about your home-schooled children or your private Christian academy or your church's library is not the way to get my stuff. Nor do I find emails ending in Bible verses or warnings about the End Times to be heartwarming. Quite a few people went direct to the delete bin. I gave the box to a woman who lives over in the trailer court here in town who wanted them as a present for her brother.
Here's another trip to a diner, this time to 38th Street in the next town over. I've mentioned this place before, as it has tons of cheesy stuff on the walls -- NASCAR, Colts football, and raging patriotism, with a side order of whatever else is popular: dolphins, waterfalls, wolves, Elvis, tigers, romanticized Native Americans ... at the moment, it's heavily lighthouses and bald eagles. Their parking lot is always, always full.
This is one of the day's two lunch specials: meatloaf platter (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy), which comes with a roll and two sides--I picked coleslaw (as shown) and banana pudding (hasn't shown up yet). The other meal is the #3 Breakfast, which is scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon.
Regardless of what it looks like, it's really good. ;_; E.g., they're actual mashed potatoes, as opposed to the box mix kind.
Oh. The other big clue that this is a rural midwestern diner: ashtray in the middle of the table.
Also, in case you're country blocked as well, last video on the Watson blog. Don't watch it until you've seen the last episode though, because it is 100% spoilers.
I've got another book coming through shortly. Something about health insurance? Not sure. Yale UP this time.
And I got this in return: "It is a beautiful thing."
That is so true.
The issue was that, although I had a wrench for the purpose of taking elements from water heaters, it was not budging mine. Also, shutting off the water to the heater was only partially effective--the valve, for whatever reason (i.e., lime, most likely) doesn't completely close, so using water anywhere in the house continues to incrementally fill the heater. Because the tank never completely drained, the hose had to be attached to the outlet the entire time, which ran out the door, into the garage, and outside. In effect, I've had an open door all winter.
So my brother said he had a ratchet socket that was big enough to fit over the element and that he'd bring it down next time he visited. I doubted this, but whatever.
I shouldn't have doubted it. He brought down his Big Bucket o' Sockets, and he did have one that was big enough. And he wrestled with the damned thing for a while, and he got it out. I'm still a bit in awe.
With judicious application of cussin' and swearin', he managed first to unscrew it; when it still wouldn't come out of the heater, he yanked on it for a while with a big set of pliers until he got enough lime knocked off that he could go at the rest with a screwdriver. He got the element pulled out far enough to get a grip on it and tug it a few more inches out; then we both yanked and jerked on the pliers until the element came out the rest of the way.
So, in other words, like this:
Top element and bottom element in place, and bottom element extracted, respectively. The top element wasn't too bad; it came out with the wrench and some effort, but that bottom one was stuck. It was completely coated in a durable layer of lime (a lot of which has been knocked off by point of picture), and it had been warped out of shape in addition.
Once the bottom element was pulled out, the other issue became apparent, namely, why it'd been so fantastically difficult to drain the tank and keep it drained. The mineral sediment inside was packed so high that you could stick your finger into the bottom element's opening and prod the surface of the stuff. So that's at least seven to eight inches of goop that the water has to drain through to get to the hose at the bottom outlet. Dumping two gallons of straight vinegar into the tank and leaving it for a few weeks didn't really make much of a dent in it.
The water around here is very, very hard.
(My brother keeps insisting that dumping CLR in the tank will "clear that right up." He doesn't seem to think that having lingering poison mixed in with the goop in my tank will affect the water's potability. UH HUH. No. Let's not do that.)
So we taped the new elements, screwed them in, rewired them, turned on the water, then turned on the electric. We left it overnight. The next day ... ta da! No hot water. Back to the manual! It said that somewhere there was a reset button that we'd needed to press. Where could it be? Where? Oh, I don't know ... could it be that big red button right in the middle of the top panel that says "RESET"?
Gaaah. So we pressed the button a few times. And a few hours later, hot water at last.
It only took a few months. Granted, the cold-water lifestyle is superior to the no-water lifestyle, but I've grown a bit tired of it all the same.
I don't think there's much to do about the overall problem. I don't think it'll be too long before this new bottom element is completely buried in sediment. Replacing the water heater again is on the list now. (The current one is my third.)
A weird thing: Cubby the Mystery Cat not only put in an appearance but followed my brother around and meowed at him, raucously and persistently, while he was here. Aliens have replaced my silent and spooky cat with a noisy, obnoxious model. It's the only explanation.
I'm so pleased that I can finally dispense with the hose because the temperature has been falling outside at last, and it's started to get seriously cold in here accordingly. It hasn't managed to drop below 45F yet, so it's fine. Adding the straw bales to the foundations last fall seems to have helped. The space heater in the kitchen had been making unfortunate noises toward the end of last winter, so I'd gotten a spare while they were on sale at Sam's Club this fall. I switched them out a few weeks ago, and this new one does seem to work better than its cranky predecessor. The other two are still plugging away, and the place is liveable without adding in the oil heaters.
Other than that, the stupid temporary caps seem to be staying on the stupid teeth for now, making them one less thing to fuss about until I have to go back to be dentaled again. (Joy.)
Oh. Another weird thing. This was in November, but I forgot about it until I was messing with book boxes here lately. I've been boxing up the books and trying to ditch some of them, and I decided that no one really needs a complete set of the works of Charles Dickens printed in the 1930s. Well, I don't need them--it's not like they're difficult to find online. I think these came from some auction or other, many, many years ago; they were eating up an entire shelf to themselves. So I wrote down all the titles and posted them on the mailing list -- "must take complete set" -- along with two cases of Vernor's ginger ale. The latter were leftovers from my father; he'd been a fan, but no one else likes the stuff. I figured a lot of people might want the free pop, but very few would be interested in a big box of Dickens.
Wow, was I wrong. A few people were interested in the pop, but it was ... rather nuts with the books. I got about 15 replies in the first few hours, and they just kept coming. Even after I shot off a "pending" notice to the mailing list, new people emailed me anyway about them. I was not expecting it to turn into a competition. O_o;
Here's the thing though. Explaining to me about your home-schooled children or your private Christian academy or your church's library is not the way to get my stuff. Nor do I find emails ending in Bible verses or warnings about the End Times to be heartwarming. Quite a few people went direct to the delete bin. I gave the box to a woman who lives over in the trailer court here in town who wanted them as a present for her brother.
Here's another trip to a diner, this time to 38th Street in the next town over. I've mentioned this place before, as it has tons of cheesy stuff on the walls -- NASCAR, Colts football, and raging patriotism, with a side order of whatever else is popular: dolphins, waterfalls, wolves, Elvis, tigers, romanticized Native Americans ... at the moment, it's heavily lighthouses and bald eagles. Their parking lot is always, always full.
This is one of the day's two lunch specials: meatloaf platter (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy), which comes with a roll and two sides--I picked coleslaw (as shown) and banana pudding (hasn't shown up yet). The other meal is the #3 Breakfast, which is scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon.
Regardless of what it looks like, it's really good. ;_; E.g., they're actual mashed potatoes, as opposed to the box mix kind.
Oh. The other big clue that this is a rural midwestern diner: ashtray in the middle of the table.
Also, in case you're country blocked as well, last video on the Watson blog. Don't watch it until you've seen the last episode though, because it is 100% spoilers.
I've got another book coming through shortly. Something about health insurance? Not sure. Yale UP this time.