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Just got some Internet access. At a friend's house. No power back home so had to evacuate after being stranded for 3 days bc 4 trees fell on the road in a pile. Using phone to tulyoe this and it sucks.
 
glad to hear from you. I called Frodo after the hurricane and asked if you were safe, but neither of us had your phone number. Good to see you are ok!
 
glad to hear from you. I called Frodo after the hurricane and asked if you were safe, but neither of us had your phone number. Good to see you are ok!
My phoneline was down and cell wasn't getting signal anyway. Lol.
 
Been 3 weeks and still no power at home. They restored it to everyone else except us. They closed the repair ticket and reported it as fixed so when I called to report it was still out they opened a new ticket and put it at the back of the queue. I told them where the lines are damaged but they didn't come out to my house. Security light is still dangling from a tree.

Upside is there's now a better toilet at my friend's house. The short rounded bowl toilet with slow flush was awful. It was free and he'd needed one. We got a chair height elongatd Toto Entrada. It's so much better. Got a Mayfair sta-tite slow close seat.
Used the toilet jack to make removal and installation easier. My friend can't lift like he used to after his arm got shattered in the car wreck so he loves the jack. Wheeled the old toilet out to the curb on it. I told him if he put it in front of the church next door with a price of $50 on it that someone would nab it. They won't take stuff from his yard anymore bc of the fake security cameras.
 
Explained to my new twenty something ”Maintenance Tech” how to rebuild a frost free, over teh phone. Didn’t know what a globe valve is, had no idea how to take one apart. Well that was interesting. Probably could have driven the city miles to where he was and do it myself in less time. But, my boss says to let him learn. Would be easier, if he didn‘t think he already knew everything, and would at least listen.

I was probably as bad at twenty five. Maybe there is a just and honorable God, after all. Every time I start to doubt it, something happens to remind me.
 
I vaguely remember my 20s. I thought I knew so much back in my early 20s but I did enjoy learning new things.
Hope the young guy learns instead of ignoring things.
 
Power is back at my house finally (came back on Sunday morning when we were checking on the animals).
Unfortunately, while we were out, raccoons ransacked the kitchen. There were open drawers, dog food bags ripped open and dragged, instant grits ripped open, the brown rice & quinioa was consumed, stuff was all over the place- total disaster. I think the cats contributed to knocking stuff down and I caught mom's dog peeing on the rug.
But AC and water were working so I spent the night. Mom and my brother still slept at our friend's house since it was such a disaster. Cats piled on me because they missed me. I got up this morning and water wasn't working anymore. Went out to check the pump and it was humming but cistern was empty. Lift pump crapped out. Went inside and checked breakers and saw several red ones. Called my friend & let him know. I cleaned up to clear a path for my mother (put down carpet powder for pet odor in some spots), found my mom's lost engagement ring (had fallen a couple years ago & we couldn't find it), disposed of the kitchen rug that was saturated with grossness, dumped out all the litterboxes, uprighted trash cans, put put stuff in bins, got rid of most of the cardboard (which had been torn apart), closed the drawers, etc. My friend came out while I was cleaning & checked the breakers, reset them and got most working again. He checked the pumps & said the motor seems burned out in the lift pump. Said he can replace it if I can find a new one. He and my brother got my brother's generator loaded into the shed.
Yesterday we went to the AT&T store to figure out why our bill had skyrocked. We are getting charged something like over 20% tax on our landline & don't know why. They couldn't manage the landline bill, but we did upgrade our cellphone plan. We had an old one that was 2Gb of data for $120 or something. With all of the discounts and such (for paperless billing, military discount, etc), we now have unlimited data for $90. We thought it was going to be more expensive but apparently upgrading to newer plans means bigger discounts for stuff. Clerk was very nice & the new plan will start next month.
I'm currently sitting here with 7 cats piled on me.
Anyone know if I can find the motor for this pump?
liftpump1.jpg
 
Everything on the data plate is pretty standard. The size and frame number are pretty common. Amazon has a Baldor but it is $466. I’m pretty sure you could beat that with a Dayton form Grainger, and if you have motor rebuilder anywhere close, you should be able to get it for about half of that.
 
Thanks, Fishscreener. Found a Dayton motor that has the same body, voltage, insulation type, & rpms. It should be the same size. I'm hoping it will work.
The video on the flooringforum about the motors was absolutely hilarious but very informative explaining what each of the things meant & showing how to take a motor apart. The removing the bearing with bread was a new trick I'd never heard of.
 
Got up early to get my friend to work on the pump motor bc it arrived very quickly. Had to wait an hour and 30 min for him to wake up (he agreed to 7 but didn't wake up until after 8:30 & took another 20 min to be lucid enough to go to the store). Picked up some tools, he installed it & wired it. Nothing. Wiring was bad. Ran back into town, grabbed some 8/2 with ground & that worked. Cistern is full & I have the water heater on. When the water is hot enough I'll do some dishes. Might see about actually using the dishwasher for a change. I haven't used it in a couple years. I find it's mostly a drying rack & I hate all the bending.

My aunt got worried about the raccoons & started calling pest control places in my area. I told her the places she listed don't catch raccoons but she called them & confirmed that. They said the late veterinarian's son might do it. My friend's mom works for the guy & we knew him back when his father was alive. He's the one our horse dumped off his back twice. First by sitting and then by kneeling. Anyway, my mother agreed to let her contact people to see about coming to fix up stuff at our house. Mom said it would take a week to clean the place up. She's out of her frickin' mind. (She's never done major cleaning so she has no concept of how much work it is). No way it could be done in a week. Especially since I'm the one who will have to do most of the work. Only way my brother will help is if our friend comes to help. I suspect my mom was only agreeing just to avoid argument because she tends to do that. The people who did the work on my friend's grandfather's house apparently did a good job though, so we will have to see how much they charge. I am betting my mother will change her mind & say it's too expensive at some point.
 
Who has 2 thumbs and had a major plumbing leak under the kitchen sink? :thumbsup:
I thought it was a leak under the house & was going to call my friend. But it turns out the cold supply line was literally spraying under the kitchen sink & flooded it so it was pouring out under the house. I managed to shut it off. Back wasn't cooperating enough to pull stuff out and put towels down. Will get my dehumidifier back from my friend tomorrow so I can try to dry it out (along with help from towels. I will try to do the towels tonight. Friend will change out the supply lines (once I figure out what size is needed) bc I can't fit my fat keester in there anymore.
At least I caught the leak eventually, but it still sucks. Also going to get a latch for the pantry door-- it doesn't hang quite right & wouldn't shut properly with a knob and the knob fell off. Will get it all cleaned up, lock it so raccoons can't get in, and then we can restock on cereal, oatmeal, ramen, etc-- all the stuff those fatties got into. There are oatmeal flakes all over the kitchen now. I will also have to buy another new bag of dog food bc raccoons are a-holes.

My friend gave me the name & number for the guy who did work on his grandfather's house recently. I want to look at the work as well as talk to other people to find out if he's actually good. I tried googling him but came up with a news story about a murder in my area where the body was dumped at a place I drive by all the time.
 
My brother and I worked together as a team to get the fridge & freezer cleaned (well, I did the freezer by myself). He was motivated by wanting to get more food. LOL.
I pulled the shelves/drawers, scrubbed them, rinsed them, handed them to him so he could dry them and put them back. While I was scrubbing & he was waiting he cleaned the seals & upper part of the inside of the fridge. I tackled the lower areas- had to sit on the floor and lean way in to get the stuff at the bottom back.
Next we tackle the other fridge. Store was out of a lot of stuff so we couldn't restock to our liking. Still need to find where our dishes went for cooking. May have to buy replacements since Raccoons stole some stuff. Two of them were in the pantry earlier. I closed the door, tricked the dog into going outside, & my brother grabbed the raccoons with the grabber arm and tossed them out the door. I then chased them toward the back door so they'd leave.
Mom lost her balance (due to inner ear problem) and fell in her room while I was in the bathroom. She landed on a soft laundry basket so she wasn't hurt. She was laughing about it. I couldn't get around her to get behind to lift her. We both called for my brother but he couldn't hear. Used the intercom on the phone & she shouted "HELP, I fell down!" I heard him typing to his friends & scrambling to get up. He came in behind her and picked her up. I stood in front to catch her if she started to fall again & helped her to her bed.
Tomorrow (later today really) we need to hit the bank, post office & store (again). She needs to pick out meals she wants to try from the frozen section (she's been wanting tv dinners & is tired of MREs).
 
Installed the latch on the pantry door to keep raccoons out. So far so good. It was stupidly easy to do.
Bought a bag for some tools that my friend is borrowing that he'd had in a plastic bag at his house. I now have them all in a tool bag to keep them together & safe from falling out. I snagged some drill bits to install the latch.

Took my friend to City Hall to find good news is city doesn't own the house-- they were looking at the wrong year & realized the taxes were paid. Bad news is the house is still in his mom's name and "care of" in his name so she can still hold it over him & manipulate him. Only way he can get it in his name is to have her donate it to him. Would have been better off letting them take it fully & offered to pay off taxes in full to buy it from them. We joked that if he got her drunk & got her to sign it over to him he could own it. :p

He tried to fix the water supply for the sink but it's got an odd configuration. 3/4" PVC with a 3/4" slip to 1/2" male threaded coupling so the hose needed to be 1/2" to 1/2". I initially got a 3/8" to 1/2" which wouldn't fit. Found the only 1/2"x1/2" one but it is very shallow & can't grab the coupling. So I got a new coupling since friend said old one looked worn. Maybe the hose needs to be turned around bc it's too shallow on the bottom end. It's currently attached to the sprayer at the top & my arms are too short & I'm too fat to disconnect it. Will try friend doing that first. If that fails, I'll go grab another hose from Lowes. Was going to get a Push-fit 3/4 to 1/2 brass threaded sharkbite fitting but none are in stock and they cost 2x the price of the hose. I saw pics of the hose and it has larger ends.

I've noticed a lot of toilet supply lines are now saying they are 7/8" instead of 1/2". Did toilet supply line sizes change? I think my toilet says it takes 1/2".
 
Ah. Ok. I must be misremembering the sizes then. LOL. I remember saying 15/16 was very close to 7/8 & that they could technically fit together. At least I know faucets are 1/2".

Went to the post office, grocery store, popped in to visit my friend to pick up my cereal (now that the pantry is secured). Friend is still being harassed by his grandfather. So, Allstate refuses to pay the grandfather directly to his bank bc he doesn't have a checking account (not sure why) so the $ went to my friend's bank. Allstate sent $300 for the grandfather. My friend withdrew it & gave it to his grandfather. Then Allstate realized they made a mistake & the $300 was supposed to go somewhere else so they did a chargeback-- which overdrafted my friend's account. My friend contacted them & they sent $250 back to him & he was able to get the overdraft fees removed bc it was AllState's fault, but he's still out that $50 his grandfather owes him. Unfortunately, not only does his grandfather not realize he owes my friend, he's claiming my friend owes him. He's telling all the family my friend "stole" his insurance payments & is refusing to give him his $. So my friend's uncle is going around telling everyone that my friend is a thief & stole $ from the grandfather & getting family & friends mad at my friend. At least the older uncle listened to my friend's side & said the grandfather is an a-hole. But despite being told numerous times that he actually owes my friend $, he keeps driving over (bc friend blocked his number) & laying on the horn. He did it before I got there & woke the baby up. He demanded the $ from my friend & my friend told him to get lost & to stop coming by and blowing the horn & making the baby cry. The grandfather doing that stresses out the fiance & she hasn't gotten her anxiety meds yet so she was screaming & yelling at the baby. They got into an argument bc my friend told her not to scream at the baby. She's acting a lot more like his ex.

My aunt just called while I was typing. She e-mailed me some stuff. She says I may be able to qualify for disability due to my back problems & heart condition but it's really hard to get disability here without being dishonest or getting a dishonest doctor. My neighbor got a doctor to lie for him, but I'm not a dishonest person so I will have to talk to my doctor. I'd prefer to at least get a part-time job when Covid passes, but I need to be available for my Mom to take care of her if she needs something. My aunt also sent me a video of herself in a Halloween costume singing the Chaquita banana song. I love that song and her costume so it cheered me up. I just bought bananas today. LOL.
 
Thanks, Fishscreener. Found a Dayton motor that has the same body, voltage, insulation type, & rpms. It should be the same size. I'm hoping it will work.
The video on the flooringforum about the motors was absolutely hilarious but very informative explaining what each of the things meant & showing how to take a motor apart. The removing the bearing with bread was a new trick I'd never heard of.
The bread trick sounds like it would be a lot easier to clean up then the grease method that I was taught.
 
I can imagine. Grease is such a mess...
Meanwhile, raccoons just came in and I hear my dogs yelping bc they are trying to chase the raccoons off. I wish I was good at drawing bc I want to do a cartoon of my little dog facing off against the two fat raccoons. I want to do a Far-Side style with the raccoons standing on their hind legs, one with it's hands on its hips and the other holding a switch blade while the dog snarls at them. Bc that's what popped into my head when I walked out one day to see my dog crouched down, tail up, barking his head off at two fat raccoons who were standing upright and challenging him. As soon as they saw my fat behind they ran though.
I need to get a picture of the latch I put on the pantry door but I've been lazy.

Went to the store today to get more food & ingredients for cooking. Replaced some utensils that got pilfered by raccoons, picked up Mom's prescriptions, got coffee for Mom, & made dinner. Gonna need to get more apple cinnamon rice cakes (or whatever they are called-- they are dry rice thingies with apple & cinnamon & are very good). We (my brother and I) teased Mom a bit bc she talked about how bad wine tastes & how she knows so much about how it tastes bc she took a sip ONCE about 50 years ago. LOL.

Her speakers died during the power surges & she was having problems with her new headset so I found the one that came with my computer & gave it to her. It seems to be working & she's been listening to her music. She's obsessed with a Ukranian singer named Dimash. I admit, he does a good Diva Dance rendition.

Meanwhile, cats are piled on me bc it's cold. Ok, at least one of them likes to sleep on me even when it's warm bc he adores me.
 
Made it through the storm. No power but no longer stranded. Breaker on switch lever for power blew when we hooked up the generator so need to fix that.
 

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