I want to know how you guys get anything done??!! I have spent most of my morning (and now Iām back again) reading and responding to online comments! Now, I have got to get some other things done (and Iām not cleaning the stove)! š
Thousands of CSLF followers are now sitting and staring under their sinks, scratching their heads, wondering why it didn't. Chaos ensues. Mission accomplished.
When I inherited a house down in Florida from my aunt, I rented it to a young man from Georgia (the country, not the state) who was in the states to go to college. One of my aunt's neighbors knew him from her church, and knowing I didn't want the house sitting empty until I decided exactly what to do with it, she vouched for him. Nice young man. Had been in the Georgian army. Spoke English well enough to get by pretty good.
On one of my trips down there to work on the house, he invited me to go out to dinner with him and meet some of his friends. Dinner out turned out to be a trip across town to a Russian owned bar where the clientele was nearly all Russian, as were all of his friends.
I blended right in (yeah, right) with the dozen-odd rather sharply dressed young men and women - the oldest of whom I surpassed in years by at least a dozen - who sat staring at my jeans, western boots and white western straw, asking enthusiastically in semi-broken English by turns after I was introduced, "You cowboy?" "You ride horse?" "You have horse?" "How much horse?" "Where horse? Can we ride?"
They were a bit disappointed to learn my nags were 1100 miles away.
Two observations: As a group these folks seemed quite nice and normal. For the first half of the evening. And it was obvious that they really, Really LIKED THEIR VODKA, which was what they drank to the exclusion of any other spirits or beer, encouraging me to do the same and to match them shot for shot. Which I took a shot at for two or three rounds before politely attempting to beg off the challenge. Which took a couple of more rounds to accomplish, that being the time required for them to lose track of my efforts, I suppose.
But during the second half, after the vodka had been flowing for a couple or more hours, let's just say I realized the term "Crazy Russians" had a definite basis in reality. It was, shall we say, an *interesting* experience.
How 'crazy' you ask?
As June bugs. With blood alcohol levels not in the single digits. When I was leaving in a cab after my "ride" (read renter) was no longer available to safely drive me home, a couple of Sheriff's Dept. cruisers were pulling in, if that tells you anything about that night's meet & greet adventure.
Fascinating. We have Russians in my neighborhood, also Ukrainians. Quiet people who walk around the block in the evenings with their children, of which they have more than average. A big Slavic Evangelical church not far away was under construction for over a year before it opened this past Easter.
I took off the S-trap. It was a little gunky, but not clogged.
Then I took off another piece that connected the S-trap to what looks like the main line out into the county sewer system. That wasn't clogged either.
I reached a bendy-brush into the main line, and that didn't hit a clog.
I poked up into a vertical pipe with a chopstick; that wasn't blocked.
I poured some water into the drain, and it came out the horizontal pipe and dripped into the bucket.
I just ran the water full blast into the sink, and it runs right out into the bucket without backing up.
This suggests that (a) the problem is somewhere downstream of the point where the water goes into the 2-1/2" (?) pipe that runs into the back wall of the cabinet; or (b) I somehow fixed it even though I can't tell how.
You can put it back together and see if that did the trick. If not, itās something farther down the drain. If youāve got a handy friend or neighbor, ask him or her. I think most plumbers will charge just to diagnose, of course, but they should fix the problem. If your disassembly-reassembly didnāt do it, it sounds to me from a distance like it could be beyond the scope of basic homeowner DIY skills.
Alternatively, you could obtain a 20 to 25 foot drain snake tool and poke it down the pipe to see if you feel an obstruction. Harbor Freight sells one for cheap, iircā¦ letās see here:
Plumbers nationwide are re-tooling as I write this. And if C has the time and doesn't mind a little drive, she can get an adequately long snake and actually get paid for it rather having to pay for it herself.
Edit: Oops. Posted without the money-saving info. Not my fault. Reading all about this plumbing faux pax has left me a bit drained.
I succeeded, but I'll have to take it apart again to run the snake down the line after I go to Harbor Freight. Good thing I wasn't doing much else today.
Iām listening to a fascinating book by Tom Holland (The Rest is History podcast) about the founding of Islam. āIn the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empireā
Heās written at length about Judaism and Christianity, as well. I could easily listen a second time because itās hard to remember everything. Whatās interesting to me is all of the things that were incorporated by men. Stories were changed, interpretations seem almost limitless. Who really did what?
And, all three religions have or did have a lot in common. I would love to take a class in this just so I could ask questions.
I finally found the book through my library, and itās one of those books with pages! I tried looking online, and most of the copies (even used) are around $19. I thought I might be able to find it for less than $10.
Thank you! I remember Dan Carlin saying that history is a story weāve all decided to agree upon. Well, not everyone, but close enough! And, I seem to recall at least one of her books on my dadās bookshelf.
It may be a blockage further down the line, which would be strange in a fairly new kitchen sink drain. The way to tell is when it's all assembled, run the water. If it backs up right away, it's in the trap. If it takes a while, it's down the line somewhere. That's when you snake it. Get a cheap snake and run it into the drain; twist, fiddle, whatever, get the snake in there. But, first reassemble it and see if it drains. My guess is you cleaned the blockage just by taking it apart.
Oh....I almost forgot... The thing that hangs up the civilians is they fail to recognize that they must REMOVE EVERYTHING FROM UNDER THE SINK BEFORE THEY START FIXING THINGS. You can't do this stuff when trying to navigate around mountains of stuff that everyone sticks under their sink. This is an opportunity, not a problem.
Boiling water often works. For those with prehensile thumbs, a 1 1/2 minute tutorial on how to dismantle and reassemble a sink drain would INFORM you and relieve you of having to mess around with slow drains. Of course, in the dismantlement, one discovers the absolutely disgusting mess that comprises our kitchen waste water....but, persevere...or persist if you're into Elizabeth Warren...and have a bucket close at hand to collect the glop that spills out of the trap... and you can clear the drain so it never runs slow again. If it's even remotely modern...meaning post 1970-ish...it's PVC and you don't even need tools; you can do it with your bare hands. A cheap drain snake can be had for <$10 at Le Depot de Maison.
One tip is to pay close attention to the details in the video image and how the situation differs from what things look like under your sink.
The first obstacle for a person who isnāt afraid of some DIY is knowing what things are called. That can make the job of searching the web frustrating right out of the gate. Looking for āsink pipeā is going to produce a lot of unusable hits compared to āP trapā or āS trapā.
If they don't know what things are called right from the jump it probably won't take them long to find out. It's actually a pretty short list of names...
s.o.b.,
b*****d
damned (fill in the blank with one of the above)
a maternal reference not repeatable in polite company
Sadly, Google searches for these will not produce the desired results. Which leads to similar naming of Google results.
True, but I think I can usually tell when something makes sense. Iāve gotten a lot of good info there, although I havenāt had to find out how to unclog a drain, thank goodness!
Damn right. As a start, the tutorials show these spotless environments with all brand new materials. For anyone having done the work, reality is a mountain of old paper towels, disposable single use plastic bags, and all manner of disgusting crap under the sink.
Okay, but I would assume that because Iāve seen someone unclog a drain before. Iām usually the one in our household who tries to think ahead of the possible things that could go wrong!
No...they are absolutely NOT the same. The S trap configuration went out of code about 50 years ago because of a risk of siphoning. That said, I know they can still work ok. Why? Because I see them in ancient old properties and they work OK.
Venting requirements in our code system are wildly outdated, and add considerable cost to any housing project. The reason we don't need all the venting that Local 130 insists we need is....we now know that water flowing down a drain sticks to the pipe and the central portion of the pipe is free flowing air.
I'm trying to recall, but I don't think I've ever seen so much venting about drains in one place before. Apparently, you've had a lot of first-hand experience dealing with this stuff?
I just meant from the practical standpoint of a person trying to figure out how to clean the trap under a sink. Iāve seen some that were glued PVC traps, which isnāt exactly user friendly. And the chrome ones are pretty, but in my experience, they are fussier if you donāt get the nuts threaded right, plus they can corrode and fail, spilling gunk inside the cabinetāyuck!
True. I see every manner of idiotically assembled P traps....so named because they're shaped like a P....caulked, glued, smeared with 11 pounds of silicone, wrapped in duct tape and roofing cement...you name it, I've seen it..
The chrome ones degrade and fall apart, not to mention getting it all aligned perfectly so the "rubber" washers work like they're supposed to. They're actually brass, cost 20x what plastic dos, and the brass degrades until the only thing holding them together is the chrome plating.
It's OK..l..the basic fundamentals....although his understanding of terms is idiotic.
1. Take it apart.
2. Clean up the disgusting mess you're going to find.
3. Put it back together.
It's Tinker Toys, if Tinker Toys also included greasy disgusting filth all over everything. What you'll most likely find is that the 1 1/2" drain is closed down to about 1/4" with black and gray disgusting slime. The wire brush...where do people get these ideas? Wire brush....(?1?). Get a $10 snake at HD. Snake it. Then, throw everything out in the yard and make Thor clean it all and store it anyplace but in the house cuz it stinks of anaerobically decomposed stuff you ate last month.
Good overview. With any luck, yours is nylon, which looks a lot like PVC but thinner walled. You may need channel locks to undo the nuts on either side of the trap. (The trap holds water to prevent sewer gas entering the room.)
Once youāve cleaned the gunk out (you can run a twisted paper towel through itāa wire brush is overkill), you should get it back together by firm hand tightening. Put a paper towel under it in the cabinet to see if it drips. If so, try using the channel lock pliers to give it another quarter turn or so until it stops. Alternatively, rely on a spare sonās grip strength.
If you ask what is the secret to my devilled eggs, it's that I add a little Splenda brown sugar to them, to sweeten them up.š If you dislike sweetened devilled eggs, mine are not for you.
My MIL Janet's birthday is today. I got her a nice card, my daughter is running it and two baked goods I bought from the farmer's market. Katie wants me to branch out from making potato salad (which also gets Splenda brown sugar) and devilled eggs. it's as if she doesn't want me to use Splenda brown sugar! š¢ So while she was at work I stealthily made some devilled eggs. I boiled four, cut 'em up, and mashed the yellow part. 15 minutes until Katie gets home, I'm gonna win! š I add the mayo, I add the A-1 sauce, the pickle relish, the honey dijon mustard. It's good, all it needs now is brown sugar...
And we're out. š± I could have bought some, but Katie has been "training" me šµš¶š» to buy supplies from the store without first checking if we still have some at home, ever since the infamous "Why did you buy another bottle of soy sauce when we have two bottles already". š”š” Katie will get home before I can run to the store and back. š„¶
I searched in the cabinet, what to do? š§I found a package of crushed Heath bars, I sprinkled a little into the bottom of each egg white half. I found an opened package of Stevia. It said to use it instead of sugar when baking, so maybe it'll taste good. Katie doesn't keep regular sugar in the pantry, it oughtta work, right?
I added it to my mix. š¤¢ It ruined the taste.š¢ So much so I carried the eggs to the woods, flinging them far down the hill, so the little nippers can munch on them to their hearts delight. I munched on some of the crushed heath bar to console myself as I cleaned up. I sent a note with my daughter explaining I loved Janet too much to send devilled eggs without brown sugar...I hope it works. Okay, the blueberry bread and the pumpkin pie are pretty good too! š
My current mode for mysteriously sweetening things is a drip/drab/dollop of Maple Syrup...capitalized because it is Holy Water distilled from the righteous Maple Tree. It's absolutely dazzles whatever it touches.
Donāt know if youāve tried it, but erythritol is a low-carb alternative sweetener based on distilled sugar alcohols. Itās got about 70 percent of sugarās sweetening power but without calories and without some of the off flavors of other alternative sweeteners. It also happens to come in granulated form. The main drawback is that you have to add more than the sugar equivalent to achieve the same sweetness level.
Absent anything relevant to say on the topic, I found this over at Arnold Kling... cut and pasted...
"People do not write op-eds that try to persuade. They instead mostly write with the intention of encouraging people on their own side to dismiss people who disagree. If pundits thought that persuasion would work, they probably would write very differently.
He does point out that persuasion effects are small. Someone might move 5 percentage points in the intended direction. And in some cases where people have stronger prior opinions, it might be less than 1 percentage point.
The phenomenon I am observing is probably pundits giving what Coppock calls āgroup cues.ā
This involves information about which groups in society support which positions. Someone seeking to deploy group cues to influence public opinion is not trying to persuade you on the substance of an issue but just trying to clue you in to what other people think.
ā¦Group cues are typically more potent than information-only treatments. People are strongly influenced by solidarity with the groups they identify with.
This is consistent with my adage that we decide what to believe by deciding who to believe."
"Someone seeking to deploy group cues to influence public opinion is not trying to persuade you on the substance of an issue but just trying to clue you in to what other people think."
Yes, that is very often observed. I forgot to mention earlier this week that we were looking at pictures of the Loess Plateau in China while reviewing aeolian soil deposits. D thought some of the villages were archaeological sites, but I pointed out that they had farm animals in the yard.
It's most likely still an archaeological site. They're discovering lost and forgotten archaeological sites all over China. I've been to a few. For anyone questioning whether or not China's history goes back 5000 years....if you followed me around and visited the places I've been, you would understand it's more like 7000 years.
I just want to know what happened to those giant human bones found in some cave! Seriously, a friend of my dadās sent out an email with photos of workers in a cave surrounded by these huge skeletons. What always amazes me is that people will believe something without ever looking for other sources!
This blog is sometimes indistinguishable from a Kling fan-zine.
The practice around here is this: The main post is just in case folks want something to talk about. Otherwise, everyone just talks about whateverās on their minds.
Come on. Who're you kidding here? Everyone knows that stuff you write is just some kind of 'projection', to use a rather popular word of late. All that stuff about foreign spies and online operatives the last couple of days?? Ha!!
I have email evidence you've been in contact with a Rooskie. It's really you who's spying on and misleading us, isn't it?!
Isn't it?!?!
Where the heck's Bob Mueller when you need him!?!?!?
Oh. Look at the time... I'm a few hours late taking my meds. 'Scuse me...
I appreciate that you take the time to write something. I hadnāt thought much about our allies spying on us, but Iām sure we do the same. Iām glad Iām not the one trying to figure out all this stuff.
I'd never heard of Arnold, which is consistent with my goal of ignoring most everyone that earns their living by writing Daily Disposable Diatribesā¢....D-cubed.
I don't know any of what everyone seems to know because I view the entire pundit blogocracy as a farce of objectively pointless individuals who feel entitled to earn a living by blabbering.
This afternoon, I'm making Mango Habanero hot sauce, bottled in cute little wire bail 8 oz. bottles. My single Habanero plant provided about 30 peppers...I had to do something...
I often run into our head greenskeeper at the grocery store. Heās been on the carnivore diet for around five years. All he ever has in his cart is loads of red meat. Iām impressed with his dedication. Food brings me a great deal of joy. I cannot fathom eating only red meat. Iāve never asked him if he uses oil or spices.
Iām with you. Richard was doing the carb free diet for awhile, lost a fair amount of weight, but hasnāt been able to maintain it. He started putting weight back on as soon as he loosened his restrictions, even though heās still being careful! We have completely different metabolisms.
It is sating and satisfying, but you certainly do miss the tasty starches and sugars youāre used toāand that are tempting you everywhere. Iāve heard quite a few say that theyāve been carb-free for long enough that they donāt find carbs or sugar appealing anymore. I look forward to that dayā¦
Thatās interesting. I think I might have a problem with ice cream or alcohol! I donāt abuse either, but I look forward to both, especially that glass of wine in the evening!
Thanks for the reminder. I keep reading about last nightās debate, and havenāt seen anything on this. I still remember how shocking it was. I couldnāt imagine flying an airplane into a skyscraper!! Then that second plane hit, and everything changed.
I think I might have reached my limit of election coverage. I recorded the debate but now doubt Iāll watch. Too depressing and I donāt know what I could possibly learn. Iām thinking a lot about the 9/11 attacks. I remember almost every minute of that day, from hearing a strange news report on the radio on the way to work, watching the towers fall live when I got there, everyone being sent home early, then sitting on the couch watching coverage and replays for hours. It's still shocking to me and I guess the best we can do is never forget.
I had an 8 month old and we were having a play date at a friendās house and the TV was on in the background which she turned off because we wanted to focus on our babes. Come to find out she lost a cousin that day who was working in one of the towers. Horrible day that still brings me to tears.
My husband and I watched the first part of the debate, and then got tired of listening to Trumpās usual rant, and Harris not really saying anything new either. Itās not her fault, but I canāt stand her voice.
We just listened to The Dispatch Live recording from last night, kind of. I was half listening and reading at the same time.
9/11 is not a day I can ever forget, having been in an office building in Northern Virginia on that day, with a clear view of the plume of smoke rising from the Pentagon, where one of the planes was crashed.
Not to mention, all the images on TV of the twin towers smoking, then collapsing, in New York City.
"Allied and friendly spying activity is considered mutually acceptable, as long as the intent is not hostile or destructive. This is qualitatively different from the actions of hostile foreign powers who seek to do lasting harm to America as a part of their global political strategy."
I think that one of the issues with our government is that they have trouble distinguishing between "friendly nations" and "hostile foreign powers."
Whenever I hear people wailing about Russian election interference (i.e. throughout most of 2017-2020), I wonder how many Americans understand that weāve interfered in other countriesā elections for decades and will no doubt continue doing it.
Thatās another onion to peel. Where you end up depends on when you think the onion has been sufficiently peeled.
For one, it depends on if you think the intervention is hostile or not. Is it meant to harm the target country?
You could say during the Cold War, America supported Soviet dissidents as a hostile actāfrom the viewpoint of the regime. From the American perspective, it was a benevolent act to bring openness and civic participation to the Soviet people. It also just happened to weaken the regime by undermining its ideological narrative about the superiority of communism.
You could say that type of American intervention was hostile because it belied a certain arrogant American superiority complex, not entirely unlike 18th century colonialism, always justified as spreading the benefits of western governance to benighted souls worldwide *for their own good* even if they or their rulers never asked for it. That it also just happened to benefit wealthy and well connected Westerners was an unexpected side benefit.
The dictatorships in the informal alliance of autocrats today would say itās just turnabout being fair play: We meddled in their affairs with democracy promotion, now weāre having misgivings when they spread their *truths* here because weāre a bunch of whining hypocrites. That the autocratsā efforts just happen to gum up our system and inflame domestic strife is a side benefit making us generally weaker as a foe. Etcetera.
Itās always complicated, and Iāve definitely heard about how āweāre just as badā more than a few times. Yet, it still doesnāt make me any less concerned when itās the Russians, Iran or China.
Obama and Biden sure seem to like themselves some Iran. I dunno why.
The sad part is my friends and colleagues who are Iranian are consistently nice people. Unless they are spies trying to win me over with kindness? Nah, they don't seem like spies to me. They never asked what I did at Naval Avionics, and my academic research gets published for all to read.
My one Iranian doctor friend never referred to himself as Iranian but rather Persian. He was a wonderful man known for his many rose bushes and delicious honey.
I was close to a young man from Iran who was here on a visa. He was teaching math at a private college, and could not have been nicer. He really wanted to stay here, and I hope that somehow he was able to. He also had an Arab roommate who was very nice, but not so much his Arab friends.
Good morning. I'm cleaning up from the Overnight People, and then I need to call my mother. The calendar isn't busy today, so I should have time to clean the kitchen.
Morning. Today weāre frost-free. My calendar is off writing its memoirs in the hopes of a lucrative deal with a publisher. Itās clearly delusional.
Reminds me of a somewhat disturbing reel I recently saw on Instagram where a baby is sitting in a high chair fussing and someone off camera tosses an American cheese slice on the babyās head as a distraction. Better than a rotting jellyfish!
Given number of words you do know, and the likelihood a fair number of them are interestingly esoteric, and the likelihood you spend your time doing other worthwhile stuff, the statistical damage done by lacking familiarity with one word, no matter how interesting, is vanishingly small.
I want to know how you guys get anything done??!! I have spent most of my morning (and now Iām back again) reading and responding to online comments! Now, I have got to get some other things done (and Iām not cleaning the stove)! š
Everyone here is secretly filthy-stinking-rich and has *people* to do their work for them.
Except for you.
And me.
That whole deal with Cynthia and her drain? Russian misinformation.
Also, it didn't work.
Sorry to hear. You made a valiant DIY effort, but this might be a task for the pros.
Are any of your other plumbing fixtures backed up along that drain line?
Actually, it's probably the dishwasher, too. We haven't tried it since yesterday evening.
Usually dishwashers are connected to discharge through the kitchen sink drain or garbage disposal, if there is one.
There is a garbage disposal.
No, just the kitchen sink. The guy thought it was fixed, but it's not. We'll have to get them back tomorrow.
Plumbing problems can be surprisingly complicated.
Yes, that's true. We're going to have to break out the Three Pot Method to wash up tomorrow.
Thousands of CSLF followers are now sitting and staring under their sinks, scratching their heads, wondering why it didn't. Chaos ensues. Mission accomplished.
Those darned Russkies!
When I inherited a house down in Florida from my aunt, I rented it to a young man from Georgia (the country, not the state) who was in the states to go to college. One of my aunt's neighbors knew him from her church, and knowing I didn't want the house sitting empty until I decided exactly what to do with it, she vouched for him. Nice young man. Had been in the Georgian army. Spoke English well enough to get by pretty good.
On one of my trips down there to work on the house, he invited me to go out to dinner with him and meet some of his friends. Dinner out turned out to be a trip across town to a Russian owned bar where the clientele was nearly all Russian, as were all of his friends.
I blended right in (yeah, right) with the dozen-odd rather sharply dressed young men and women - the oldest of whom I surpassed in years by at least a dozen - who sat staring at my jeans, western boots and white western straw, asking enthusiastically in semi-broken English by turns after I was introduced, "You cowboy?" "You ride horse?" "You have horse?" "How much horse?" "Where horse? Can we ride?"
They were a bit disappointed to learn my nags were 1100 miles away.
Two observations: As a group these folks seemed quite nice and normal. For the first half of the evening. And it was obvious that they really, Really LIKED THEIR VODKA, which was what they drank to the exclusion of any other spirits or beer, encouraging me to do the same and to match them shot for shot. Which I took a shot at for two or three rounds before politely attempting to beg off the challenge. Which took a couple of more rounds to accomplish, that being the time required for them to lose track of my efforts, I suppose.
But during the second half, after the vodka had been flowing for a couple or more hours, let's just say I realized the term "Crazy Russians" had a definite basis in reality. It was, shall we say, an *interesting* experience.
How 'crazy' you ask?
As June bugs. With blood alcohol levels not in the single digits. When I was leaving in a cab after my "ride" (read renter) was no longer available to safely drive me home, a couple of Sheriff's Dept. cruisers were pulling in, if that tells you anything about that night's meet & greet adventure.
Fascinating. We have Russians in my neighborhood, also Ukrainians. Quiet people who walk around the block in the evenings with their children, of which they have more than average. A big Slavic Evangelical church not far away was under construction for over a year before it opened this past Easter.
Okay, back to the top with my sink problem.
I took off the S-trap. It was a little gunky, but not clogged.
Then I took off another piece that connected the S-trap to what looks like the main line out into the county sewer system. That wasn't clogged either.
I reached a bendy-brush into the main line, and that didn't hit a clog.
I poked up into a vertical pipe with a chopstick; that wasn't blocked.
I poured some water into the drain, and it came out the horizontal pipe and dripped into the bucket.
I just ran the water full blast into the sink, and it runs right out into the bucket without backing up.
This suggests that (a) the problem is somewhere downstream of the point where the water goes into the 2-1/2" (?) pipe that runs into the back wall of the cabinet; or (b) I somehow fixed it even though I can't tell how.
You can put it back together and see if that did the trick. If not, itās something farther down the drain. If youāve got a handy friend or neighbor, ask him or her. I think most plumbers will charge just to diagnose, of course, but they should fix the problem. If your disassembly-reassembly didnāt do it, it sounds to me from a distance like it could be beyond the scope of basic homeowner DIY skills.
Alternatively, you could obtain a 20 to 25 foot drain snake tool and poke it down the pipe to see if you feel an obstruction. Harbor Freight sells one for cheap, iircā¦ letās see here:
https://www.harborfreight.com/plumbing/drain-cleaners-augers/25-ft-drill-powered-drain-auger-57202.html
RE: *bendy-brush* *chopstick*
Plumbers nationwide are re-tooling as I write this. And if C has the time and doesn't mind a little drive, she can get an adequately long snake and actually get paid for it rather having to pay for it herself.
Edit: Oops. Posted without the money-saving info. Not my fault. Reading all about this plumbing faux pax has left me a bit drained.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240318-florida-pays-people-to-hunt-invasive-burmese-pythons
It won't go down the pipe because it's catching on the joints or something.
My husband got it to go further, but it didn't do any good.
Kewl. I'll see what I find at Lowe's.
Get a cheap snake. $10.
Oops. Now I don't know how to put it back together.
Rule #1...Pay attention to how you took it apart. It can only go back together one way. Yes, it will be confusing if you've never done it before.
I succeeded, but I'll have to take it apart again to run the snake down the line after I go to Harbor Freight. Good thing I wasn't doing much else today.
Good morning. It's 79 degrees and sunny here, with a predicted high of ~89ā91 degrees. It might get cloudy later, but I doubt I'm that lucky.
Anyway, here's a great acoustic guitar cover of "Hotel California": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npyz-qB01bM&pp=ygUhaG90ZWwgY2FsaWZvcm5pYSB5b25pIHNjaGxlc2luZ2Vy
Iām listening to a fascinating book by Tom Holland (The Rest is History podcast) about the founding of Islam. āIn the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empireā
Heās written at length about Judaism and Christianity, as well. I could easily listen a second time because itās hard to remember everything. Whatās interesting to me is all of the things that were incorporated by men. Stories were changed, interpretations seem almost limitless. Who really did what?
And, all three religions have or did have a lot in common. I would love to take a class in this just so I could ask questions.
Josephine Quinnā¦How The World Made The West.
Itās like a history of how history is written.
I finally found the book through my library, and itās one of those books with pages! I tried looking online, and most of the copies (even used) are around $19. I thought I might be able to find it for less than $10.
Thank you! I remember Dan Carlin saying that history is a story weāve all decided to agree upon. Well, not everyone, but close enough! And, I seem to recall at least one of her books on my dadās bookshelf.
My kitchen-cleaning project has run into the obstacle of a blocked drain. I'm going to try boiling water.
Also, the little beveled washers that provide the seal. Get new ones. They're cost pennies.
I got it off but it's not clogged. This is bad, right? What about the horizontal pipe from the garbage disposal?
It may be a blockage further down the line, which would be strange in a fairly new kitchen sink drain. The way to tell is when it's all assembled, run the water. If it backs up right away, it's in the trap. If it takes a while, it's down the line somewhere. That's when you snake it. Get a cheap snake and run it into the drain; twist, fiddle, whatever, get the snake in there. But, first reassemble it and see if it drains. My guess is you cleaned the blockage just by taking it apart.
I put it back together, and it worked for a while, but now it's back the way it was. Drat!
It's a blockage down the line. Snake time.
No. Nothing in a 20 odd year old house is bad. You maybe already fixed it by clearing the P trap.
Oh....I almost forgot... The thing that hangs up the civilians is they fail to recognize that they must REMOVE EVERYTHING FROM UNDER THE SINK BEFORE THEY START FIXING THINGS. You can't do this stuff when trying to navigate around mountains of stuff that everyone sticks under their sink. This is an opportunity, not a problem.
I did that.
Boiling water often works. For those with prehensile thumbs, a 1 1/2 minute tutorial on how to dismantle and reassemble a sink drain would INFORM you and relieve you of having to mess around with slow drains. Of course, in the dismantlement, one discovers the absolutely disgusting mess that comprises our kitchen waste water....but, persevere...or persist if you're into Elizabeth Warren...and have a bucket close at hand to collect the glop that spills out of the trap... and you can clear the drain so it never runs slow again. If it's even remotely modern...meaning post 1970-ish...it's PVC and you don't even need tools; you can do it with your bare hands. A cheap drain snake can be had for <$10 at Le Depot de Maison.
Can you suggest a video for an absolute nincompoop who doesn't want to make things even worse?
YouTube will definitely have plenty.
Some made by absolute nincompoops. Caution is advised.
One tip is to pay close attention to the details in the video image and how the situation differs from what things look like under your sink.
The first obstacle for a person who isnāt afraid of some DIY is knowing what things are called. That can make the job of searching the web frustrating right out of the gate. Looking for āsink pipeā is going to produce a lot of unusable hits compared to āP trapā or āS trapā.
If they don't know what things are called right from the jump it probably won't take them long to find out. It's actually a pretty short list of names...
s.o.b.,
b*****d
damned (fill in the blank with one of the above)
a maternal reference not repeatable in polite company
Sadly, Google searches for these will not produce the desired results. Which leads to similar naming of Google results.
True, but I think I can usually tell when something makes sense. Iāve gotten a lot of good info there, although I havenāt had to find out how to unclog a drain, thank goodness!
Damn right. As a start, the tutorials show these spotless environments with all brand new materials. For anyone having done the work, reality is a mountain of old paper towels, disposable single use plastic bags, and all manner of disgusting crap under the sink.
Okay, but I would assume that because Iāve seen someone unclog a drain before. Iām usually the one in our household who tries to think ahead of the possible things that could go wrong!
The desired search is āhow to clean a p-trapā (or ās-trapāātheyāre basically the same).
No...they are absolutely NOT the same. The S trap configuration went out of code about 50 years ago because of a risk of siphoning. That said, I know they can still work ok. Why? Because I see them in ancient old properties and they work OK.
Venting requirements in our code system are wildly outdated, and add considerable cost to any housing project. The reason we don't need all the venting that Local 130 insists we need is....we now know that water flowing down a drain sticks to the pipe and the central portion of the pipe is free flowing air.
I'm trying to recall, but I don't think I've ever seen so much venting about drains in one place before. Apparently, you've had a lot of first-hand experience dealing with this stuff?
I wonāt argue with that.
I just meant from the practical standpoint of a person trying to figure out how to clean the trap under a sink. Iāve seen some that were glued PVC traps, which isnāt exactly user friendly. And the chrome ones are pretty, but in my experience, they are fussier if you donāt get the nuts threaded right, plus they can corrode and fail, spilling gunk inside the cabinetāyuck!
True. I see every manner of idiotically assembled P traps....so named because they're shaped like a P....caulked, glued, smeared with 11 pounds of silicone, wrapped in duct tape and roofing cement...you name it, I've seen it..
The chrome ones degrade and fall apart, not to mention getting it all aligned perfectly so the "rubber" washers work like they're supposed to. They're actually brass, cost 20x what plastic dos, and the brass degrades until the only thing holding them together is the chrome plating.
Plastic is where it's at.
My house is 21 years old.
You got plastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI-jg30DxSQ
Does this look good?
It's OK..l..the basic fundamentals....although his understanding of terms is idiotic.
1. Take it apart.
2. Clean up the disgusting mess you're going to find.
3. Put it back together.
It's Tinker Toys, if Tinker Toys also included greasy disgusting filth all over everything. What you'll most likely find is that the 1 1/2" drain is closed down to about 1/4" with black and gray disgusting slime. The wire brush...where do people get these ideas? Wire brush....(?1?). Get a $10 snake at HD. Snake it. Then, throw everything out in the yard and make Thor clean it all and store it anyplace but in the house cuz it stinks of anaerobically decomposed stuff you ate last month.
How do I know which way to turn?
Good overview. With any luck, yours is nylon, which looks a lot like PVC but thinner walled. You may need channel locks to undo the nuts on either side of the trap. (The trap holds water to prevent sewer gas entering the room.)
Once youāve cleaned the gunk out (you can run a twisted paper towel through itāa wire brush is overkill), you should get it back together by firm hand tightening. Put a paper towel under it in the cabinet to see if it drips. If so, try using the channel lock pliers to give it another quarter turn or so until it stops. Alternatively, rely on a spare sonās grip strength.
What are channel locks?
Thanks.
Itās amazing that these āpunstersā know so much!
I recommend drinking it slowly.
Thanks.
If you ask what is the secret to my devilled eggs, it's that I add a little Splenda brown sugar to them, to sweeten them up.š If you dislike sweetened devilled eggs, mine are not for you.
My MIL Janet's birthday is today. I got her a nice card, my daughter is running it and two baked goods I bought from the farmer's market. Katie wants me to branch out from making potato salad (which also gets Splenda brown sugar) and devilled eggs. it's as if she doesn't want me to use Splenda brown sugar! š¢ So while she was at work I stealthily made some devilled eggs. I boiled four, cut 'em up, and mashed the yellow part. 15 minutes until Katie gets home, I'm gonna win! š I add the mayo, I add the A-1 sauce, the pickle relish, the honey dijon mustard. It's good, all it needs now is brown sugar...
And we're out. š± I could have bought some, but Katie has been "training" me šµš¶š» to buy supplies from the store without first checking if we still have some at home, ever since the infamous "Why did you buy another bottle of soy sauce when we have two bottles already". š”š” Katie will get home before I can run to the store and back. š„¶
I searched in the cabinet, what to do? š§I found a package of crushed Heath bars, I sprinkled a little into the bottom of each egg white half. I found an opened package of Stevia. It said to use it instead of sugar when baking, so maybe it'll taste good. Katie doesn't keep regular sugar in the pantry, it oughtta work, right?
I added it to my mix. š¤¢ It ruined the taste.š¢ So much so I carried the eggs to the woods, flinging them far down the hill, so the little nippers can munch on them to their hearts delight. I munched on some of the crushed heath bar to console myself as I cleaned up. I sent a note with my daughter explaining I loved Janet too much to send devilled eggs without brown sugar...I hope it works. Okay, the blueberry bread and the pumpkin pie are pretty good too! š
My current mode for mysteriously sweetening things is a drip/drab/dollop of Maple Syrup...capitalized because it is Holy Water distilled from the righteous Maple Tree. It's absolutely dazzles whatever it touches.
Donāt know if youāve tried it, but erythritol is a low-carb alternative sweetener based on distilled sugar alcohols. Itās got about 70 percent of sugarās sweetening power but without calories and without some of the off flavors of other alternative sweeteners. It also happens to come in granulated form. The main drawback is that you have to add more than the sugar equivalent to achieve the same sweetness level.
My husband has used that. I forget what heās using now because I just go for regular sugar.
That's a very sad story.
Absent anything relevant to say on the topic, I found this over at Arnold Kling... cut and pasted...
"People do not write op-eds that try to persuade. They instead mostly write with the intention of encouraging people on their own side to dismiss people who disagree. If pundits thought that persuasion would work, they probably would write very differently.
He does point out that persuasion effects are small. Someone might move 5 percentage points in the intended direction. And in some cases where people have stronger prior opinions, it might be less than 1 percentage point.
The phenomenon I am observing is probably pundits giving what Coppock calls āgroup cues.ā
This involves information about which groups in society support which positions. Someone seeking to deploy group cues to influence public opinion is not trying to persuade you on the substance of an issue but just trying to clue you in to what other people think.
ā¦Group cues are typically more potent than information-only treatments. People are strongly influenced by solidarity with the groups they identify with.
This is consistent with my adage that we decide what to believe by deciding who to believe."
"Someone seeking to deploy group cues to influence public opinion is not trying to persuade you on the substance of an issue but just trying to clue you in to what other people think."
Yes, that is very often observed. I forgot to mention earlier this week that we were looking at pictures of the Loess Plateau in China while reviewing aeolian soil deposits. D thought some of the villages were archaeological sites, but I pointed out that they had farm animals in the yard.
It's most likely still an archaeological site. They're discovering lost and forgotten archaeological sites all over China. I've been to a few. For anyone questioning whether or not China's history goes back 5000 years....if you followed me around and visited the places I've been, you would understand it's more like 7000 years.
I just want to know what happened to those giant human bones found in some cave! Seriously, a friend of my dadās sent out an email with photos of workers in a cave surrounded by these huge skeletons. What always amazes me is that people will believe something without ever looking for other sources!
7,000 years seems consistent with the recent research that's been covered on "Tides of History".
I seems impossible until you go there, see it, and trace the consistent cultural mores for the last 7 millennia.
This blog is sometimes indistinguishable from a Kling fan-zine.
The practice around here is this: The main post is just in case folks want something to talk about. Otherwise, everyone just talks about whateverās on their minds.
Come on. Who're you kidding here? Everyone knows that stuff you write is just some kind of 'projection', to use a rather popular word of late. All that stuff about foreign spies and online operatives the last couple of days?? Ha!!
I have email evidence you've been in contact with a Rooskie. It's really you who's spying on and misleading us, isn't it?!
Isn't it?!?!
Where the heck's Bob Mueller when you need him!?!?!?
Oh. Look at the time... I'm a few hours late taking my meds. 'Scuse me...
I appreciate that you take the time to write something. I hadnāt thought much about our allies spying on us, but Iām sure we do the same. Iām glad Iām not the one trying to figure out all this stuff.
I'd never heard of Arnold, which is consistent with my goal of ignoring most everyone that earns their living by writing Daily Disposable Diatribesā¢....D-cubed.
If you originated Daily Disposable Diatribes, I admire that alot.
I don't know any of what everyone seems to know because I view the entire pundit blogocracy as a farce of objectively pointless individuals who feel entitled to earn a living by blabbering.
This afternoon, I'm making Mango Habanero hot sauce, bottled in cute little wire bail 8 oz. bottles. My single Habanero plant provided about 30 peppers...I had to do something...
My husband would go for that! Iām surprised he hasnāt tried making something along those lines by now. He loves HOT sauces! I like hot sauces.
Sounds delicious. Though Iām mainly on the carnivore diet, I canāt completely break my sriracha weakness. And thatās for the store-bought kind!
I often run into our head greenskeeper at the grocery store. Heās been on the carnivore diet for around five years. All he ever has in his cart is loads of red meat. Iām impressed with his dedication. Food brings me a great deal of joy. I cannot fathom eating only red meat. Iāve never asked him if he uses oil or spices.
Iām with you. Richard was doing the carb free diet for awhile, lost a fair amount of weight, but hasnāt been able to maintain it. He started putting weight back on as soon as he loosened his restrictions, even though heās still being careful! We have completely different metabolisms.
It is sating and satisfying, but you certainly do miss the tasty starches and sugars youāre used toāand that are tempting you everywhere. Iāve heard quite a few say that theyāve been carb-free for long enough that they donāt find carbs or sugar appealing anymore. I look forward to that dayā¦
I canāt imagine how that would be a problem for you. It has to be low in carbs, and probably very few calories. Plus, how much would you need?
Artificial sweeteners can still cause me to go jonesing for sugar for days. The mere sweet flavor is enough. I try to avoid it for the most part.
Thatās interesting. I think I might have a problem with ice cream or alcohol! I donāt abuse either, but I look forward to both, especially that glass of wine in the evening!
is sriracha like the cha-cha-cha dance?
Asking for a clumsy friend, of course.
Itās like the cha-cha doing a samba on my tongue.
Maybe, depending on how hot it is!
I used to make mango habanero salsa, but I would just take it to church with chips instead of bottling it. I hope yours is a success.
Weather and pets!
Good rooming. Today is the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Today, like then, clear and sunny.
The mothership is covering, of course the debate last night.
We have hazy clear skies due to wildfire smoke.
We do? Are you up north again?
Thanks for the reminder. I keep reading about last nightās debate, and havenāt seen anything on this. I still remember how shocking it was. I couldnāt imagine flying an airplane into a skyscraper!! Then that second plane hit, and everything changed.
I think I might have reached my limit of election coverage. I recorded the debate but now doubt Iāll watch. Too depressing and I donāt know what I could possibly learn. Iām thinking a lot about the 9/11 attacks. I remember almost every minute of that day, from hearing a strange news report on the radio on the way to work, watching the towers fall live when I got there, everyone being sent home early, then sitting on the couch watching coverage and replays for hours. It's still shocking to me and I guess the best we can do is never forget.
I had an 8 month old and we were having a play date at a friendās house and the TV was on in the background which she turned off because we wanted to focus on our babes. Come to find out she lost a cousin that day who was working in one of the towers. Horrible day that still brings me to tears.
We need something besides the ā¤ļø button. š„
My husband and I watched the first part of the debate, and then got tired of listening to Trumpās usual rant, and Harris not really saying anything new either. Itās not her fault, but I canāt stand her voice.
We just listened to The Dispatch Live recording from last night, kind of. I was half listening and reading at the same time.
Good morning. I think I have nothing worth saying about either of those topics.
9/11 is not a day I can ever forget, having been in an office building in Northern Virginia on that day, with a clear view of the plume of smoke rising from the Pentagon, where one of the planes was crashed.
Not to mention, all the images on TV of the twin towers smoking, then collapsing, in New York City.
"Allied and friendly spying activity is considered mutually acceptable, as long as the intent is not hostile or destructive. This is qualitatively different from the actions of hostile foreign powers who seek to do lasting harm to America as a part of their global political strategy."
I think that one of the issues with our government is that they have trouble distinguishing between "friendly nations" and "hostile foreign powers."
Whenever I hear people wailing about Russian election interference (i.e. throughout most of 2017-2020), I wonder how many Americans understand that weāve interfered in other countriesā elections for decades and will no doubt continue doing it.
Yeah, true, butā¦
Thatās another onion to peel. Where you end up depends on when you think the onion has been sufficiently peeled.
For one, it depends on if you think the intervention is hostile or not. Is it meant to harm the target country?
You could say during the Cold War, America supported Soviet dissidents as a hostile actāfrom the viewpoint of the regime. From the American perspective, it was a benevolent act to bring openness and civic participation to the Soviet people. It also just happened to weaken the regime by undermining its ideological narrative about the superiority of communism.
You could say that type of American intervention was hostile because it belied a certain arrogant American superiority complex, not entirely unlike 18th century colonialism, always justified as spreading the benefits of western governance to benighted souls worldwide *for their own good* even if they or their rulers never asked for it. That it also just happened to benefit wealthy and well connected Westerners was an unexpected side benefit.
The dictatorships in the informal alliance of autocrats today would say itās just turnabout being fair play: We meddled in their affairs with democracy promotion, now weāre having misgivings when they spread their *truths* here because weāre a bunch of whining hypocrites. That the autocratsā efforts just happen to gum up our system and inflame domestic strife is a side benefit making us generally weaker as a foe. Etcetera.
Itās always complicated, and Iāve definitely heard about how āweāre just as badā more than a few times. Yet, it still doesnāt make me any less concerned when itās the Russians, Iran or China.
That's a point.
Obama and Biden sure seem to like themselves some Iran. I dunno why.
The sad part is my friends and colleagues who are Iranian are consistently nice people. Unless they are spies trying to win me over with kindness? Nah, they don't seem like spies to me. They never asked what I did at Naval Avionics, and my academic research gets published for all to read.
My one Iranian doctor friend never referred to himself as Iranian but rather Persian. He was a wonderful man known for his many rose bushes and delicious honey.
I was close to a young man from Iran who was here on a visa. He was teaching math at a private college, and could not have been nicer. He really wanted to stay here, and I hope that somehow he was able to. He also had an Arab roommate who was very nice, but not so much his Arab friends.
I agree. It goes hand-in-glove with our lack of ability to distinguish friend and foe since the end of the Cold War.
As it turns out, history didn't end sometime in the early 1990s.
Good morning. I'm cleaning up from the Overnight People, and then I need to call my mother. The calendar isn't busy today, so I should have time to clean the kitchen.
Morning. Today weāre frost-free. My calendar is off writing its memoirs in the hopes of a lucrative deal with a publisher. Itās clearly delusional.
** " ... we view any kind of interference in our democratic process as dangerous, as escalatory and as unacceptable,ā he later said. **
He said "escalatory"! He gets a rotting jellyfish to the face, FWAPPP!
Reminds me of a somewhat disturbing reel I recently saw on Instagram where a baby is sitting in a high chair fussing and someone off camera tosses an American cheese slice on the babyās head as a distraction. Better than a rotting jellyfish!
āAnd if you keep doing it, weāll tell you itās unacceptable again.ā
Ah, that's like when you go to a restaurant and order the escarole salad? And if you order two its escalatory?
One shouldnāt confuse āescalatoryā and āescarolatoryā.
Well, excuuuuuse me!
If you know the difference between "escarolatory" and "endivaceaous," you probably got an excellent SAT score.
I don't. Does this mean that I'm a failure?
Given number of words you do know, and the likelihood a fair number of them are interestingly esoteric, and the likelihood you spend your time doing other worthwhile stuff, the statistical damage done by lacking familiarity with one word, no matter how interesting, is vanishingly small.
No, it probably means you're not googling plant names right now.
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cichorium-endivia/
It has low severity poison impacts.
With a side of rotting jellyfish. I haven't tried it myself, but I hear it's a delicacy in Japan.
Pass.