Still Livin' in a Hell Hole

As everyone who knows me knows, the house I live in is a dump, or, as I put it in a previous post, a hell hole.

Of course, it's not all bad, livin' in a hell hole. At least you know where you stand in a hell hole. And sometimes folks lend a hand in a hell hole.

But the fact of the matter is that I could easily spend a week just making a list of the things that need to get fixed around here. And one thing on that list would be the plumbing.

The genius who designed the 1940s remodel (or more likely some subsequent remodeling job) decided that the washing machine belonged in the kitchen, and it drains into the same line as the sink. I' sure that at one time this arrangement worked well enough, but it seems that over the years the pipes have narrowed like a Cajun's arteries. ("The Louisiana diet will kill a man as surely as a sword.")

As a result, when the washing machine drains, the water will overflow onto the floor if the pipes are already full of water from the sink. But I found that a bit of lye now and then keeps things running smoothly, and generally prevents a puddle on wash day. I used to use Red Devil (the powder, not the liquid), but it seems to have disappeared from the market, and I switched to Drano Kitchen Crystals. Like this:



But just keeping the drains draining isn't enough. A few months ago, water started dripping out of the cabinet under the sink whenever the sink got much use. In a rare fit of initiative, I decided to fix it.

It turned out to be not too big a problem. The washer under one of the slip joint nuts had deteriorated almost to the point of non-existence. In case you were wondering, this is what a slip joint nut and washer are supposed to look like:



This is what the ones under my sink looked like (the washer is the gray-green crud):



I replaced the washer, and things seemed to work fine for a while (except for the washing machine drain occasionally overflowing), but then about a month ago another leak developed. I figured it was another bad washer, but couldn't seem to muster the initiative to do anything about it. There were lots of things that needed doing more, and besides, the occasional leak gave me an excuse to mop the floor.

Which brings us to this morning.

A house-guest of mine, laboring under the absurdly optimistic misapprehension that the sink had a garbage disposal, removed the strainer fro the drain so some food scraps could get ground up by the non-existent appliance.

Not a good thing.

But I had a can of those Drano Kitchen Crystals next to the sink, and I figured they'd dissolve the clog. So I poured some down the drain, and ran a bit of water over them to wash them down.

By the way, in case you were wondering:



And if you're wondering if that applies to plastic pipes as well, not to worry. Just read the fourth line down:



Well, maybe to worry a little. As the crystals interacted with the gunk in the drain and the noxious vapors bellowed forth, a very bad sound came from under the sink, followed by a gush of water. The pipe (the one whose washer I had replaced a couple months ago, as it happens) fell off the sink. And it didn't fall off because I put it on wrong. It fell off because the pipe, having been significantly heated by the chemical reaction within, had lost all its rigidity. It was sort of like a garden hose, only not nearly as stiff.

I tried to push the pipe back in place, but only succeeded in getting my hands covered with an extremely caustic mixture of sludge and lye. And a couple globs of wet Drano Kitchen Crystals splashed onto my arm and gave me a pretty good burn. I went to the bathroom to wash it off, but something about that slimy feeling that wouldn't go away reminded me that if you have a chemical burn from a base, you need acid to neutralize it. (I finally found a use for those high school chemistry classes!) Fortunately, I had a big bottle of vinegar on hand.

So I poured vinegar all over everything, but especially my hands and arm, and then spent about an hour cleaning up the mess. I didn't think the under-the-sink cabinet had ever been cleaned. At least not in my lifetime. It wasn't pretty. It took about an hour just to clean up the mess.

Anyway, here's what the pipe looked like after it had cooled and stiffened up again:



You may have noticed that, in addition to no longer being a proper cylinder, the end of the pipe isn't even round anymore:



And it certainly wasn't straight:



But somehow I managed not to appreciate the fact that the pipe was no longer pipe-shaped when I made my first trip to Home Depot to get replacement washers and slip joint nuts (I figured I'd replace them all, just to be on the safe side).

Of course, when I got home and picked up the pieces to put them back together, I realized that there was no way that was going to work. But at least I found out where the leak came from. It seems that something had eaten a hole through the side of the "T" junction:





Given the odd shape of the "T" junction, I'm guessing that the hole was the result of a previous run-in with Drano.

Once I got the mess more or less cleaned up and figured out what I really needed to do the job, fixing everything was surprisingly cheap and easy. I made another trip to Home Depot and got the parts to replace everything for about ten bucks. And it only took about fifteen minutes to put it all back together. Now it looks like this:



The cabinet's still disgusting, but at least the plumbing's sparkling clean.

But then, after it was all done, I found this in the sink:



I didn't put it there, and I've never owned silverware of that pattern. The only explanation I can come up with is that it must have been stuck in one of the old pipes and fallen out somewhere along to way.



Finally, in fairness to the good folks at Drano, the directions say to use one heaping tablespoon. I may have used somewhat more than that, in keeping with the seriousness of the clog.

The Results Are In!

Believe it or not, I started to worry....

A month or two ago I was riding home late at night when it started to rain. And it wasn't a light rain, either. I came up to a traffic light just as it was turning yellow. I gently applied the brakes. Just before the light, there was a big puddle that happened to have a muddy bottom.

You may not know this, but braking Fatboys tend to have a hard time keeping their balance in muddy-bottomed puddles. I wasn't going fast or anything, but the bike still started sliding out from under me and ended up laid down in the middle of the road.

With no small exertion of effort, I picked the bike up, straightened the mirror, and glanced around looking for a missing turn signal lens. I never found it. One reason for that might be that when I righted the bike, the headlight was no longer working.

I rode the rest of the way very slowly on little-travelled roads. When I got home, I put the bike in the garage, dried it off, and went to bed, figuring I'd fix the headlight in the morning.

I didn't.

But a week or so later, I finally got around to going down to the Harley shop and bought a new headlight. It was remarkable cheap.

When I got home, I took out the old bulb and put the new one in. While I was doing that, I noticed that there were a couple wires in the headlight housing that weren't connected to anything, but they didn't look like they were supposed to be connected to anything, so I didn't think much of it.

I also took that opportunity to adjust the brake lever and all the other controls on the right handlebar, which had been knocked out of alignment.

Anyway, I put the new headlight in, turned on the power and.... Nothing. Not good. I figured I must have damaged the wiring somewhere, but I didn't really have time to deal with it right then. It couldn't have been too bad, though, since the turn signals still worked, and the right signal switch is one of those controls that got knocked out of alignment.

So three or four more weeks passed with me not getting around to fixing it, and therefore not having the use of my bike. I finally decided that I'd have one more look at it, and if I couldn't find the problem, I'd take it down to the Harley shop and let them deal with it for an exorbitant fee.

But ever since I swapped out the headlights, those wires that weren't connected to anything had been bothering me. Could a wire have come loose from the part that the headlight plugs into?

I took the headlight out again and checked it out. And I decided that there was absolutely no chance that either of those wires were supposed to be connected to the socket that the headlight plugs into.

But what about each other? Could it be that those two wires were supposed to be connected to each other, and came unconnected when I dropped the bike?

Obviously not. One of them was clearly a ground wire, and the other had the end wrapped in electrical tape. They were obviously there in case some accessory was added at a later date.

Besides, when I removed the electrical tape, it was obvious that the connectors and the ends of the wires didn't go together.

But that wasn't about to stop me.

I sometimes wonder if I'm really as smart as I think I am.

It was only a little spark, and it only lasted a second.

I tried the turn signals. Nothing.

Duh. A fuse. I forgot to check for a blown fuse.

Once again, I forgot to check the most obvious possible cause of my problem. As some of you may recall, I have something of a blind spot when it comes to fuses.

Two fuses later, it's all better.

Good news, bad news....

The good news is that the Hillary Clinton Inevitable Juggernaut ran aground in Iowa. Third place, behind Obama (convincingly) and Edwards (just barely). It's always nice to see the establishment's anointed dashed on the rocks.

And it's even better when it happens to someone like Mrs. Clinton, who claims to be the most accomplished and experienced of candidate, but can't seem to point to any "accomplishment" in her adult life that wasn't really something that was given to her because she was married to Mr. Clinton. And, of course, her claim to "experience" is based entirely on her having shared a residence with Bill.

But much as I enjoy seeing Mrs. Clinton get thumped, I'm afraid it's bad news for the only candidate I actually like. And the reason I think that is because I think there are a lot of voters in New Hampshire who'd just love to pile on. And a lot who would like vote for Obama, but only if he demonstrated in Iowa that he actually had a shot. But I can't really complain. Maybe if enough of them kick her when she's down, she won't be able to get back up. And that would be a good thing.

But, unfortunately, a lot of those folks who would only vote for Obama if it looked like he had a chance would have been voting for Ron Paul (or possibly McCain) if they weren't voting in the Democratic primary. In short, I think Obama's thumping of the former First Lady is going to shift a lot of the independent vote over to the Democratic primary, and that's bad news for the anti-establishment Republican candidate. (Probably bad news for McCain too, but I don't care about him.)

And speaking of McCain, the polls have him first in New Hampshire, followed by Romney. I'm guessing that'll be reversed by next Tuesday. But I wouldn't put any money on it. If Mrs. Clinton had won in Iowa, I'd have been willing to bet real money on McCain, Romney, Paul to win, place, and show in Hew Hampshire.

On the other hand, Ron Paul got a lot more more votes than the polls said he should have gotten in Iowa. Although most polls show Giuliani and the Rev. Huckabee 2.5-3% points above Paul, if he beats the spread by the same margin in New Hampshire as he did in Iowa, he'd still be very close to a third place finish in New Hampshire. I'd be happy with that. I'm still hopeful, but I'm expecting another fifth place finish.

And while a fifth place finish would be disappointing, it's really the message and not the man that counts. And as long as he's getting the message out, that's all we can really expect. The Ron Paul Revolution might not bear fruit in 2008 but we might have at least planted the seed that will ripen in 2012 or 2016. I just hope my fellow Americans wise up before Fred Thompson's dream of a mushroom cloud over an American city is realized.

But if he can just beat Giuliani again, it'll all have been worth it. I don't think Il Duce can recover from two consecutive losses to a "kooky" "fringe candidate" like Dr. No. Too bad he won't get almost three times Giuliani's total in Hew Hampshire like he did in Iowa.

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And since I wouldn't want to appear sexist in singling out Hillary for criticism on her over-hyping of her supposed resume-- What's the deal with Rudy's supposed foreign policy / terrorism expertise? Did he anticipate or prevent the 9/11 attacks? Did he prepare for such an eventuality by providing the firefighters with the necessary equipment to respond to such a situation? Because I though I heard that a whole lot of firemen died because they didn't have working radios. And locating the anti-terrorism command center in the World Trade Center complex was a stroke of genius. Did Rudy actually do anything other than pose for pictures and make speeches?

And how 'bout the Rev. Huckabee claiming to have some sort of special understanding of "Islamofascism" because he took a few Bible classes in college. Isn't it enough to know that they hate us for our freedom and they'll follows us home and all that?

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Speaking of polls-- The polls say that, of the Republican candidates tested (which naturally does not include Ron Paul), McCain is the only one who stands a chance. Any Democrat beats any Republican except McCain. But the polls say McCain would beat Hillary, that it's a toss-up against Obama, and that he'd lose to Edwards. Edwards. Can you believe that?

I don't know who's going to be on top, but I have a feeling the Democratic ticket is going to have Obama and Edwards on it. And that doesn't scare me nearly as much as the prospect of a Republican ticket featuring Giuliani and Huckabee.

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Update: It seems my punditry-fu may have been weak that day. The latest Rasmussen poll from New Hampshire has McCain (31%) with a commanding lead over Romney (26%), and Ron Paul (13%) comfortably in third place. Bring up the rear are Huckabee (11%), Giuliani (8%), and Thompson (5%).

One other interesting tidbit:

The Republican race remains fluid as nearly a third of GOP voters say they could still change their mind. Sixty-four percent (64%) of McCain’s voters say they are “certain” they will vote for him. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Romney supporters are that certain along with 83% of Ron Paul voters and 66% for Mike Huckabee.

Only 17% of Ron Paul supporters think they might change their mind, while the figure is about twice that for any other candidate list.

In other news, the Rasmussen poll of the other side shows Obama with a ten point lead over Clinton in Hew Hampshire.

That Darned Huckster....

From Reason Magazine's roundup of 2007's best videos.

IT'S ON!

The Ron Paul blimp is a go. It was just pledges before, now it's real money.

They needed to raise $200,000 by midnight tonight to have it in Boston in time for the Tea Party, and they just went over.


Update: Reuters has picked up the story.

This is just too funny....

Some wacky Ron Paul supporters thought it would be a good idea to get him a blimp. All they needed to do was raise $350,000 to rent the blimp for a month. They were at around $25,000 when I first stumbled on it a week or so ago.

Well, it seems that word has gotten out, and as I write this their website says:

$383,500 pledged as of 11:18 pm 11/27/07


I sure hope they're able to collect on enough of those pledges. It's got to be about the best campaign gimmick ever.

Support Ron. It's Important.

It's not often that we get a chance to vote for someone who might actually make a difference. Vote "NO" to the status quo, and give 'till it hurts. That money won't be worth anything in a couple years anyway.

Are you in your right mind?

Fascinating thing from the Daily Telegraph.

Click on the link, follow the instructions, and report back.










Apparently I'm pretty right headed. I tried to focus and make her change direction, but couldn't make it work.

Then I remembered studies that were discussed in a philosophy class I took twenty-something years ago wherein it was learned the brain may process information differently depending on which eye sees is. I think the experiment involved something like showing one eye a picture of a chicken and the other a shovel, then when asked what they say, they'd say chicken but point to the shovel. Something like that, anyway. Then the left brain, being in charge of language, would make up a lie about why the right brain was pointing at the shovel (to shovel up the chicken poop, or something). Something like that, anyway.

So I thought to myself that if I close one eye, maybe she'll spin the other way. But my eyes weren't that easily fooled. Still clockwise regardless of which eye I closed.

But then I looked away from the computer and when I did, I thought I saw something funny out of the corner of my eye. And sure enough I did. I repeated the experiment, and as soon as I'd turned my head far enough that the image passed from the field of view of my left eye, she changed directions.

But the even odder thing was that although no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get her to change directions while watching with both eyes, when she was turning counter-clockwise, it was easy to think her into turning clockwise again.

Brains sure are funny things.

R.I.P.

This picture was taken on Monday.



The vet gave him two to six months. He took a few more.

It's been a hard year.

When I let him out on Sunday, he lay down in the back yard and had a look in his eyes that said "I'm never getting up again."

There was a scene in Little Big Man where Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George) says "It is a good day to die" and lies down in the to die, but nothing happens. "Sometimes the magic works; sometimes it doesn't."

That time, it didn't.

And eventually he got up and came in the house.

But I knew it was time, and on Monday I called the vet and made an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. I took the day off work on Tuesday.

Tuesday was a very long day. He hadn't been eating much for the past couple weeks, and he hadn't eaten anything since Friday. But that didn't stop him from throwing up whatever was left in his stomach, nor did the fact that nothing was left in his stomach stop him. And it was strangely vocalized; it was a human sort of sound that I've never heard from a dog before.

On Sunday, I tried to pick him up and bring him into the house. He growled at me like he'd never growled at me before, and I put him down and let him be until he was ready to come in on his own. On Tuesday, when it was time, he didn't seem to care anymore. He didn't react at all when the vet stuck the needle in.

It was the hardest thing I ever did.