biodork Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Curse this house of mine. Today I was excited to finally replace my hot water heater, and after x-mas gifts from various folks was expecting to have all but around $90 covered. When the plumbers arrived they found the last installation was done shoddily, and new installation would require replacing a bit of the surrounding plumbing. Okay, no biggie. Then they checked the water pressure, and since it's around 100 psi vs the usual 30-60 they said I also needed a regulator valve and expansion tank to avoid problems dwn the line. (Explains why my TPR valve blew last year on a 5 1/2 yr old tank.) So now the total is $1316 instead of $661. Faaaaaaaack. :(
LastPommerFan Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Curse this house of mine. Today I was excited to finally replace my hot water heater, and after x-mas gifts from various folks was expecting to have all but around $90 covered. When the plumbers arrived they found the last installation was done shoddily, and new installation would require replacing a bit of the surrounding plumbing. Okay, no biggie. Then they checked the water pressure, and since it's around 100 psi vs the usual 30-60 they said I also needed a regulator valve and expansion tank to avoid problems dwn the line. (Explains why my TPR valve blew last year on a 5 1/2 yr old tank.) So now the total is $1316 instead of $661. Faaaaaaaack. :( Potential Silver Lining: See if they'll let you inject the high pressure fluid into the bedrock below your house and then run the furnace on the resulting gas. You could save a fortune. Terry could probably help you with the setup.
Buffalo Wings Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 I've had shingles. Twice. The second time I called my doctor and told him what I thought it was because it was similar to the first time and he told me it's impossible to get it a second time but that's what it turned out to be. I must have had mild cases both times because I would have described it as being "uncomfortable" and I'm no superhuman nor unusually resistant to pain. I'm 40. I got the first bout when I was about 33-34 years old (I'm 42 now)...mild, but it presented as a pain in my mid-back and the hive-looking things there around to my chest. I had chicken pox when I was about 5-6 years old, so I knew it was possible. The pain wasn't going away, so the doc recognized it as shingles right away and gave me a chalky horse pill that got rid of it. Luckily, it wasn't bad, but I was definitely very uncomfortable, bordering on bringing-me-to-tears pain. My complaint: Albany-area's weather has been messed up. A foot of snow a week ago, almost 60 degrees three days later, when that was "alleviated" by single-digit temps for two-plus days. My walkway and driveway could easily pass for the surface inside FNC and regular ice-melter won't work in these temps. I almost broke my leg this morning taking the dogs out and they have a hard time doing their business - imagine a shih-tzu's legs slipping out from underneath him as he's doing a #2. :huh:
biodork Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Potential Silver Lining: See if they'll let you inject the high pressure fluid into the bedrock below your house and then run the furnace on the resulting gas. You could save a fortune. Terry could probably help you with the setup. Lol Oh yeah; and the sump pump that wasn't working? Looks like it might've just been having problems because the exterior portion of the exit pipe froze, which would've been an easy fix except after running a couple days the motor might've burned out, requiring a $200-350 replacement. When it rains, it pours.
Assquatch Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Lol Oh yeah; and the sump pump that wasn't working? Looks like it might've just been having problems because the exterior portion of the exit pipe froze, which would've been an easy fix except after running a couple days the motor might've burned out, requiring a $200-350 replacement. When it rains, it pours. :( At least when it pours, it'll be nice to have a working sump pump!
biodork Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 :( At least when it pours, it'll be nice to have a working sump pump! Lol thanks; I needed that (both you and GCoE).
josie Posted January 9, 2014 Report Posted January 9, 2014 Update. These lovely chalky horse pills pretty much give me the stomach flu. I'm really wishing I hadn't eaten such a nice big lunch. The cure is worse than the itching.
biodork Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 colonoscopy prep. :sick: No fun! Hope all goes well for you tomorrow, cdx.
dEnnis the Menace Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 Girlfriend was put on call tonight at the hospital. Was hoping we'd get to spend the evening together and watch the game together. Nope. She just got called in 5 minutes ago. Blah.
biodork Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 I have what I can only assume was some "shrapnel" left from my tooth extraction more than 4 weeks ago that will not come out. This stupid litte piece of tooth (or jaw, not sure) is still partilly embedded in my gums, loose enough on one side that I can move it, but not enough to come out. I've tried the last few nights to grab it with tweezers and get it out, but the friggin' thing is stuck. Gross, irritating to my tongue, and highly annoying.
Eleven Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) I have what I can only assume was some "shrapnel" left from my tooth extraction more than 4 weeks ago that will not come out. This stupid litte piece of tooth (or jaw, not sure) is still partilly embedded in my gums, loose enough on one side that I can move it, but not enough to come out. I've tried the last few nights to grab it with tweezers and get it out, but the friggin' thing is stuck. Gross, irritating to my tongue, and highly annoying. Poor Bill! EDIT: Sorry, you, too. Edited January 10, 2014 by Eleven
biodork Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 Poor Bill! EDIT: Sorry, you, too. Lol :P He hasn't had to worry about it since he's been 1300+ miles away since before the extraction.
Ghost of Dwight Drane Posted January 10, 2014 Report Posted January 10, 2014 I'm just gonna help you out then and save you a post.....going from 100psi to <60 with that reduction valve may save you a hot water tank valve.....but may prove frustrating in other ways......
Buffalo Wings Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) Venting time... I've decided that my boss has swung & missed on his last two hires (not including me, of course!). My current colleague has no sense of when to shut up. I try to answer his questions when he needs them, but every time he's given a project, he starts asking me questions about how he should do it every time he has new information. I think I told him about 7,936 times "It's your project, you decide how you want to do it." Again, I don't mind answering questions about who to contact, how to get the ball rolling, or how we do things, but I don't need to be interrupted every 3 minutes when he has an idea. Dude...just do it. I can't tell you how many times I learned by just making a decision and rolling with it. Perhaps my expectations are too high. When I left working for NYS, I thought I'd run into less of the lazy and incompetent. Apparently, I was wrong. Edited January 16, 2014 by Buffalo Wings
FolignosJock Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 Venting time... I've decided that my boss has swung & missed on his last two hires (not including me, of course!). My current colleague has no sense of when to shut up. I try to answer his questions when he needs them, but every time he's given a project, he starts asking me questions about how he should do it every time he has new information. I think I told him about 7,936 times "It's your project, you decide how you want to do it." Again, I don't mind answering questions about who to contact, how to get the ball rolling, or how we do things, but I don't need to be interrupted every 3 minutes when he has an idea. Dude...just do it. I can't tell you how many times I learned by just making a decision and rolling with it. Bias for action! You should teach him about it
LGR4GM Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 I was the best man at a wedding last weekend. It was ridiculously over the top affair with the Brides mother being a control freak. The problem was the brides mother kept all the days plans and times to herself so no one ever knew what was going on. I spent 12 hours in flat out scramble mode trying to make up for her mistakes. Everything from losing a tuxedo, to losing a flash drive, to not helping with the set up of the flowers (she was her daughters florist). It was a nightmare. When I finally dragged myself into bed at 1:30am I was sore, tired, and a little pissed. All an all I am glad I was there for my friend but I feel completely taken advantage of and that my efforts went highly unnoticed. What really pissed me off was the oddest thing. Our gifts we got from the groom. As the best man I knew I was getting something and I wasn't expecting anything crazy. The other two guys open their gifts and they were very meaningful and thought out. Each one was something that was important to them. Mine... some ###### thing I don't give a rats ass about that has absolutely nothing to do with anything I have even the slightest interest in. It is wrong in my mind to even have this thought but it made me feel pretty terrible when I saw how thoughtful their gifts were and then I open mine and literally had to stop myself from saying WTF? I was the best man and have known this guy for 14 years... Also EVERYONE knows I am huge Sabres fan, EVERYONE! He got his buddies cufflinks that were very meaningful to them... mine some gimmicky generic things that mean nothing to me. Sorry. I am just really upset that I meant so little to this entire process even though he was very sincere when he asked me to be the best man. This rant probably sounds really bitter and I apologize but I just felt like I was an after thought and that hurt.
LastPommerFan Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 My laptop has to go in for service. I have been transitioning to the cloud for a while, and I decided to go whole hog and switch to a chromebook, which essentially forces you onto the cloud. So with the book down for a few weeks, I've transitioned to my Wife's old MacBook for a while: EVERYTHING SCROLLS ###### BACKWARDS!!!! what is this? some "we are not going to be held to anybody elses standards" gimmick? Mouse wheel down moves you down the page, right? Not on Mac! it's like learning how to drive all over again in a car that turns left when you rotate the wheel clockwise and has the gas and brake switched. It's complete bull ######.
Claude_Verret Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 Venting time... I've decided that my boss has swung & missed on his last two hires (not including me, of course!). My current colleague has no sense of when to shut up. I try to answer his questions when he needs them, but every time he's given a project, he starts asking me questions about how he should do it every time he has new information. I think I told him about 7,936 times "It's your project, you decide how you want to do it." Again, I don't mind answering questions about who to contact, how to get the ball rolling, or how we do things, but I don't need to be interrupted every 3 minutes when he has an idea. Dude...just do it. I can't tell you how many times I learned by just making a decision and rolling with it. Perhaps my expectations are too high. When I left working for NYS, I thought I'd run into less of the lazy and incompetent. Apparently, I was wrong. I've worked with people like this a lot in the past, very frustrating. There is one person in particular that if I'm ever put on a project with again it will be ultimatum time. I absolutely will quit before working with this person again on a daily basis. And not surprisingly, this same person who is virtually useless at what she was hired to do, has managed to thrive in a corporate bureaucracy that typically rewards lab/office political savvy over everything else. The flip side is the one who is indecisive but won't ask for help. I had a temp start for us a few years ago, I got him set up in the lab with a protocol he was very familiar with, showed him where everything was and went to a meeting. I come back an hour later and he is still sitting at the lab bench staring at the wall, he hadn't even started. One of the stock reagents I gave him wasn't at the same molarity that was called out in the protocol. So instead of looking for the correct solution, asking others for help or actually performing a simple calculation and adjusting the molarity himself, he just sat there paralyzed by his indecision. Needless to say he didn't last very long.
FolignosJock Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 My laptop has to go in for service. I have been transitioning to the cloud for a while, and I decided to go whole hog and switch to a chromebook, which essentially forces you onto the cloud. So with the book down for a few weeks, I've transitioned to my Wife's old MacBook for a while: EVERYTHING SCROLLS ###### BACKWARDS!!!! what is this? some "we are not going to be held to anybody elses standards" gimmick? Mouse wheel down moves you down the page, right? Not on Mac! it's like learning how to drive all over again in a car that turns left when you rotate the wheel clockwise and has the gas and brake switched. It's complete bull ######. doesnt it have a trackpad? just use two fingers down. Thats the thing i like most about mac is the smart trackpad
SwampD Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 My laptop has to go in for service. I have been transitioning to the cloud for a while, and I decided to go whole hog and switch to a chromebook, which essentially forces you onto the cloud. So with the book down for a few weeks, I've transitioned to my Wife's old MacBook for a while: EVERYTHING SCROLLS ###### BACKWARDS!!!! what is this? some "we are not going to be held to anybody elses standards" gimmick? Mouse wheel down moves you down the page, right? Not on Mac! it's like learning how to drive all over again in a car that turns left when you rotate the wheel clockwise and has the gas and brake switched. It's complete bull ######. What OS are you using? I'm guessing 10.7 or later. You can change that in preferences. They added that so when you use the two finger scroll it mimics using and iphone. I hate it as well.
Buffalo Wings Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) I've worked with people like this a lot in the past, very frustrating. There is one person in particular that if I'm ever put on a project with again it will be ultimatum time. I absolutely will quit before working with this person again on a daily basis. And not surprisingly, this same person who is virtually useless at what she was hired to do, has managed to thrive in a corporate bureaucracy that typically rewards lab/office political savvy over everything else. I learned quickly years ago that you learn best when you're thrown into the fire and almost forced to do things on your own. In your case, it's probably hard to do if she's useless. I really can't give an ultimatum, since there are three people in my group - my boss, him, and myself. I gave him some "homework" last week and told him I'd give him very little help and that he should run with everything. What happens? He starts asking me stuff and I felt compelled to answer. Next time, I'm telling him he gets no help and I won't answer any questions...not even about the weather. We're all techie geeks, but he's even more geekish than us. I like the stuff I work with, but it's not my life (hence my presence on this board). He starts talking to me about techie crap I don't care about and it makes me want to smack him. Dude...shut up, get some work done, and let me get some work done at the same time. At least today, I get to hide in our lab for a few hours and have a legit reason for doing so. EDIT: Just yesterday, a system admin job opened up and was posted, which is stuff that this guy is clearly better at. I...um...happened to mention that they were refilling that job. He went to look at it (with me hoping he'd apply for it), but then said he knows a few people who would be interested. :wallbash: Edited January 16, 2014 by Buffalo Wings
MattPie Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 I really can't give an ultimatum, since there are three people in my group - my boss, him, and myself. I gave him some "homework" last week and told him I'd give him very little help and that he should run with everything. What happens? He starts asking me stuff and I felt compelled to answer. Next time, I'm telling him he gets no help and I won't answer any questions...not even about the weather. We're all techie geeks, but he's even more geekish than us. I like the stuff I work with, but it's not my life (hence my presence on this board). He starts talking to me about techie crap I don't care about and it makes me want to smack him. Dude...shut up, get some work done, and let me get some work done at the same time. At least today, I get to hide in our lab for a few hours and have a legit reason for doing so. My first day at my current job (many moons ago), my boss gave me a computer (SGI O2, which I'd never seen before and never used the OS IRIX), and said, "this is your workstation, install it and let me know if you have any questions". Took me a couple days, but I learned a lot. The only question I still have is whether he purposely gave me one with a memory issue that kept crashing. :) Complaint: Mission statements. If there's a more frivolous corporate fluff-turd, I don't know what it is.
Samson's Flow Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 Small complaint today - I left both my wallet and watch at home this morning in my rush not be late. It's very disorienting not having means to pay for things/ID/etc. The way this morning went i'm surprised I remembered to put on pants... :doh:
nfreeman Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) I was the best man at a wedding last weekend. It was ridiculously over the top affair with the Brides mother being a control freak. The problem was the brides mother kept all the days plans and times to herself so no one ever knew what was going on. I spent 12 hours in flat out scramble mode trying to make up for her mistakes. Everything from losing a tuxedo, to losing a flash drive, to not helping with the set up of the flowers (she was her daughters florist). It was a nightmare. When I finally dragged myself into bed at 1:30am I was sore, tired, and a little pissed. All an all I am glad I was there for my friend but I feel completely taken advantage of and that my efforts went highly unnoticed. What really pissed me off was the oddest thing. Our gifts we got from the groom. As the best man I knew I was getting something and I wasn't expecting anything crazy. The other two guys open their gifts and they were very meaningful and thought out. Each one was something that was important to them. Mine... some ###### thing I don't give a rats ass about that has absolutely nothing to do with anything I have even the slightest interest in. It is wrong in my mind to even have this thought but it made me feel pretty terrible when I saw how thoughtful their gifts were and then I open mine and literally had to stop myself from saying WTF? I was the best man and have known this guy for 14 years... Also EVERYONE knows I am huge Sabres fan, EVERYONE! He got his buddies cufflinks that were very meaningful to them... mine some gimmicky generic things that mean nothing to me. Sorry. I am just really upset that I meant so little to this entire process even though he was very sincere when he asked me to be the best man. This rant probably sounds really bitter and I apologize but I just felt like I was an after thought and that hurt. Both of those items sound pretty annoying. I will say, though, that you got the best gift: the honor of being your friend's best man. That is a pretty big deal. Your friend and his wife (assuming they stay married) will, for the rest of their lives, remember that day as one of the biggest days of their lives -- and they wanted you to be a big part of it. That is much better, IMHO, than a pair of cuff links that will probably not get used much and eventually get lost. Plus there was probably booze, food, a good party, young ladies in cocktail dresses, etc. My laptop has to go in for service. I have been transitioning to the cloud for a while, and I decided to go whole hog and switch to a chromebook, which essentially forces you onto the cloud. So with the book down for a few weeks, I've transitioned to my Wife's old MacBook for a while: EVERYTHING SCROLLS ###### BACKWARDS!!!! what is this? some "we are not going to be held to anybody elses standards" gimmick? Mouse wheel down moves you down the page, right? Not on Mac! it's like learning how to drive all over again in a car that turns left when you rotate the wheel clockwise and has the gas and brake switched. It's complete bull ######. Those Apple dudes are pretty pleased with themselves, innit? Edited January 16, 2014 by nfreeman
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