what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[calmloki]

I fixed the electric toothbrush, whose non-replaceable battery was failing.....

Also, I have it running on 3 V instead of 1.5, so now it's supercharged, and feels like the thing the dentist uses to clean your teeth.

Al Al Al. You're a wild man! So let me get this straight. Your long suffering bride goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth first thing in the morning and has to hold a set of double voltage batteries high in the air in her left hand, click her heels twice and stick her thumb in the charging socket, then advance on the only set of teeth she has left with the brush from hell screaming a berserker wail? and if her teeth stand up to the attack of bristles moving at 186,000 RPM she still is liable to have a new perm afterwards due to the intense EMF field generated by said brush?

Are you going to give her first try with said machine or would it be safer for you to try it out as she stands by with a 2x4 to knock you away from the high voltage lines?

 

[NW-Bound]

Also, I have it running on 3 V instead of 1.5, so now it's supercharged, and feels like the thing the dentist uses to clean your teeth.

Gee whiz! That THING can shake all your and DW's teeth loose.

 

[Nords]

all I can say is I am very envious....

Well, hey, I envy your location when... um, with the climate that... ah, every time that I... eh, never mind.

The fruit trees seem to have been on steroids this year.

I fixed the electric toothbrush, whose non-replaceable battery was failing.

I read that the inventors of that toothbrush motor were paid $400M (that's MMMMillion!) by Oral-B's parent corporation.

When our model died for the nth time, I noticed that the new models have a rounded bottom so that you can't stand them on end. Further [-]nuclear analysis[/-] research revealed that when the toothbrush is stored upright, water from the bristles seeps down into the casing around the motor shaft and corrodes the electronics. The mold on the inside of the casing was pretty impressive, too... your modification seems to neatly solve all those problems.

 

[TromboneAl]

and if her teeth stand up to the attack of bristles moving at 186,000 RPM

One problem is that when you switch it on, any toothpaste on the tip is flung around the room.

...when the toothbrush is stored upright, water from the bristles seeps down into the casing around the motor shaft and corrodes the electronics.

Exactly. I actually think that most of this happens when you're brushing. That is, if you brush with the base lower than the tip, the saliva/toothpaste mixture slips into the housing, aided by the oscillating shaft. It's a terrible design. I put bicycle grease around the shaft, but there was still a lot of rust in there.

 

[W2R]

One problem is that when you switch it on, any toothpaste on the tip is flung around the room.

Aw, be nice! You've had your fun - - now buy your wife a new toothbrush.

You can always use the old one if you'd rather but for someone like me, it sounds like a complete and utter nightmare, first thing in the morning.
Guys!

 

[bbbamI]

I think she should chase Al around the house with it...

 

[Bestwifeever]

I think you should put a toothbrush head on an electric screwdriver and see what happens.

 

[freebird5825]

I fixed the electric toothbrush, whose non-replaceable battery was failing. It's the simple things in life that you treasure (Galaxy Quest).

The funny thing is that it won't run unless you cycle the connection to the external batteries twice rapidly. It took me a lot of futzing and knocking to discover that.

DW will love that "feature."

Also, I have it running on 3 V instead of 1.5, so now it's supercharged, and feels like the thing the dentist uses to clean your teeth.

If DW is not impressed by your ingenuity, this supercharged toothbrush appears to be the PERFECT tool for cleaning your bicycle rims, i.e. removing cow plop from the spokes.

 

[freebird5825]

Went to lunch with a handsome man , picked up the winterized boat, and got our flu shots.
Oh....I almost forgot! dh2b is bringing home 6 lbs of bacon tonight.
My hero!
A recent fundraiser breakfast had low attendance, so they froze the unopened packages, thinking they would do an encore. That didn't happen, so they sold it off cheap ($2.00 per lb).
I'll be swimming in bacon!

 

[Trek]

I enjoyed the whole day with my wife and daughter on our second wedding anniversary.

 

[vicente solano]

I mostly worried about my impending dental surgery. The closer to the surgery date de less my teeth -true or false- bother me.

On a really serious and tragic note: I´ve spent some time brooding and pondering about the absurd death of a friend of my wife´s- got herself killed slipping and falling when in her bathtub. She was 40. 2 children 6 and 4.

I am a true believer that we are -as we say here in Spain- in God´s hands.

 

[harley]

Yesterday I got started by digging 133 holes to plant 400 daffodil bulbs. Took a walk in the neighborhood with DW, ran into a neighbor whose dryer vent had gotten badly blocked. Helped him get it unblocked (leaf blower and duct tape), and he gave us a container of home made MD crab soup for a reward. Ran a few errands, picked up 20 bags of mulch, fought with Discovercard over my reward points. Made some baked tilapia, wild rice, and vegetables to go with the crab soup. Relaxed and watched some Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes on DVD. An excellent day.

Edit: I didn't read your post before I posted Vincente. That's truly tragic. These things seem to happen all the time, with no rhyme or reason. As you say, we are all in God's hands.

 

[NW-Bound]

On a really serious and tragic note: I´ve spent some time brooding and pondering about the absurd death of a friend of my wife´s- got herself killed slipping and falling when in her bathtub. She was 40. 2 children 6 and 4.

Having seen sudden death or people with terminal illness, I have slowly learned to live in the present, and not fuss too much over long-term plans. People who are LBYM'ers tend to plan too far ahead and should learn to accept that life is full of surprises, and not always pleasant ones.

...he gave us a container of home made MD crab soup for a reward.

Please describe MD crab soup. The only one I know is asparagus crab soup. Talk about crab, I just came back from the dentist's office for a crown on a molar. I got a bad chip on one, due to chomping on a crab claw many many years ago. It developed a crack, but the fracture didn't fall off until recently. It is sad when you are getting old, and your body starts to deteriorate.

 

[freebird5825]

This should be a simple operation, but Murphy's Law is always alive and well.
dh2b is going to completely rebuild my laptop OS from full hard drive reformat to XP reinstallation. He is very computer savvy, so it should go well. Do I sound nervous?
He is reformatting the drive now. The threats against the hardware and colorful language are minimal so far.
He took pity on me and loaned me his laptop, which has Vista OS on it. Gag!!!! Yes, I am a techno-snob. I have viewed Vista as "shrink-wrapped beta-ware" from the day MS released it.
I prefer XP's HCI anyday.

 

[harley]

Please describe MD crab soup. The only one I know is asparagus crab soup.

Maryland crab soup is basically a beef broth and tomato based soup, like a standard vegetable soup, but with Blue crab meat, crab body parts, and Old Bay seasoning. Here's a recipe I've used in the past. Cooks.com - Recipe - Award Winning Maryland Crab Soup

We catch (or buy) some crabs, steam them up for dinner, and use the leftovers in the soup. In restaurants they don't usually throw the bodies in, but they are great to suck the juice and meat out of after cooking in the soup, as long as you don't worry about having any class.

Talk about crab, I just came back from the dentist's office for a crown on a molar. I got a bad chip on one, due to chomping on a crab claw many many years ago. It developed a crack, but the fracture didn't fall off until recently. It is sad when you are getting old, and your body starts to deteriorate.

Yeah, but it sure was fun creating the damage in your youth. “Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal.”

 

[NW-Bound]

Thanks for the recipe. Looks easy enough to try. Of course, the only hard part is to get some crab. I suspect substitution with meatier Dungeness crab would be approved.

Anyway, it's not Death's stealthy approach in the middle of the night that one minds so much. It's the blatant in-daylight assault, the in-your-face taunting and the menace as he encircles you while you wearily await your fate that one worries about.

Gee, it must be the dentist's Novocaine that induced the above flowery post.

 

[mickeyd]

I mowed the lawn this AM, hopefully for the last time this season. Love the smell of newly cut grass. Maybe I'll edge it tomorrow; don't want to get it all done in a day...

 

[TromboneAl]

Well, I was surprised to see the anchor was still there when I rode by it on Friday. I moved it off of the freeway land, and picked it up this morning. I'll put it on craigslist lost and found ("nautical item found -- you describe it") for a week, then sell it.

 

[calmloki]

Rosanne RoseannaDanna: it just goes to show, it's always something.

My newly minted rental manager took his wife & 5month old son back to see her Grandparents in Kansas - 1800 miles one way. Driving, because the pediatrician did a swine flu/airplane/baby scare on them. Left Friday evening, after we installed a new refrigerator replacement on a second story apartment. Will be gone till the third.

This morning he called to say he had received a plugged toilet call last night that had gone to cell voicemail while he was in a dead zone. I went over and ran a toilet snake w/out success. Started calling drain cleaners - most were closed, one guy who quoted $300 had about ten different names and numbers under plumbing - good gimmick if you are overpriced. Finally got a guy who would come out for $125/hour. Started to leave and a neighbor stopped me to give a heads up on suspected drug use by a tenant - after fronting the suspect she told me the laundry room was full of water. Uh-oh. Pulled the cleanout cover for the main sewer line, which relieved the pressure and drained the basement and sewer line of water and... stuff. oh goodie. Got to speak with said female tenant regarding the flushability of some stuff. namely it does flush, but forms a - never mind - one of those conversations I really don't enjoy having. Engaged in a bit of bio-hazard cleanup, then washed myself and repeated the mantra - I am a watertight system, I do clean, don't think... That line hasn't plugged up in over five years - ain't it the way! Serious hands-on with the investment.

 

[REWahoo]

This morning he called to say he had received a plugged toilet call last night that had gone to cell voicemail while he was in a dead zone. I went over and ran a toilet snake w/out success. Started calling drain cleaners - most were closed, one guy who quoted $300 had about ten different names and numbers under plumbing - good gimmick if you are overpriced. Finally got a guy who would come out for $125/hour. Started to leave and a neighbor stopped me to give a heads up on suspected drug use by a tenant - after fronting the suspect she told me the laundry room was full of water. Uh-oh. Pulled the cleanout cover for the main sewer line, which relieved the pressure and drained the basement and sewer line of water and... stuff. oh goodie. Got to speak with said female tenant regarding the flushability of some stuff. namely it does flush, but forms a - never mind - one of those conversations I really don't enjoy having. Engaged in a bit of bio-hazard cleanup, then washed myself and repeated the mantra - I am a watertight system, I do clean, don't think... That line hasn't plugged up in over five years - ain't it the way! Serious hands-on with the investment.

One more reminder why I decided to become a mutualfundlord rather than a landlord...

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, I was surprised to see the anchor was still there when I rode by it on Friday. I moved it off of the freeway land, and picked it up this morning. I'll put it on craigslist lost and found ("nautical item found -- you describe it") for a week, then sell it.

View attachment 7651

Funny I dropped mine while driving through the area. I was a bit lost (my GPS got a hiccup), and I did not even remember the freeway I took. However, I can recognize mine from the picture. Thanks for rescuing it for me. I am back in AZ now, and the shipping charge is a bit high. So, please go ahead and sell it, then send me the proceed. Please keep $10 for your trouble. Thanks.

 

[bbbamI]

Alternating between domestic duties, drinking tea on my patio and rolling around in my bathroom floors removing carpet tack strips. Pinch me, I must be dreaming...

 

[calmloki]

One more reminder why I decided to become a mutualfundlord rather than a landlord...

This after getting the property tax statements this morning. Using the tax man's "true cash value" the total value of the property went up 10.2% in '07, 9.4% in '08, and dropped 7.5% this statement. Property taxes went up 4.6% even though value went down. OTOH, we stay full, and the rent is sort of like dividends - except I'm mailing out a little rent bump Monday to take effect 12/1/2009. Can you make your mutal funds pay higher dividends? Then again, maybe I have to do a bit more to get them...

A good thing is that the new value is still 11.2% more than I show for property value in Quicken - I'm pessimistic. 'Course the tax man will take about a 25% cut when we sell, so if I can get the new manager to stick around and do as I do, maybe we'll just ride the rental dividend train.

 

[calmloki]

Alternating between domestic duties, drinking tea on my patio and rolling around in my bathroom floors removing carpet tack strips. Pinch me, I must be dreaming...

And glued down pad on the concrete? yuck - not as nice as removing from a wood subfloor...

 

[bbbamI]

And glued down pad on the concrete? yuck - not as nice as removing from a wood subfloor...

Fortunately the pad is not glued down. However, I'm stretching my 'limits' trying to get around the toilets. We're doing this so that we can save money when we have the new flooring put in. Ahhh, but it just so happens DH is on a bike trip and will be back a couple of days before the new stuff is put in. Soooooo....lucky me.