What is your pet peeve of the day? -- 2021

[Nemo2]

it smells like a Syrian gas attack.

I know what you mean....too many shawarmas will do it every time.

 

[ls99]

or Giros

 

[GalaxyBoy]

This originated in Cleveland on Feb 12th and sat there through the holiday weekend, leaving Cleveland on Feb 15th. Today is Feb 20th and there is no additional tracking, it's just "In transit to the next facility."

Could this be a bogus tracking number showing up in our informed delivery? Or is something REALLY IMPORTANT on our way to us.

We still have no clue as to what this could be!

Something similar happened to me a couple of weeks before Christmas. It eventually arrived and it was a tin of homemade cookies from Dear Nephew. Rock-hard by the time it arrived, but I sent my humble thanks and didn't let on that they were so stale. I did suggest to him that he ask USPS for a refund on his 2-day priority mail.

 

[USGrant1962]

You're ahead of your time. A good case can be made that burning plastics to generate electricity is easier to do and less polluting than trying to recycle the stuff.

There were a bunch of waste-to-energy incinerators built around the 1970s-1980s. But when plastics were diverted to recycling the BTU load of household garbage became uneconomical and few survived. It would probably have been better to recover energy from these petroleum products than shamcycling them.

 

[CardsFan]

There were a bunch of waste-to-energy incinerators built around the 1970s-1980s. But when plastics were diverted to recycling the BTU load of household garbage became uneconomical and few survived. It would probably have been better to recover energy from these petroleum products than shamcycling them.

While I agree with you in general, there were some other technical problems with plastics being burned. Primarily the acid vapor produced (HCl) was very corrosive.

I think we have the technology now to get past that, but "shamcyling" as you call it (with a lot of credence), is now the "thing" to do. And, of course, burning anything is now against the green agenda.

 

[JoeWras]

Oh, and I have always been a little bothered with the "occupation" field on the death cert. Kinda sad that your entire life (and death) revolves around an occupation. I understand it's for stats/etc but it still bugs me.

My grandparents ran a tavern. During Prohibition, they converted it to a [-]speakeasy[/-] grocery story. After a few years of feeding the neighborhood during the Great Depression, they went back to running a tavern until they retired in the late 50s. Given that the Chicago mob required the speakeasy (not joking!), they really were in the tavern business for 40+ years.

Dad marked my grandmother's profession as "Grocer". Good for him. After all, with that profession she literally saved lives during the rough times. She deserved that over "bartender" or some other nonsense.

 

[steelyman]

My grandparents ran a tavern. During Prohibition, they converted it to a [-]speakeasy[/-] grocery story. After a few years of feeding the neighborhood during the Great Depression, they went back to running a tavern until they retired in the late 50s. Given that the Chicago mob required the speakeasy (not joking!), they really were in the tavern business for 40+ years.

Dad marked my grandmother's profession as "Grocer". Good for him. After all, with that profession she literally saved lives during the rough times. She deserved that over "bartender" or some other nonsense.

This reminded me of something that has nothing to do with pet peeves. After Prohibition, Chicago liquor license #1 went to The Berghoff restaurant down in the Loop. It’s still there and a great place to visit and eat. Very historic and close to the Art Institute.

 

[Chuckanut]

My grandparents ran a tavern. During Prohibition, they converted it to a [-]speakeasy[/-] grocery story. After a few years of feeding the neighborhood during the Great Depression, they went back to running a tavern until they retired in the late 50s. Given that the Chicago mob required the speakeasy (not joking!), they really were in the tavern business for 40+ years.

Dad marked my grandmother's profession as "Grocer". Good for him. After all, with that profession she literally saved lives during the rough times. She deserved that over "bartender" or some other nonsense.

My grandparents ran a grocery store. Among their other past times was a numbers racket (today these are run by the government and called 'State Lotteries'), and they made wine in the basement during Prohibition. Just for the family and sacramental purposes, you understand.

And, if any of you guys spill the beans, my cousin Vinny Antonelli will have a talk with you.

 

[Sue J]

Something similar happened to me a couple of weeks before Christmas. It eventually arrived and it was a tin of homemade cookies from Dear Nephew. Rock-hard by the time it arrived, but I sent my humble thanks and didn't let on that they were so stale. I did suggest to him that he ask USPS for a refund on his 2-day priority mail.

Oh, cookies would be nice. But this is Certified Mail, which sounds like it's serious and important. We're at Day 9 and it's still - "Your package is moving within the USPS network and is on track to be delivered to its final destination. It is currently in transit to the next facility."

 

[JoeWras]

My grandparents ran a grocery store. Among their other past times was a numbers racket (today these are run by the government and called 'State Lotteries'), and they made wine in the basement during Prohibition. Just for the family and sacramental purposes, you understand.

And, if any of you guys spill the beans, my cousin Vinny Antonelli will have a talk with you.

Chuckanut! You must be a cousin of mine! According to dad, my uncle ran a dice game in the old space that was the speakeasy after they went back to a tavern.

My grandad died of liver problems, likely due to the wine he made in the basement and his fondness for the sacrament (good Catholic family, ya know).

Geez, the more I write about this, the more I'm wondering about my family.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Oh, cookies would be nice. But this is Certified Mail, which sounds like it's serious and important. We're at Day 9 and it's still - "Your package is moving within the USPS network and is on track to be delivered to its final destination. It is currently in transit to the next facility."

At least the sender, whomever that is, won't be able to claim you got it.

Lots of this going on these days. Whenever I order anything I'm anxious about whether it will take two days or two weeks.

 

[ncbill]

+1

Personally, I much prefer the Cardassians to the Kardashians.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Well, my "Next Day Air" UPS package showed up on day 8 (or 9?). I watched the driver drop it out of the truck (I assume inadvertently) while trying to get out of the truck with multiple packages. When he handed it to me, the box was ripped open and looked like it was driven over by a steamroller. I looked at the driver (I had to sign for it...which is another complaint...for the last 5 days, I have had to be available from 10a-9p to sign) and asked, "seriously?"...to which he just looked at me. Anyway, as expected, the item doesn't work. Oye, oye, oye.

 

[Boho]

When they turn the valves in my building and the water comes out brown for hours. Or even when I turn the valves under my sink after years of not turning them. Even when the water finally looks clean it's still flowing through those dirty valves. I was thinking about me not being able to clean out or repair valves in my apartment because the water has to be turned off first by the super, then I was thinking that material science is all that's preventing a better solution. If there was a section of pipe made of a rubber-like material that could be externally clamped shut, then it could replace a valve and not accumulate contaminates.

 

[Boho]

OK, now for electricity. Sometimes it's hard to pack wires with wire nuts in the little area they belong. The plastic part of wire nuts can be replaced by electrical tape after they're screwed in. Make the plastic break away when not needed. I don't think you need the plastic at all if you use pliers to hold the little metal insert. I thought I had a lot of excess wire in my light fixture so I trimmed some, but then I couldn't stagger the wire nuts and it was very hard to fit them in the area they belong.

(the electrical code would have to be changed to allow this)

 

[aja8888]

Geez, the more I write about this, the more I'm wondering about my family.

We must be cousins too.

 

[Time2]

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

I have an Indiana to Florida order, supposed to have arrived on the 13th.
Latest update says it left Converse Indiana and is in Indianapolis.
Last USPS update was on Feb 10th.

I went to the post office this morning asking if they could give me any information about my package. All they could tell me was that it was loaded in a container in Indiana to be shipped to Pensacola Fl. That was on the 14th, seven days ago. Said probably a weather delay. I'll keep waiting, but it is a limited availability item, so I'm really hoping it is not lost, I don't want to try to find another because I know the price will be at least double.

 

[travelover]

When they turn the valves in my building and the water comes out brown for hours. Or even when I turn the valves under my sink after years of not turning them. Even when the water finally looks clean it's still flowing through those dirty valves. I was thinking about me not being able to clean out or repair valves in my apartment because the water has to be turned off first by the super, then I was thinking that material science is all that's preventing a better solution. If there was a section of pipe made of a rubber-like material that could be externally clamped shut, then it could replace a valve and not accumulate contaminates.

It is not just the valves. I think you'd be shocked if you saw what the inside of a fresh water pipe looks like.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

OK, now for electricity. Sometimes it's hard to pack wires with wire nuts in the little area they belong. The plastic part of wire nuts can be replaced by electrical tape after they're screwed in. Make the plastic break away when not needed. I don't think you need the plastic at all if you use pliers to hold the little metal insert. I thought I had a lot of excess wire in my light fixture so I trimmed some, but then I couldn't stagger the wire nuts and it was very hard to fit them in the area they belong.

(the electrical code would have to be changed to allow this)

That is an interesting way of saying that you are violating the electrical code!

Buy an extender box. It gives you more volume, allowing you to legally and safely make the required connections. Electrical tape is not a substitute!

 

[Walt34]

That is an interesting way of saying that you are violating the electrical code!

One interesting way to think of the electrical codes, plumbing codes, building codes, etc. is to consider the history of them and why they exist. For every single one of those mysterious "pain-in-the-butt" rules in the code, a bunch of people died.

That's why those codes are there.

 

[Boho]

Now I'm thinking my idea isn't necessarily noncompliant. I read that NEC 110.14(B) says "All splices and joints and the free ends of conductors shall be covered with an insulation equivalent to that of the conductors or with an insulating device identified for the purpose." The right heat shrink tubing would work, I think.

A commenter wrote:

Not only is soldering allowed by code, but since wire nuts count as part of "box-fill" it can be a way to allow more wires in a device box of a given volume that would otherwise be permitted. Planning to avoid the need to do this is of course preferred, but it's worth knowing about.

The main reason soldering is no longer in general use is simply that it takes many, many times longer to solder a connection (and then insulate it) than it does to use a wire nut, which both connects and covers the bare wires in a single operation. At your electrician's hourly rate it would likely double the cost of a job.

Maybe I could treat the plastic part of wire nuts as insulation and the bare conductive metal part as a stand-alone compliant connection, making my invention of wire nuts with break-away grips compliant if the right heat shrink tubing is used..

 

[doneat54]

Heat shrink tubing will not come close to the mechanical/barrier penetrability of a hard plastic wire nut casing. I have done many of those jobs, and used the hand end of a hammer handle to "crush" those connections into the box, only after I have given each a twist and tug test. If just heat shrink tubing, it will break down under the pressure in ways the nut plastic never would, and create a short. Bad idea IMO. Just expand the box if you have too many connections going on....

 

[ERD50]

OK, now for electricity. Sometimes it's hard to pack wires with wire nuts in the little area they belong. ... I thought I had a lot of excess wire in my light fixture so I trimmed some, but then I couldn't stagger the wire nuts and it was very hard to fit them in the area they belong. ...)

That is an interesting way of saying that you are violating the electrical code!

Buy an extender box. It gives you more volume, allowing you to legally and safely make the required connections. Electrical tape is not a substitute!

One interesting way to think of the electrical codes, plumbing codes, building codes, etc. is to consider the history of them and why they exist. For every single one of those mysterious "pain-in-the-butt" rules in the code, a bunch of people died.

That's why those codes are there.

And trimming the wires is probably a code violation. IIRC, there needs to be enough to be able to pull things out of the box for checking, or maybe that allows for a pigtail if anything needs to be added or changed later.

found this:

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/working-length-of-wire.24766/

The NEC (300.14) requires at least 6" of free conductor, measured from the point where the conductor emerges from the cable sheath or raceway, and also the conductors must extend at least 3" from the opening in the box, if any dimension of the opening is less than 8". Note that the 6" is not measured from the front of the box.

-ERD50

 

[Boho]

And trimming the wires is probably a code violation

I'd never trim what's running through the wall of my apartment. I just trimmed some of the long wires that came with the fixture.

 

[mountainsoft]

Sometimes it's hard to pack wires with wire nuts in the little area they belong. The plastic part of wire nuts can be replaced by electrical tape after they're screwed in. Make the plastic break away when not needed. I don't think you need the plastic at all if you use pliers to hold the little metal insert. I thought I had a lot of excess wire in my light fixture so I trimmed some, but then I couldn't stagger the wire nuts and it was very hard to fit them in the area they belong.

Most of the wire nuts I have used have something similar to a metal spring inside them. Without the plastic shell, I don't know they would retain their shape for a secure connection. Even if yours are one piece, the sharp metal edges could easily cut through tape or heat shrink tubing.

Soldering and heat shrinking would take way too much time, and would make future service much more difficult. Not to mention, heating up two or three 12 gauge wires enough to get solder to flow would potentially damage the insulation. You also risk a "cold" joint which would be a failure point best case, but could be a fire risk if it builds up resistance and overheats.

Electrical boxes have "fill requirements", which are based on the number of wires coming in the box, not the connectors. As long as the box isn't overfilled, I've never had an issue stuffing wires and wire nuts behind an outlet or switch. If you take the time to kind of "coil" the wires in the back of the box, you can fit a lot more than just stuffing them in willy-nilly.

If you're installing a switch or outlet, you could shop around to see if you could find shallower devices to give you more room in the box. While it's not a practice I encourage, you can also "daisy chain" through the outlet itself (connecting incoming wires to two screws, and outgoing wires to the other screws. This would allow you to eliminate two wire nuts in the box.

Try to leave at least six inches of wire in the box. It not only gives you room to pull the fixture out and work on it, but it's not uncommon for wires to break when replacing a fixture. This lets you trim off the ends of damaged wires if needed when replacing a fixture.

If you absolutely need more room in the box, it's best to replace the box with a deeper box with more capacity. Or replace the single gang box with a double-gang. They even make single gang boxes that are double sized inside the wall. Or add a second box for the device and use the existing box only as a junction box (with a blank cover).

There are many ways of handling situations like that without resorting to questionable (even if code legal) alternatives.

Of course, if you're hanging a light fixture and it has 36 inches of extra wire, yes, you can cut that back as needed. They usually provide extra wire to accommodate different hanging heights.