A Fool's Goat (April 2023 scapegoat blame thread)

@Kidsandliz So, no useful water, and no trash pickup. Is anyone running a pool on when they’ll turn the fire department into a by-subscription service? That would seem to be the next logical step.

@Kidsandliz @werehatrack “Nice business ya got here - be a real shame if it burned down…”

@werehatrack You are presuming 911 will even pick up so the fire department will be notified there is a fire. I think you presume too much.

@macromeh @werehatrack update - the city counsel met again today and at least had enough people there to vote this time around. There was no resolution about a contract for trash pickup. It was suggested by someone that we deliver our garbage/trash to the mayor’s and city counsels’ houses (in the case of the mayor, throw it over the gated community fence). The mayor said to double bag the trash so it doesn’t smell as much. Is he going to provide the bags??? Someone else said that it isn’t going to smell any worse than the sewers that have been flowing down some yards and streets for months and, in some cases, years. One might mistake what is going on in this city for a late night TV skit.

@Kidsandliz I’m trying to decide if the mayor is actually really awesome for playing along with it like that, (“okay, but at least double-bag it, please”) — or if that was just more thumbing their nose at us the residents.

But given the apparent status of the rest of the city, maybe it doesn’t matter how cool the mayor is. If sewers don’t work right, and the water doesn’t work right, and now the garbage collection doesn’t work right…

HIKING! VIKINGS! STRIKE KING [BRAND FISHING LURES]! AWESOME!

@xobzoo And you forgot our proud accomplishment of having the most murders per capita in the nation not to mention 911 often doesn’t get answered and if it does just as often no one shows up. I don’t think the mayor gives a damn about anyone other than himself and the future broader scale political career he hopes to have. Of course his inability to govern, solve problems, accomplish anything without federal and state intervention is not going to help his case. This bone head never even would have been elected if it wasn’t for who his daddy was. Of course when the state supreme court ruled ruled against him when he over ruled the original city counsel vote for whom to hire for trash pick up I am guessing that dictator is his preferred title.

@OldCatLady its probably a GFCI. Somehow the cats tripped one the other day. I heard a loud buzz but it stopped and I ran and checked. Nothing on.

Several hours later I noticed half the kitchen was out and throwing the breakers did not work. I honestly don’t know how they did it. I just know it’s somehow their fault.

@OldCatLady @unksol I have a strange problem with a GFCI in my garage. I have a shop vac that (apparently) has some weirdness on startup. If I plug directly into the GFCI outlet and start it up, it trips the GFCI (but not the breaker). But if I plug it into a different outlet that is downstream of the GFCI on the same circuit, it does not trip. And using the vac with a totally separate GFCI circuit does not trip. At some point I will just replace the GFCI outlet with a new one, but I don’t understand the failure mode.

@macromeh sounds like it’s overly sensitive/a tiny bit off. They work by monitoring current, and any length of wire increases resistance. Not much. But V=IR
So theoretically its behavior could change just a tiny bit by running an extension cord/down stream outlet.

I would replace it. Or you know you could swap two. Is you wanted to help isolate the issue

@werehatrack Did he at least keep the big hat?

@macromeh Yep. As of today, he is officially all hat and no cattle, and a goat roper to boot.

@macromeh @werehatrack I feel like I would like to get to a cow or three if it could be supported/the math made sense. But it probably doesn’t. IDK that I could even handle chickens on top of the cats. Still haven’t built the bee hives… Best laid plans

@werehatrack When I started reading the story, I thought maybe the cattle went away in a bad way, but by they way you’re happy, I’m supposing they were all traded to someone else for an appropriate sum of money?

(I mean, all the cows being eaten by a dragon could still be positive since they’re no longer a burden on the rancher, but selling the cows is a much better way to reach that end.)

@werehatrack @xobzoo I doubt it was a dragon. But we only have cows for meat and milk. I would guess meat since he said cattle. So… It’s probably a deceased/soon to be deceased cow.

@unksol @werehatrack @xobzoo
(Trying to picture unksol’s house with 20 cats, 3 cows and some chickens in residence…)

@macromeh @werehatrack @xobzoo I mean the cow/s would be out side. :p. Also when I had these thoughts the cats did not exist.

The part where things get interesting would be the chicks. They need to be inside for a bit each spring. There is space. But the cats have the run of the place. However there is a room just missing doors in the basement. So doable.

Realistically need to find a crazy woman. At minimum that can deal with the cat issue before adding to the problem. Or. I guess. Totally give up.

I do have 12 acres. Not a ton but some space. Previous owners had some horses. So. There’s some space to work with.

@unksol @werehatrack @xobzoo When my wife buys new chicks she keeps them in a standalone wire cage in the barn. She hangs a heat lamp over the cage to keep them warm. Once they are big enough, she introduces them into the gen-pop inmates in the main barracks.

@macromeh @werehatrack @xobzoo yea. A barn/out building is down the road. There is a rotting/collapsing horse stall. Where something could be built maybe. Id like to put in a pond. Lots of partial plans. Probably need the better half to make them work. So I should figure out that first I guess. Lol

@unksol @werehatrack @xobzoo Yeah, when it comes to the garden and livestock my wife is the (South Dakota) farm girl who runs the operations - I’m mostly just the labor. (Although I guess I have learned a few things in the last 33 years.)

@macromeh @werehatrack @xobzoo I dated a South Dakota girl. She was pretty awesome. Sounds like you got lucky and should go tell her lol

DIPLOMAT! RAT-A-TAT! FAT CAT! AWESOME!

@unksol @werehatrack @xobzoo
Oh ja, doncha know.

@katbyter Well that is a really sad story. One doesn’t expect the 4H club to run an event to murder pet goats.

@katbyter @Kidsandliz My recollection is that most 4-H livestock activities assume that the animal is just livestock. And in rural communities, there may be a more general understanding of this to make it unnecessary to be explicit about that. But with an increasing number of people moving to rural areas with urban sensibilities, that’s not a valid assumption. And particularly with goats, it’s hardly surprising that the animal ends up being a pet, even if that wasn’t the original intent. The little buggers can be Insidious that way. Even if you thought you were buying a potential batch of cabrito, you might end up with a permanent prankster that keeps part of your lawn mowed and smelly.

Still, that’s no reason for the cops to have done what they did, and more important, whoever issued that order needs to have a serious amount of application of the clue by four on the topic of due process.

@katbyter @Kidsandliz @werehatrack Wow, absolutely a messed-up story all ’round.

When I was in 4-H, it was well known that the livestock would be auctioned off. However, that auctioning part wasn’t mandatory, just generally expected. (after all, that was kinda the whole point of the summer project…) A few would keep their animal between years as a breeding project (distinct from the others), but that was a minority.

Some differences:

• we weren’t required to auction off the animal
• we had to actually be present to show the animal during the auction (complete with auctioneer and everything)
• umm… I thought I had another one, but apparently not

So in that situation it wouldn’t have been possible (or at least not legal) for the goat to have been auctioned off without the 4-H kid’s express knowledge and consent.
But no one in our county did goats; just cows, pigs, and sheep. (I guess there were also rabbits, poultry, and horses, but those weren’t part of the livestock auction because those were specifically long-term care projects.)

So, to reiterate, I’m surprised that the nature of the auction wasn’t clearer to the participants before-hand, but it’s understandable if the rural area has been filled with urbanites.
And whoever thought it appropriate to use police to steal and destroy an intended pet needs something much more painful than just a strongly-worded letter. In fact, if they don’t have sufficient proof that they got the right goat, and they’ve already slaughtered it, doesn’t that count as destruction of evidence? It’s also like executing someone before there’s even been a trial.

I am sad for girl who lost her goat; I’m disappointed in a system where that kind of misunderstanding could happen in the first place; but I am supremely angry at how the Shasta Fair Association decided to proceed.

@katbyter @Kidsandliz @werehatrack @xobzoo I mean. It’s 4H. it’s for farming. You know what is going to happen to to the animals you sell. That is litterally part of it. She sold her goat. It would be extremely weird if cops came to pick it up/they didn’t let her withdraw it though.

Never mind this bit
“The highest bid, $902, was placed by California state Sen. Brian Dahle, according to the lawsuit.”

I think that article could be missing some info. They can’t just steal your animal because you put it in an auction. But if someone bought it they own it and instead of selling it back to you they could be a dick and have cops seize their property. Did they really not try and buy it back? Or just ask him? Either they didn’t ask or he’s a massive… Well you know.

They could have just bid on it. There were ways

@katbyter @Kidsandliz @unksol @werehatrack
Well, this part of the article explains a little:

In the suit, Long said she reached out to Dahle to explain the situation and request that he forgo any rights to the goat.

In response, the lawsuit said, “Senator Dahle’s representatives informed her that he would not resist her efforts to save Cedar from slaughter.”

On June 27, Long made a written offer to pay to resolve the matter involving the goat, a request that the Shasta Fair Association rejected, the lawsuit said.

That’s a bit a lot non-committal on the representative’s part… but at least he sounds pretty reasonable. (could just be for PR, though)

But yes, it sounds like they did try to buy it back. Of course, lots of details are missing from the story, so we have no idea what the actual offer was like or anything. We also don’t know how/why they weren’t allowed to withdraw from the auction before it was finished. (stupid rules? stupid bureaucrats? stupid jerks? confused 4-H-ers? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

And then the Fair Association apparently/allegedly over-reacted or mis-reacted and responded all weirdly. So far as I can tell, they were never an owner of the goat, but they took it upon themselves to bypass the [annoyingly slow] “due process of law” (that everyone else is expected to follow) in an attempt to reclaim the property.

But somehow they managed to get a judge to sign a warrant for the goat. Lots of details missing there. Was the judge bought off, or didn’t understand the situation, or hates little kids with goats? I hope and suspect not, but we don’t know what really happened. The whole situation — at least the version we get from the article — is weird.

In fact, the auction style is never explained, so my 1st pass through the story was even more confusing when I was thinking about an auction with an auctioneer present. It seems more likely that it was actually a silent auction, probably spanning multiple days.
I need to add “annoyed at the lack of useful details in the article” to my list of emotions related to this.

@katbyter @Kidsandliz @werehatrack @xobzoo yeah the whole thing sounds very weird. It doesn’t change the point of 4H… I guess since someone could have been set on making that point but that seems excessive

@Kyeh

… on a happier goat note …

Would that be a gnote?

@xobzoo Gnice!

@Kyeh Any idea what name was given to the goat (the 4-footed one)?

@phendrick I haven’t heard.

@phendrick I’m surprised no one suggested Goaty McGoatface.

@Lynnerizer Awww, bummer.

@Lynnerizer Yeah, those mehrathons mess with my mind too. I have also blown meh clicks after those. But I think most of my misses have come when I was staring at something I was close to buying, but put off deciding.

@Lynnerizer so how many did you have before it ran away with the goat?

@Lynnerizer come back to the light side. Give up the clicks. Let it flow through you. You must let the dark side go

@macromeh seems older dental work is much more durable than recent work. Not sure what has changed but newer stuff doesn’t last.

@macromeh I’ve been going through getting crowns put on my two farthest back lower left teeth. The first pair of crowns the dentist tried to put on, the lab evidently made wrong so he gave up on them and I’m getting new ones in a couple of weeks. So this will be my fourth dental session for them - not fun. I hope you have better luck with yours!

@Kyeh No fun indeed! You have my sympathy/commiseration. (And crowns are not cheap, either.)
I have several crowns that were installed in the 80’s (including the one that just failed). They have been trouble-free up until now - I hope I don’t have similar problems with the others going forward.

@macromeh I hope not either! I guess they do wear down over time.

Also Charliedoggo wanted me to point out that you can see the edge of the welcome mat that has hearts and doggie treats on it! He says it means doggie treats are required for entry!

@tinamarie1974 So beautiful! Is it a robin’s eggs?
And what a perfect doormat .

@Kyeh I believe it is a house finch! Ive tried to sneak a peek or two from inside - screen is locked but I look through the glass. Momma bird was not pleased! Ill need to try to see when she flies away to forrage.

Here is some info on the house finch

https://www.sialis.org/hofibio.htm

@tinamarie1974 Oh, that looks exactly like yours - there’s even another photo of a nest in a wreath, so it’s obviously something they like to do. How wonderful. Finches have such pretty songs, too!

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 That’s always so nice when you can see birds grow up. Every year a robin would build a nest over my parent’s front door. We’d get dive bombed coming in and out. Once the birds left the nest they’d hang in the bushes around the front porch for about a week and then take off. It was so cool to watch every year.

Once mama was trying to knock the last hold out out of the next (he was the biggest one of the lot too). He was refusing so I finally went over, after two days of this, and gently picked him up, rested him on my hand and gently pulled my hand out from under him by tossing him up a couple of inches. He flew to the porch railing nearby. After about another hour he joined his family in the bushes (I was sitting on the porch swing watching him). Mom did not dive bomb me as I was doing this which surprised me.

@Kyeh they are quite the songbirds! Every morning around seven I hear them outside my bedroom window

@tinamarie1974 Hope they are more active than Princess. Not complaining after Snowflake mind you but we have no idea what drives this bird’s actions. Today was our 2 month anniversary and we know as little about her as we knew when we got her. Doesn’t like or want to be petted, only rarely will get on our hand, comes out of the cage daily, but not for any length of time, doesn’t like to play with toys, eats at weird times, might say “I love you” but can’t be sure and makes strange and different noises for no reason at all. Only thing that is consistent is that every 3 or 4 days she goes to take a bath in her water dish and then we spray her when we see her in her dish and she then holds out her wings when we spray her so she must like us doing that to her.

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 That’s too bad since Walter had so much personality; maybe she’s still getting used to being in a new place?

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 Well the vet said it could take up to a year for her to get used to us and we remember that Walter’s actions were a function of how we treated him since we got Walter when he was 10 weeks old. At least she is friendly, doesn’t get scared when we put our hands close to her and doesn’t react badly to loud noises and such-very calm bird.

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 That’s good! She’s had to change homes twice now so she might not trust that she’s really staying put this time.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 I bet if she’s getting the attention she wants she’ll adjust. Thank god the cats can’t actually talk. I think? They aren’t big on mewing anyway but… I imagine if they could speak it would be deafening…

But it took the kittens some time to start getting comfortable. And they have examples/friends/were young.

A smart bird can figure it out I hope. Makes sense she would be little cautious

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Her cage has a prime spot in the great room looking out on the golf course where we can see her and she can see us so we can react to all her activity or lack thereof and every time we walk past the cage we talk to her so I don’t think lack of attention is her problem.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Our two cats are usually pretty quiet, except at fooding time when they become very vocal. Especially now that we have them on a diet in an effort to slim them down a bit. (They are almost 7 now and have gotten quite chonky.)
I can only imagine what it would be like with 20 cats as noisy as ours get when they’re hangry.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 they don’t actually say much. The “noise” is just them running around crashing/climbing/bouncing off of/destroying shit. And they tend to do it in my vincinity for some reason. So. You might hear me yell at them “can you all just fucking stop” etc. When I’m trying to reboot the network cause I have to get back to work. Or trying to sleep.

Food wise they just know they get their bowls filled every morning. So when I get up it’s like… A ship with a stream of dolphins on both sides. Just this wedge. If I divert to the bathroom first they are disappointed a bit. If I’m late someone will start trying to get into the bag which will wake you up.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 I imagine more of a “hey. Jackass. Why is litter box 5 low(not scooped). I will shit on your floor if you don’t deal with this. Go on. Try me.” Etc

I could use a cat lorax actually. Maybe they could unionize

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol HAHAHA on the feeding situation. I also only feed in the morning, but food sits out al day. I taught my cats “not yet” and “let’s go feed the kitties”. When I get up and they go zooming to the food dish I just say, “not yet” and they come to a screeching halt. When I say, “let’s go feed the kitties” they are off like bats out of hell to the food.

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 well yeah they are just free fed. It lasts the day. There’s always some left at night for them to snack on.

If I ever had a need to split out who got what food. Or try and control weight. Just would not happen.

Sorry did not mean to sidetrack the comments

@Felton10 @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol @Kidsandliz

I just say, “not yet” and they come to a screeching halt.

How did you train them to wait like that??

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Repeated the same words every morning as they were tearing towards the stairs (at the time I trained them I lived in a 2 story townhouse) - not yet. Then when I was going to actually go downstairs to feed them I repeated the exact same words - let’s go feed the kitties. Initially more than once, now they only need once and the training has stuck regardless of moving 3 times with them (am now in 2 rooms on one story).

A previous set of cats knew multiple commands (about 30 of them). I trained them by being consistent with what I said. No bribes, just repeated the same word or words and depending on the command pushing them away (or whatever).

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol So with “Not yet” did you just stop and stand still?

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol No. I waited until they started towards the stairs. I was going into the bathroom. I then said, “not yet” a bunch of times. The first handful of times they still ran downstairs, I stayed upstairs long enough they came back up. Then I went from the bathroom downstairs to feed them. I said, “let’s go feed the kitties” from when I was walking towards the bathroom down, out it, down the hall, and the entire way there until I reached the food. I immediately scooped out food and put it in the dishes. As soon as the dish had food in it I stopped. I slowly cut back on how many times I said things until I was down to once. Consistency and doing it every, single, time made the difference.

Heck one of my cats knows he isn’t supposed to be somewhere. He responds to “no” (and I’d stare at him) and now responds to me staring at him most of the time (cat language). Of course like a toddler he tests that over and over. I can stop him from jumping up there if I catch him just as he is getting read to jump and say no and/or stare. He turns to look at me, looks where he was planning to jump so, sees I am still staring at him (had to say no each time he attempted it early on) and leaves. Of course he will do it if my back is turned. I go in the bedroom and he is up there, sees me and jumps down and goes under the bed. . He is well aware he isn’t allowed there.

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol I think they all do that “jump up when you’re not around” thing - sneaky little devils! I’m amazed at the places my big ole 14 lb. Toby can get to and sneak around without knocking anything off. He’s a pretty good boy but devious sometimes.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Cats are smart little buggers. And at least all of mine have been trainable.

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol All the birds we had (Walter, Snowflake and Princess) could see when we were eating as their cage/playstand is about 8 feet from our table and all of them went to their food dishes and either ate was was left in them or waited for me to put new food in there for their for them.

Princess is the weirdest of all as we read her digestive system was the slowest of all the parrots and she keep a lot of food in the crop so her eating habits are on and off during the day in addition to meal times. But she is unusual in most other ways also so her eating habits don’t really stand out except when she opens her beak and you can see food in there.

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 yeah. Cats do word association just fine. It’s all about consistentany. If they didn’t they wouldn’t learn their names. Etc. They are perfectly trainable if you want to put in the effort. But they will do what they do when you aren’t looking/engaged. I’m over them getting on the counter. Ill never win short of a motion detector because you literally can’t watch them all the time to enforce the behavior and there are… A lot of the fuckers.

@Felton10 is it weird for her species or just. Weird cause you had walter for 30+years. Lots of learned behaviors in that time I’m sure.

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Although this species of parrot is recommended as a pet there is not anywhere near the info on this species like there is on African Greys (Walter) and Snowflake (cockatoos). The name is hard to spell and pronounce (eclectus) so people call them “ekkies” for short. Couldn’t even find a “eclectus parent” tee shirt like I had for Walter and Snowflake.

We read that their digestive system is totally different (slower re how they eat and process food) than other birds as she poops it seems like every 15 minutes. Can tell as the paper towel we put in her cage under where she sleeps is covered with poop every morning while Walter held it all in at night until I took him out of the cage and put him on his play stand in the morning and then it was an explosion (just like taking the dog out for a walk in the morning).

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 how about
https://www.amazon.com/TB-Parrot-Eclectus-Ekkie-Tshirt/dp/B07N21STFV?customId=B0752XS9NL&customizationToken=MC_Assembly_1%23B0752XS9NL&th=1

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Thanks but this is the one I already ordered for me and my wife. Really wanted one that said we were ekkie parents
https://www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Crazy-Bird-Person-with-Ecluctus-Parrots-by-Kartwonz/53027473.VL7OD.XYZ

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 maybe suggest to the place you got the “parent” versions you would like an ekkie version. Screen printing isn’t THAT expensive when they already have the equipment. Keeping it in stock/off the shelf might be an issue since they are rarer. But maybe you could talk then into a small batch other people might also want

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Jeez, if we let our 2 ̶c̶a̶t̶s̶ pigs feed whenever they want, they would be furry balls of blubber, rolling around the floor. Even with controlled feeding (measured amount, morning and evening) they are way overweight (but starting to slim down a bit since we have been gradually reducing their portions).

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol At least both are overweight. Much harder to handle when you have a bunch of cats and some are normal weight and some are not.

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 well. Technically I only fill the bowls once per day. So it’s not like they have an unlimited amount of food.

It happens to work out that there is always a little bit left at the bottom so I know no one starving or hungry. They are pretty young/active and plenty of others to play with so. For now I’m not worried. Alex is the biggest but he just. Solid.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol I have one of those “solid” looking cats. I joke she is a football player cat. But then when you feel her under her longer fur there isn’t excess belly fat.

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 Alex is… Thick? Choncky? He’s… a Large dense payload when he hits you. I like it. I think he’s good. Health wise. No flab

@Kidsandliz I cooked your food
I cleaned your house
And this is how you pay me back
For all my kind, unselfish, loving deeds?
Ha! Well you just wait!

@katbyter
Well, you left me anyhow
And then the days got worse and worse

Well, you just wait, they’ll find you yet
And when they do, they’ll put you in the ASPCA, you mangy mutt!

/image crazy mangy mutt

@Felton10 TPMS systems seldom have any adjustment options. If the low pressure indication is on, check the pressures in all four. If the low tire is only off by two or three psi, air it up and wait. If that same one goes low before the others again, get that tire checked for road hazards. I don’t know that manufacturer’s warranty policy for tires, but punctures are generally your problem rather than the dealer’s.

@werehatrack I knew if I had a nail in the tire and it had to be plugged it was my responsibility but I figured given the possibility something that there could be wrong with the tire monitoring system would take it into the dealer. Doesn’t give me warm and fuzzy feeling about getting quick or good service anytime I need it given those two dealers response or lack thereof.

Having had two Cadillacs for the past 10 years, I used to prompt reliable service although not cheap service whenever I took my cars in. Guess you get what you pay for.

@Felton10 @werehatrack logically because they can’t control punctures/leaks their script probably tells them to get you to verify by checking pressure on all 4, airing up, and resetting. Now, id assume you did that before you even bothered to call them. Because. Why else would you be calling or want to deal with the hassle of customer support. If the TPMS was just doing it’s job/functioning. But. They can’t assume. Cause they have to deal with the world. Of stupid people.

Like if I have to call my ISP. I already did it all. I know it’s your line. Just connect me to an engineer or roll the tech. It’s still going to be two weeks to roll the tech??? Then he shows up 2 weeks later, we chat and he finds the flooded line a quarter mile down the road and fixed it in 30 minutes. Headbang

/image xkcd shibboleet

Maybe I’m weird but because of the way TPMS works I’m not sure id ever trust them anyway but false alerting would be annoying, I’d want it fixed in warranty. But it’s not an emergency. Id just take the appointment cause like hell I’m waiting in line or dropping it off

@tinamarie1974 there is no doggo in this picture, only fluffy bed!

Ninjadog!

@tinamarie1974 Nice purple ambience - is it your lighting?

@Kyeh looks snazzy but it is just the light from the tv

@tinamarie1974 Oh, haha!

@Kidsandliz You could give Arnold a call - he is apparently doing free-lance road repair these days.

@macromeh You are going to pay. Right?

@Kidsandliz But they can sure as hell keep somebody paid to mow the grass and clean up around certain treasured monuments and institutions, yessiree.

And still, 16 days into it, no garbage pick up. This entire city is trash. All pun intended.

Back in court the judge said the city can’t sue the city. Figure out something. Now. So another 1 year contract with whom the mayor wanted and the city council didn’t and the mayor, by charter and by the state’s supreme court, couldn’t do what what he was doing - giving the contract to a company the city council didn’t want (The company was ranked last out of the 4 bids - what’s wrong with this picture? LOL, not.). Taking any bets if this will continue. That is now 2 years the mayor gets what he wants despite not following the rules. Interesting things come out thought like the mayor’s wife has a financial interest in the trash can company that was put in that bid. This city is more corrupt than Chicago by a long shot.

Of course this stops the threatened daily EPA fines which in 3 weeks would cost more than the annual contract to pick up the trash.

@unksol Then, a good day!
And probably a better job than you could have paid for. That has been my usual experience.

@phendrick it may feel like it later. But when they are rust welded to the hubs and will not come loose… What should be a quick job is less so.

@phendrick @unksol I’m so glad that they don’t use salt on the roads here in Oregon! (Yet anyway - there has been some recent discussion.)
OTOH, with all the traction control hardware on my 2020 Mazda AWD, I’m not sure I would be up to tackling a DIY brake job. Fortunately it’s not due for a while - I’ll have to do some more research.
TIL: I watched an interview with one of the design engineers for the car and he said the onboard software actually models each wheel in real-time to optimize traction/braking. Apparently the method is similar to/borrowed from some of the recent vehicle race/chase gaming SW.

@macromeh @phendrick yea. I’m still sticking with the rust buckets by choice. This 97 expedition was $400 in I think 2019. It was just COPs/starter/battery/radiator.

I almost deserve to be on “customer says” for the passenger side rotor but. I knew what it was and had nothing to do with removing it.

If I were to ever buy a new car I think it would be an electric with rebates which really reduces a lot of issues/maintenance.

But I’m a cheap bastard.

@macromeh @phendric
FYI the solution was to both put bolts through the caliper holes and cut the rotor all the way through to the hub at least once. I have never had to do either before. Hammer blows normally do it.

Granted I only had stainless on hand. A harded bolt could handle way more before it started twisting. IDK if that would have done it or not. Having a carbide recip blade on stand by is good. The cut broke something loose and let the bolts move it.

@unksol My wife has an EV - it is great for all the short day trips and errands, which make up most of our driving these days. We got it on a 3-year lease to test the EV waters without making a big commitment. However, limited range and long charging time means we still use our gas vehicle for longer trips.

@macromeh right. That’s the normal set up. If I had a wife she’d get the new car or whoever used the most short range miles.

Cross country trips are very different especially if hauling a camper. But most people don’t do that.

Realistically if you are doing it with kids you will stop every few hours but that only works if there is a charge station to plan around. Limits and benefits.

My point was more… Old cars are a mechanical pain Cause rust.

Newer gas cars have introduced a bunch of stuff that makes them harder to work on.

Electric cars… Well they should break down less and parts should be plug and play… However considering the shit john Deere pulls. We really need a rite to repair law.

@unksol My wife was driving her EV recently and got a “Transmission Fault” error display. Interesting, since the car has no transmission! Searching online, it appears to be related to the shift lever. The dealership cleared the fault and it has not returned.
The big issue however, is a factory recall on the battery. Of course, there is a shortage of replacement batteries and they are replacing them on the oldest vehicles first. The interim workaround is a SW change that limits the charge to 80% of full. Which (of course) also limits the max range. I suspect that our battery won’t be replaced before the lease ends next year.
(Hey, I think that deserves a Blame!)

@macromeh there are definitely teething issues. In would not consider one if I was pushing range. But. I have to find a wife first that wants a nicer car so lol

@unksol I have a John Deere riding mower and a late 90’s vintage John Deere compact 4wd diesel tractor. I haven’t so far had any trouble getting parts for either.
I was looking at the new JD mowers and noticed that they have an “All New and Improved” engine oil filter. It is a large canister that has the filter and new oil in one unit. To change the oil, you remove the old canister and install the new one. Interesting, but I see they cost $50 vs. $8 for the old-style filter and $10 for 2 quarts of oil. Fail!

@unksol Hint: the maintenance on the wife is often much higher than on the car!

@macromeh I’m sure it’s more… Effort? Maintenance? I stand by the idea that anyone I would marry would be on the same general page.

However you want to phrase it communication and trust are the key.

@macromeh the John Deere issue does not really apply to consumer products. It’s important to force everyone to supply repair parts and info.

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/10/1147934682/john-deere-right-to-repair-farmers-tractors

@macromeh @unksol If you think John Deere is bad (which I admit they are, at an amazing level), then you probably don’t want to deal with the asshattery of Tesla. They often will flat refuse to sell parts without first checking to see if You Have Been Naughty. If anybody has tagged your VIN for any reason, it’s “Bring the vehicle to us and we will tell you whether we will repair it, and how much that will cost.” Often, the answer is “No.” At the moment, the only EV makers I’m willing to consider are Nissan, Toyota, maybe Ford, and perhaps Rivian (about which I have not yet heard anything bad.)

@macromeh @werehatrack right john deerrle isjust the best known large/old case in the whole right to repair segment. That might set the trend.

I know Tesla is not for guys like me. They are an apple to my PC and I’m… Ok with that. Haven’t checked in on their whole open source promise though. I don’t get parts from the manufacturer

Ford better sell me parts. But… There is no exhaust or intake. No transmission. No header No oil changes… A whole bunch of the parts I’m fucking with are just gone

@macromeh @unksol Your bigger problem is going to be finding a wife who wants to share the bed, desks, tables and chairs with so many cats; who also doesn’t mind robo spy cats on top of the kitchen cabinets. Of course there are some of us on this forum who, um, are headed in the same direction with our cat “collection”.

@Kidsandliz @unksol
There are probably more than a few who’d look at the collection and conclude that the first hurdle had already been jumped; he not only likes cats, but treats them like good family.

@Kidsandliz @werehatrack mmm… There are some litter box issues etc. It would be nice if they all just behaved. I can’t claim I’m fully on top of this. I strongly recommend don’t attempt

@unksol @werehatrack Actually Two friends who keep my cats when I am not home has a cat collection larger than yours. One seems to have the mess under control and the other one does not. I couldn’t live like that (the later friend).

@macromeh @werehatrack ![enter image description here][1]
[1]:

I’m horrified to let anyone see this

@macromeh @unksol I have seen worse. But not on my own vehicles.

@unksol @werehatrack Yikes!

@macromeh @werehatrack right. The fact that it’s mine is what hurts. In my defense I knew what was going on and I chose to drive to my parents because dad has been sick but. Ouch

@Kidsandliz @macromeh I mean… The bedroom has a door. The cats won’t like it but. You know. They’d live for a bit

@macromeh @unksol @werehatrack What is that thing in the photo against the cement floor?

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @werehatrack
Which thing lol. It’s just a normal garage floor. Just the brake pads? Or?

@macromeh @unksol @werehatrack I don’t know what brake pads look like. I guess I do now. LOL On the other hand I can fix all sorts of things on tall ships, with camping gear…

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @unksol @werehatrack
For the next time you are under your car (hopefully by choice):

The pads are attached (indirectly) to the vehicle frame via the spindle and under hydraulic pressure grab the rotor (attached to the wheel and spinning with it hence rotor). This will theoretically slow the vehicle (if everything is in good shape).
Sometimes brake work can be as satisfying as mountain climbing; sometimes more like disciplining an errant child or pet who might be bigger or meaner than you and is pretty much guaranteed to get you dirty under the nails.

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @unksol @werehatrack Incidentally, the pads are designed to wear from abrasion. If not changed when necessary, the rotor and other parts wear and can take other parts with them. Then it gets a lot more expensive and potentially dangerous (as in the vehicle not stopping on command).
OK, done with OG mansplaining. (Not even sure how much of this my 25 yo son has absorbed.)

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @phendrick @werehatrack I assumed just saying rotors would limit the horror to those who have beaten them off or work on their cars. But that’s an excellent exploded view

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @phendrick @werehatrack also your brakes talk to you if you aren’t a work on your car person. Just listen to the squealers
https://www.chapelhilltire.com/what-are-brake-wear-indicators/

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @phendrick @unksol Expanding on the subject, solely for the benefit of those who’ve never BTDT on brake repairs…

Most rotors are designed with two thick circular steel plates, with hollowed out space between ribs connecting the plates. The ribs and spaces allow air to flow up the middle to keep the two friction surfaces from getting overly hot. (They get hot anyway, but not as much.) If the driver doesn’t recognize the crunchy-screechy-scrapey noise that the pads and rotors make when the pads are past merely worn out, the rotor surfaces will get eaten away really fast. There’s a YouTube channel called “Just Rolled In” that frequently has videos of vehicles that showed up for repair with the brake rotor friction surface completely gone on one side, with the remains of the pad scraping on the ribs that you’re not supposed to be able to see from that angle. Sometimes the rotors aren’t just worn to the ribs, but chewed completely off of the hub so that they don’t even rotate anymore - and any wheels like that have no brakes at all. The number of dramatic ways people have demonstrated that they can ignore system failure just boggles the mind. (A recurring theme with vehicles like that is the statement “Customer declined all repairs.”)

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @unksol @werehatrack As to brakes “talking” to you. My house sits on a popular school bus route, for HS, middle and elementary schools. So a lot of them go by. And by empirical relative frequency, about 90% of them are in dire need of new brake linings, just by the annoying screeching of brakes at the corner stop sign. Or do buses now come preloaded with that sound?

Is my area the exception, or have others here noted that? I mean, going by the amount of my property tax money that goes to the public schools here, I expect safety of children should be a top priority and bus maintenance following along with that.

@macromeh @phendrick @unksol @werehatrack

Thanks for the explanation about brakes, how they work, how you can trash things (grin)…

Brake squealing I know about. I heard that a total of once in my life and went to the shop to find out why as soon as I heard it. I do wonder how kids who turn their cars on with the radio blaring can hear odd car noises in order to know to visit the shop. I at least know enough what sounds normal and what does not to go to the shop when I hear noises even if I don’t know what they are from.

These days I have my breaks checked each time I rotate the tires and when the shop tells me it is time to replace them I do. The shop I use is a 3rd generation family shop that is great. They don’t rip you off, they warn you when things will need attention in the not so distant future so you can financially plan for that, if there is more than one thing that needs attention and you are broke they tell you the order in which you should do it and what absolutely has to be done and what can wait… I am very lucky. Didn’t always have a shop as good as this one. My previous shop there had one good mechanic and he was ethical but the rest there I discovered would tell you they did the work and then I’d find out they hadn’t. When he left I followed him.

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @unksol @werehatrack I wish I had a trusty, go-to mechanic’s shop here. The one I had been going to, and my wife’s father for decades before that, has closed. It had been a gas station with attached shop that expanded and had been operated forever by a man and also then his son. The father died, and his son took over fully. Still competent but a little less friendly. I trusted his work, but didn’t like his prices so much. But putting in cylinder block gaskets or repairing the fuel injection system on an F-250 was a little out of my league. Then this son also died, and I guess his sons did not want to continue the trend. Located on a very busy corner, the place sold, all got razed, then a “quick stop” type of gas station with multiple pump bays came in and the only “service” was selling Slim Jims and lottery tickets inside. Big loss for the auto-driving community here.
(Sigh. I’m getting a little too old to be crawling under cars or trucks.)

BTW, I went sailing several times with my BFF (at various times my room mate, my office mate, my best man) when he was living in the Galveston area and had access to his boss’s craft (sloop? small yacht? ). He seemed to be good at it, for someone who grew up on a farm, which surprised the crap out of me. He got us in and out of the ship channel, all under wind power. I had no clue. So props to you on that. He now lives back again in the Texas Panhandle, and the only bodies of water are the ones that form when the thunderstorms come through.

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @phendrick @unksol I’d have spent the last 50 years one car repair away from being a pedestrian if I didn’t do nearly all of it myself. I don’t do alignments (no rack) or automatic transmissions (shop isn’t clean enough), but I’ll tackle just about anything that isn’t paint & body - and sometimes I’ve done those, too. Some of my cars have been ones that I pieced together from a hopeless junker and a bunch of parts. And I’ve only ever had one vehicle fail on the road in a manner that I could not handle myself; and it was the only car I ever bought that had a new car warranty on it. That was an '87 Taurus. GFG the transmissions on those were an inexcusable bucket of diarrhea. The third failure happened as I was arriving in Dallas on a two-part trip, and the car ended up getting scrapped as a result. I was done with that trans.

@Kidsandliz @macromeh @phendrick @werehatrack Ive had a snapped drive shaft done at pep boys years ago but that was only because it broke in the mail parking lot and I could literally push it there at night. Towing it would have cost money and I was in a college apartment anyway. Everything else has been in the driveway. Mostly cause doing it in the garage is a little restrictive maneuvering wise

@phendrick
You know… Now that you mention it… I do think every school bus I have ever been near makes a squeal. However I think that’s due to them using an air brake system. The way those fundamentally function is different than a passenger car squealer indicator. They just do it as a matter of friction/function stopping such large mass .

They also are constantly crawling to a stop at low speed in some cases. You can’t exactly glide to a stop when you have to have kids to school on time and it’s already a 90 minute bus route…

@posmr15 i mean that’s fine. He’ll be dead before it’s an issue. He can waste his money.

Just don’t let him buy flood insurance. That being said. The NFIP needs serious correction for a number of reasons. And it may be critical to support home values. But if it’s a repetitive loss don’t allow people to rebuild in a flood zone. Just move them it’s cheaper. And don’t cover the assholes

/youtube John Oliver flood insurance

@posmr15 @unksol In theory, a home which has been flooded three times while participating in the national flood insurance program becomes eligible for buyout. From the experience of a couple of my friends, the delay between the third flood and receiving the offer to buy out can be as much as 10 years. In some places, local ordinances prevent a house that has been flooded more than twice from being repaired without being elevated above the flood plain. Neither of these are solutions to the problem.

@posmr15 @werehatrack I know. And I’m not in a flood prone area and I know it’s hard to relocate an entire town or city for obvious reasons.

If you intentionally build in a dangerous area then maybe you should just not be allowed to get insurance instead of required.

If you choose to buy in a crappy area maybe the insurance should reflect your very very very bad decision and rate the property at what it’s really worth. But someone is going to have to bite the bullet in what they thought it was worth… And it’s just not. I think the NFIP might be better spent doing that to move people off the flood plains instead of treading water/rebuilding the same crap.

IDK how it would work but. Just buy it back as government land and set them up somewhere else. If a town gets wiped out and you have to rebuild it all and people don’t want to leave. just move it.

I know that’s oversimplifying it but the reality is they can not live where they live. Dragging it out cost more money. People who can not afford to move should get a fair buyout and assistance to relocate. If you refuse… IDK

They use eminent domain for way worse things than protecting people and the long term value of their homes

@posmr15 @werehatrack and I’m obviously aware the NFIP will not be able to fully fund that approach as is. They will and should raise rates. And some general taxes would have to apply to buy back land that should have never been built on. But long term is going to come from FEMA or a presidential disaster declaration anyway. So. If we know it’s already an issue. Without global warming. Maybe start dealing with that.

@tinamarie1974 Oh no -
that’s terrible. I’m so sorry.

@tinamarie1974 But it IS also about you, abet in a different way. You are her friend and this diagnosis affects you too in fundamental ways. Both of you have had an emotional earthquake.

So the rest of this was going to be a whisper and I finally decided to make it a public post as others might find something useful. Of course it might be worth what you paid for it, nothing… (grin).

Speaking as someone who has had 3 cancers, one with no cure (although a longer life span than your friend is facing) - that no cure thing is qualitatively different than the potentially curable diagnoses - it will take time, lots of time, for her and you to wrap your brains around this. There is no short, “coming to terms” with this. There is a lot of much crap to do and decisions to make and not enough time to deal with everything… initially a lot of emotional panic and trying to hide it so as to not freak out others or freak yourself out (and so some manage to so compartmentalize this they act as if they aren’t even upset because if they stop to think, truly think about what is going on they feel like they might not be able to stop crying)… Just don’t stay away too long.

As you already said, their family is also going to be suffering as well and some deal with this kind of news better than others. As a result while they are being supportive of her it may not be the kind of support she always needs.

Things you can do for her now are practical. Make dinner for the family without asking. That is one less thing she needs to worry about that day. Just make it, tell her, and bring it over - especially when days when she is getting a port put in, chemo days and shortly after as she feels like shit. I can tell you first hand making dinner for my kid when all I wanted to do is curl up on the couch and cry is no fun. My first night of chemo my neighbor said she’d do it and forgot. It was awful. I finally told my kid I’d buy her a McD’s (couldn’t cope with cooking and my kid was freaked out so asking her to make her own dinner would have been tough) but I’d kill her if she ate it in the car on the way home (made her put it in the very back of the minivan covered by a blanket). While she has family they are also emotionally distraught too and so it will be hard for them to do these things. One less thing they have to do helps.

Offer to do practical things as she starts with chemo - laundry, housework, make meals, run errands (eg I am going to the grocery store, is there anything you need me to pick up - even if you weren’t really going unless she needed something)… and come over and just do it. As she has energy talk her into going out to do things, even normal little things, she can do that get her mind off of what is going on. Doing normal things helps. Doing short special things also helps. That break of realizing after the fact that you haven’t even thought about cancer for a couple of hours is priceless.

If she gets a port put in get her a narrow soft pillow with a strap that attaches to the seatbelt to protect her port from the seatbelt. They, unfortunately, are put in right where the seatbelt crosses your chest (well depending on which side it is on and which side of the car she is going to be sitting on - likely though she isn’t always going to be the passenger) and the seat belt hurts when the port is new and accessed often. I joke chemo rooms are cancer patient refrigeration projects. Soft warm blankets (throws can be too short so watch something is long enough) are welcome over the hospital thick sheet fake blankets. A soft warm hat when she loses her hair (you lose a lot of heat through your head) to wear in there (and to bed)…

She may choose to talk about things/death with you she won’t with her family as she doesn’t want to deal with the aftermath of upsetting them or upset them to begin with. Give her openings to do so as many feel too uncomfortable to that as they can’t deal with it (as a society we don’t deal with death well and so don’t talk about it much). Just let her talk. Cry together if it doesn’t freak her out. Emotionally dealing with this kind of mess often means talking about the same things over and over again as that often helps one get used this kind of grim news.

Some people vanish when someone gets a cancer diagnosis (when they wouldn’t do that if it was a stroke, major heart attack diagnosis thank you how our society deals with cancer…) as they don’t know what to say, then feel embarrassed that they didn’t say anything and so back off even more - unfortunately if she values those friendships she will need to take the first step to get them over the hump to get them back into her life. If you know her friends at some point organize a get together with her, her vanished friends (pressuring them to show up if need be) and you. Do something people would be doing together so there is an activity to distract from that awkward ‘how do we start talking again’ with nothing to talk about. The activity will help with that. I know one cancer patient (from a list I am on) who has an every other week ‘fuck cancer’ party with friends where they do crazy, doesn’t take much energy, things.

And realize even if she isn’t talking about it, death is part of what she is thinking about. This society doesn’t deal with terminal illnesses and death well. As a result often people don’t talk about it even when they want to - partly because they don’t want to have to be the one to comfort the people around them that they are going to die of their disease. Down the line, as appropriate, bring it up in ways she can pivot and avoid talking about it if she doesn’t want to. You might be surprised what gets said. My aunt, who stopped chemo, actually started to talk with me about dying of cancer, wanting to die at home, etc. and said she couldn’t talk about it with her kids as she didn’t want to upset them. I made sure my cousins knew her wishes when I realized she never had told them or her doctor!!!, and she was able to die at home. All I had said to her, when she said she was stopping chemo, was that I would be really sad when she died and would miss her. Then the dam opened.

You will need an outlet, which is not her (as I am sure you are very aware of), to talk about your own feelings as this is about you too in the context of your own life and your friendship. This is a huge emotional earthquake for you as well, not just her and her family.

It takes time, lots of time, to even begin to get a grip. Don’t stay away too long. If you need an “excuse” to come over, just say, I am making your family dinner. Which day would you like me to do that for? And then you have that face to face opening to pick up your friendship where you left off even if you don’t talk about anything other than what you usually talk about. She needs you to be there for her as a friend, feel like you are willing to talk about the “hard side” of a diagnosis like this, and won’t run or turn to her for support for what she is going through (that, unfortunately happens a lot).

I wish you, your friend, and her family, strength as everyone travels down this path.

Thank you @Kidsandliz. There was a lot of insightful things that I have never thought of and I have taken note.

I actually lost my best female friend about 15 years ago to Pancreatic cancer. It was a much shorter diagnosis and it came with other stresses. She became very anti social so even though I tried many of the suggestions she would refuse, not show up, not answer the door, not open her mail. I may have broke in her house one day just to check on her. she also had a teenage daughter that had no idea until weeks before she passed. It was so hard.

This is my best male friend. He is already bald, so he is likely good on the hats, but I may pick up a few fun ones just to make him smile. Obviously his prognosis is longer and he is talking so far. Spent a few hours on the phone with him last week before his appt.

I love the ideas of get togethers, because he is such a social guy Maybe I can wrangle up some of the high school peeps to rally support!

Also, he is overdue for a dinner night with me and my family. So I need to float that as well.

Anyway, thanks again. I appreciate the time and effort to put this together. And happy to hear any thoughts you have over the next few years if something pops into your head. Hugs T

@tinamarie1974 Glad you found some suggestions worth trying. If you rally friends let him be the one to tell them he has cancer though. He might not be ready to make it all that publicly known yet.

Learning to get used to the idea is sort of like dealing with grief. Like grief you have periods of intense emotion, over time the periods of intense emotion become shorter and further and further apart but nearly as intense. And you can unexpectedly get triggered.

Also be careful about using words like “fight this”, or “god won’t give you any more than you can handle”. That implies fault if you don’t do well (you didn’t “fight” hard enough) or fall apart emotionally (you shouldn’t be so upset) - not to mention why would loving a god (if your religion swings that way) on purpose pick you to wreck your life?

Any “lesson” you can “learn” from having cancer can be learned far easier and less emotionally painfully than having a terminal cancer. If you wouldn’t say it to someone who a stroke, heart attack, was dying of something else, was in a serious accident, etc. don’t say it to your friend. Again I think this comes from how this society deals with cancer… Oh and research has documented that “having a positive attitude” does not affect cancer outcome. Don’t tell someone to have one. Why the hell should they have a positive attitude about having cancer and in this case about knowing they will die of cancer? That adds a burden just trying. We don’t tell people with other serious issues any of these things nor expect any of these things.

And again you are probably sensitive enough to others others to not do these things/say these things. Just mentioning it for “general knowledge”.

Oh and sorry I presumed he was a woman… and yes I made traditional sex role suggestions based on that assumption because they still hold for most families unfortunately. But making dinner for the family (for example when someone takes him for chemo they will be there for hours and not doing “other things” - I had to drive myself and was there by myself as I was there all day one day and about 5 hours the next and all my friends worked full time, but around half the people there had someone with them), doing household things, etc. gives the rest of the family relief they need as they will be busier too, dealing with their own anxiety, grief (grieving in advance of his death and yet likely trying to hide it from him) and all of this increases stress, reduces the energy and time to do the “chores of life” someone has to do to keep the household running… Whatever “chores” he usually does in his family that you can do then do some of those on occasion.

Again glad you plan on being there for your friend and doing things that you can do to help lighten his/his family’s load. I will appreciate he hasn’t lost you has his friend (and he will lose some as just about all of us have based on the forums I am on and what people post) on top of all the cancer crap. And again, realize you, emotionally, are going to be spending time dealing with this and will have your own “additional needs”.

@Kidsandliz he has actually told most everyone so there is no issue there. He is being pretty honest and upfront. I am thrilled he has taken this approach, as my female friend who had Pancreatic Cancer only told her boyfriend, work and me until days before she passed away, actually her boyfriend told them. She would.not discuss it. No one knew, her mom, her teenage daughter, friends, etc. It was so stressful to hold in as she and I took trips so she could see friends “one last time”, but not tell them. I suffered the wrath after she passed of, “why didnt you tell me”, but I couldnt break her confidance. Lost a couple of friends over it, oh well

Ended up getting the seat belt cushion in addition to the blanket that was already on my list. He was very suprised to receive today, but it is important for him to see the support

Also no issues about assuming he was a she lol. It was a understandable assumptuon and I didnt say one way or the other

@tinamarie1974 Glad he is telling people. That will make your support of him easier. He will be glad to have that seatbelt cushion unless he is so tall the seatbelt can’t be adjusted to be in the right place anyway and not hit his port. No one tells people about that inconvenience. You get to find out on your own. If he is going to do most of his own driving himself then if he has a choice he needs to get his port put in on the right as then driving it won’t be an issue, just as a passenger.

Hard with your other friend. And extremely tough on her kid who needed time to get used to the idea, ask all her questions, feel secure in who would take care of her… And tough on you since they blamed you. My cousins blamed me for not telling them earlier that their mom wanted to die at home rather than 3.5 days before she died. I had presumed she had told them as I told her she needed to tell them and her doctor and she didn’t.

It’s this, and I got it for $107, so at least it wasn’t too bad a deal.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-ONE-18V-13-in-Cordless-Battery-Walk-Behind-Push-Lawn-Mower-with-4-0-Ah-Battery-and-Charger-P1180/314468508

@Kyeh The local HD has those 4Ah batteries, but you might still be able to pick up the even more discontinued 9Ah on The Zon. Beware of imitations, they’re mostly crap

@Kyeh I use Ryobi tools and at least for mine the batteries seem interchangable. I have some OLD ones (like 15-20 yr old) and some newer ones and they work on any of my Ryobi pieces. Worth going to Home Depot to ask someone and maybe get a newer, more powerful battery

@werehatrack @tinamarie1974
Thanks - I checked the specs and saw that yes, it does take any of the 18V Ryobi batteries, and I can get a 2-pack of the 9 Ah ones at HD! Also, I discovered that the one I was using is actually a 2V that goes with a Ryobi string trimmer I have - so no wonder it was running out fast. But that means I have no idea where the 4V one is! I know I have it - I tried charging it right after I brought everything home last week and realized it was already charged — but then where did I put it!!! Drives me bonkers being so damned disorganized.

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack Good lucky finding it. You know you’ll find it in the last place you look LOL

On a more serious note, once you find it label them so you can quickly tell the difference.

@Kyeh @werehatrack is it attached to the trimmer?

@Kyeh I am going to guess you don’t own other ecosystem batteries, but I bought a Dewalt to Ryobi battery converter from Jeff and it has worked well.

@werehatrack @tinamarie1974
No, I haven’t used the string trimmer yet this year - good thought though!

@KNmeh7 I do have a Skil battery for a drill and recip saw, but it’s shaped so differently; I guess I could research whether something to convert it exists? Thanks, I didn’t know about that.

@KNmeh7 @Kyeh
Sorry I’m late to the party…
Basically any Ryobi One+ 18v battery should work in both tools.

2V that goes with a Ryobi string trimmer I have - so no wonder it was running out fast. But that means I have no idea where the 4V is.

I assume you mean 2Ah and 4Ah batteries. You should be able to tell them apart by the size. The 4Ah will be significantly beefier. They should also be labeled and most likely have charge indicator lights since that is pretty much standard on all their packs now. Having extra batteries and/or chargers means not having to worry about running out of juice and being unable to finish the job.

Watch the sales at Home Depot. They often run specials on the batteries that work out to about 1/2 price and will sometimes run a deal where you can get a free tool with a battery purchase, or some such.

I also have a lot of batteries and a lot of Ryobi yard and hand tools. I have been uber happy with them over the years. I find I rarely reach for a corded tool any more.

@KNmeh7 @chienfou Thanks!
Yes, I did mean Ah, duh. So if I get the 9Ah will that last longer than 15 - 30 min? (Don’t TWSS me )

@KNmeh7 @Kyeh
\yep, it should last about 4 times as long as the 2Ah one.

@chienfou @KNmeh7 Great, thank you.

@chienfou @KNmeh7 @tinamarie1974
So look what I found. I remember now that I thought my lesser-used bathroom might be a good place to charge it. So I left it on a smtshelf outside that bathroom.

@chienfou @KNmeh7 @Kyeh yea you found it!!!

@chienfou @KNmeh7 @tinamarie1974
Yes, it’s a good thing too - the weedpatch I call my yard has gotten really shaggy!

@KNmeh7 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974
my belief is that green = lawn. It all looks pretty good when it gets mowed!

@chienfou @KNmeh7 @tinamarie1974
Exactly - but right now it’s clearly weeds. I feel guilty because my nice neighbor works so hard at digging out dandelions with one of those special step-on tools, but I just don’t care that much to do that myself. At least if I mow the blossoms off there’s fewer to go to seed …

@KNmeh7 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974

@KNmeh7
/giphy patience young Jedi